(FORTUNE Small Business) – DEAR ELLYN: My weekly staff meetings are a real disaster. I'd prefer them to be a forum for exchanging ideas and keeping everyone abreast of any new developments, but my employees wander in late, they make glib comments, and they seem to change topics constantly. How do I get them to shape up? --Frustrated Boss

DEAR FRUSTRATED: Whoa, now. It sounds as though you're the one who needs to shape up. Amoeba-like meetings are the result of poor leadership. Borrow some discipline from Richard Bayer, COO of the Five O'Clock Club, an outplacement organization in New York City, and a martinet, I'm told, about protocol. He and his managers first establish a meeting agenda. Employees may suggest things to discuss, but no one gets on the agenda without submitting three key elements: a topic, the time needed to address it, and a purpose--to gather information, give information, or discuss something.

Deal with stragglers by starting every meeting on time. Bayer writes agenda items on a whiteboard, adding notes as the meeting progresses so that minutes can later be distributed. He also ensures that each speaker is introduced along with her topic and time allotted. A key trick: timing each item during the meeting. "We don't allow run-overs. It keeps the pace going, and people don't get bored," he says. Finally, don't end without assigning to-dos and deadlines. That helps for the next time.

DEAR ELLYN: I own a startup video-streaming production company that's just begun to attract large corporate customers. Venture capitalists who were encouraging when I launched the company [in 2000] are not returning my calls now that I need money to expand. Yet I've heard venture capital is becoming more available. What gives? --Need Cash Now

DEAR NEEDY: You are right. The pace of VC deals has quickened significantly during the past three months. Says Ed Goodman, a partner at Milestone Venture Partners in New York City: "People know that the amount of venture capital available has shrunk dramatically. But they don't realize that last year's $55 billion or so is still huge--the third-highest year ever."

So why the cold shoulder? You may be getting it because your business is no longer considered VC-worthy. With no history to go on, VCs, bankers, and thousands of other ordinarily rational executives let their imaginations run wild when forecasting profits for Web-based businesses. Now lots of VCs won't go near those kinds of companies. Others will, but they've narrowed their focus to a few high-tech and biotech niches. If your company doesn't have the potential to become a $100 million endeavor within five to seven years, you're probably not VC material, no matter what industry you're in.

Assuming you have good growth prospects, other changes in VC-land may work in your favor. First, early-stage companies like yours are attracting money more readily than start-from-scratch startups. That means having proven products and some revenue. Another key change: Many VCs, like Goodman, now prefer funding multiple rounds for a single company rather than relying on other VCs for subsequent capital infusions.

But first you have to get their attention. Start knocking on some new doors after you've researched VCs' current investment interests. And be forewarned. Goodman says VCs have rediscovered intimacy. "These days people really take their time before investing so they can get to know you better," he says. Good luck.

Got questions? Ellyn has answers. Send your e-mails to ellyn_spragins@timeinc.com or write to her at FSB, 1271 Avenue of the Americas, New York, N.Y. 10020.