"These meetings are an important part of the communication process within the office," said Doris, a broker with 30 years experience.

"Forgive me for saying this," retorted Sean, the new associate, "but I spent six years selling cell phones and if we had a sales meeting once a month, it was a lot."

"Our meetings give us the chance to share ideas and other information critical to the business, not to mention celebrating each others' success. Don't you want to learn more from your colleagues?" asked Doris.

"We communicated all that information via e-mail and text messaging," said Sean. "I lose an hour in traffic alone just getting to your meetings each week. As for celebrating success, I'm all for it, I just don't want to spend three to four hours a week, including travel time, doing it."

"So what would you suggest?" asked Doris.

Attention all brokers! With a new generation of salespeople entering the market, I suspect the above conversation, or some variation of it, is taking place across the United States. So how do you make your meetings more attractive to the younger set? Here are a few suggestions:

Examine your agenda for substance. When you run the same kind of meeting week after week, a routine emerges. People sit in the same spots, say the same things, voice the same objections, and offer the same advice. It feels comfortable and familiar, but it doesn't necessarily produce the desired effect after a while. Younger generations are hungry for information, insights and strategies, but not the same ones over and over.

Am I being too harsh here? Perhaps, but take the time to place yourself in the shoes of a young associate who's facing a different type of competition, customer and market than you did some years ago. What can you do to provide these emerging salespeople with the skills and motivation to thrive in this business? How can the others around the table contribute to this process? Collectively, you and your experienced colleagues have a lifetime of experience. What pearls of wisdom can you share about patience, perseverance, listing a home, soliciting customers and so many other topics you now take for granted?

Examine your agenda for timeliness. Over the years, meetings tend to growth in length. More time is taken to discuss more minutiae and all of a sudden you've blown the morning if you're not careful. The new generation has always guarded its time with zeal. "Life's too short, I don't pay dues," and "Let's get on with it," are all sentiments they share on a regular basis.

Younger generations have grown up with fast food, sound bites, 10 second commercials and Instant Messaging®. It is not in their nature to wait for anything. That's not to say that meetings need to be conducted at the speed of sound. But with a little examination, you can probably find ways to manage more information in less time.

Give others an opportunity to set the agenda. If there's one thing that can be said about those in their twenties and thirties, it's that they're good problem solvers. Having grown up in the tumultuous '60s and '70s, they have learned to question what, to them, doesn't make sense. They're comfortable with confrontation and they're willing to manipulate the system to make it work more efficiently. All of this can be a double-edged sword. On the one side, they might be accused of challenging authority simply for the "fun" of challenging authority. On the other hand, a "new set of eyes" on an old system can produce some rather interesting questions.

Many managers I talk to complain of young upstarts coming in with an attitude of, "When are you going to move over and let me run the place?"

Why not let them? Given the opportunity to set the agenda for meetings, these young "upstarts" may soon discover that it is not as simple as it seems. On the other hand, they may surprise you with insight and maturity you had no idea they possessed. Set the parameters and let them fly.

Give others an opportunity to run the meeting. Who says you have to run all the meetings? I know. I know. It's your organization. But one day you will be looking for a successor, or manager, and you'll need know how well individual members of your team can lead. "But," you might say, "I enjoy running the meetings. It's my time with the troops. I've developed a style. Everyone looks to me for guidance. If I turn the meeting over to others, they'll change the agenda, stir up the issues."

Yes! And they might even find ways to improve what you have institutionalized.

Measure the outcome of your meetings. This is not as tough as it might appear. Before every meeting, make a list of what you want to accomplish. Then make a list of what you want your team to accomplish in that same meeting. Layout a clear agenda at the beginning of the meeting so everyone knows what is expected of them. Ask for their input, but don't be too quick to move on if no one says anything right away. Initially, they may not think you're sincere. You may have to coax opinions out of them over a period of time.

Remember, some of what you hear from younger colleagues may not be to your liking. You may hear a comment like,

"Why can't you send us all this information electronically?" or "I keep hearing the same thing again and again." Take all of this in stride and begin a dialogue. If the younger generation know it is being heard, they will be more genuine with their thoughts and ideas. They will also be more open your thoughts and wisdom, especially if some of it is not immediately meaningful to them.

Finally, survey your team about the effectiveness of the meetings. Again, be prepared for some well-meant criticism and ideas that you may not find appealing. But the nature of an effective meeting includes active participation from all attending, not simply a one-sided briefing.

Actively explore the technology presently available for communicating with your salespeople. Telephone bridges, text messaging, e-mail, voice mail, personal digital assistants, not to mention the Internet, are all changing the way meetings are conducted. While younger generations are completely comfortable with these modes of communication, many in their fifties and sixties resist them simply out of unfamiliarity.

But the possibilities are endless. A telephone bridge will cost you as little as $20 an hour and connect all of your associates to one call, eliminating hours of driving time each week. Broadcast e-mails with inspirational insights can be sent every morning without the hassle of telephone tag. You can conduct a survey about a critical issue and receive responses the same day, if not the same hour. Timely information can be posted on your web site immediately, rather than waiting for another meeting to disseminate it.

If the younger generations had their druthers, they would eliminate most of the world's meetings. As managers, we need to provide timely, insightful and inspirational information without tying eager young people up in gatherings that fit the style of a day gone past.

Am I suggesting a whole new approach to your meetings overnight? No. But as the world evolves due to technology and a new generation of associates, it is better to be managing ahead of the curve than behind it.