Three ways to have more effective meetings

By Jan Delmas

In business you’ll often attend meetings, whether as a leader, facilitator or participant and some meetings are more productive and worthwhile than others. Have you ever wondered why?

How do you avoid turning a meeting into a time-waster? We discuss three easy ways you can put a stop to those meeting blues.

1. Prepare for your Meeting

When you’ve decided it’s necessary to have a meeting, it’s equally important to prepare and circulate an agenda prior to it.

An agenda helps you organize the why, what, who, when and where of the meeting. It clearly states:

the meeting’s purpose

the objectives

the participants and their roles

the date, time and place

the duration of the meeting

who is calling the meeting

the items to be covered including the person responsible and the time allocated

and any additional material needed to prepare for the meeting

2. Follow-up after the meeting

Often the most forgotten part of running an effective meeting is good follow-up. You can communicate with the participants and major stakeholders using email or memo summarizing the meeting and action steps. Creating this communication after the meeting provides closure and a sense of accomplishment.

Don’t forget it needs to be written so those who didn’t attend still understand what happened. It covers:

The attendees

The objectives

Main topics covered

Main decisions made

An action plan

The next meeting date

And a thanks to the participants for their contribution.

This can be a brief one page document summarizing the key decisions, action steps, responsible parties and schedule. The summary should be sent out to everyone affected, including the people in the meeting and those who weren’t there. It shows clear responsibilities, with dates and names agreed during the meeting.

3. Consider using a facilitator for a meeting

There are times when you might want to think about having someone facilitate your meeting:

You may want to participant in the meeting yourself.

To keep the meeting on track and productive; they can help ensure that the agenda and desired outcomes are followed.

You have a diverse group who may be unfamiliar with each other and may be reluctant to voice their opinions

To find out more ‘Hints and Tips on Facilitating a Meeting, Workshop or Group Activity’ is a handy guide full of easy to understand and use ideas and tips on how to be a great facilitator.