‘I. Love. This. Meeting!’ announced Rea’s boss to the assembled group. Rea looked at him in disbelief. Astonished, her colleagues looked at Rea. How had she managed to convert the notorious pessimist Ian Hampton into a dedicated Meet-Up practitioner in a matter of minutes? What had happened?

Just a week ago, Rea Yunen was standing in her new boss’s office being told that he’d had enough of spending more than ten hours each week in unproductive meetings. Without further ado, he appointed her chairperson (he even used the term ‘meeting magician’) of the team to ‘sort out this mess’. She was astonished. She had not envisaged anything like this when she applied for the post. How could she do it? Was she capable of changing a fossilised meeting culture? What difference could she – a small cog in a big wheel – make?