Managing Meetings
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Should a Meeting be Held? Types of Meetings
Before scheduling a meeting, it’s important to decide if When you first start planning a meeting, you'll need to
a meeting is truly necessary. Ask yourself: identify what kind of meeting it is.
Why am I scheduling this meeting? Report or Information Related
Think about everything you want to cover and how Includes things like presentations, debates, keynotes, or
much time it will take. lectures where the main goal is to share information.
What do I want to accomplish?
Decision-making or Problem-solving
If you can't answer this question, you're not ready for a
meeting. Write down a list of goals to be accomplished The most common kind of meeting. Includes things like
in the meeting and get the answers you're looking for. information gathering and sharing, brainstorming,
assessing options, and coming to a common agreement.
What will be shared or decided?
Determine what will be decided on in the meeting and Training and Skill Building
think about how you'll get the information from
attendees. Do you want to have an open discussion, do This could be for training a new employee, or to train
a show of hands, or have people respond in an email? existing employees about a new procedure or job role.
Who will be attending? One-On-One
Think about the key decision makers that need to
Between you and one other person. They help managers
attend. Don't include anyone who's not needed in the
oversee employee productivity and development.
conversation; it will be a waste of their time.
Did You Know?
37% of employee time $37 billion a year is spent 39% of participants admit to 47% consider too many meetings
is spent in meetings on unnecessary meetings dozing off during a meeting the biggest waste of time
Source: www.meetingking.com
Remote Meetings
Once you decide to hold a meeting, determine if any or all of When leading a remote meeting…
the participants will be joining remotely.
1 Be early.
When planning a remote meeting you need to:
2 Record the meeting for those unable to attend.
• Ensure you have the necessary software installed on 2
your computer. 3 Welcome each person as they join.
• Get familiar with the meeting software before the call. 4 Ask questions to promote engagement.
• Have a microphone and web cam available and have 5 Have attendees mute their mic when not
them properly configured. speaking.
© 2021 CustomGuide, Inc.
Preparing for a Meeting During a Meeting
Some of the most important work Delegate Responsibilities
is completed before the meeting To ensure the meeting tasks are accomplished, assign specific tasks to
even begins. A well-developed specific people. When delegating:
plan sets you up for success. In
the planning stage, you’ll • Address each individual.
determine 3 important items.
• Set clear objectives and timelines.
The Meeting Objective • Make yourself available for input after the meeting.
A clear objective should: • Keep track of progress.
• Allow potential attendees to Maintain Effectiveness
determine if they should
It’s critical to keep the meeting on track so no one’s time is wasted.
attend the meeting.
Common problems include:
• Define the meeting purpose
so people in charge of • Interruptions - Remind people
presenting know what to stick to the agenda. Suggest
material to prepare. they discuss any concerns with
you after the meeting.
• Be a way to measure if the
meeting was successful. • Conversation dominators - Thank them for the input but ask that
they email additional thoughts after the meeting.
The Meeting Agenda • Tangents - Write outside topics in a parking lot. Cover them at the end
if there’s time. If not, address them in an email or separate meeting.
Items to consider in an agenda:
• Priorities - What absolutely Take Notes
must be covered in the Note taking is important to a successful meeting. You need
meeting? to know what happened, know who's responsible for what,
and have follow-up information to send out afterwards.
• Results - What needs to be
accomplished when the
meeting is over?
Closing a Meeting
• Sequence - Does the
sequence you cover the The actions taken as the meeting ends and afterward determine the
topics in matter? meeting’s success.
• Timing - How long should
the meeting last and how When closing the meeting…
long do you have to talk • Open up the floor to give everyone a chance to add their comments
about each topic? and questions.
The Meeting Time • Don't let it drag on. Answer any last important questions, tell attendees
to email any additional questions, and end on time.
When determining a time:
• Be nice and mean it! After concluding, casual conversation that's not
• Pick a time that works for all meeting-related and a sincere thank you goes a long way.
required attendees.
After the meeting ends…
• Avoid scheduling meetings
early in the morning or • Send out meeting notes to attendees and those who missed the
around lunch time. meeting.
• Account for attendees joining • Store meeting documents in a central location where attendees can
from different time zones. find them later.
• Keep the meeting length as • Check up on action items to make sure tasks are completed. Give a
short as possible. gentle nudge if someone needs a reminder about a task.
© 2021 CustomGuide, Inc.
Get More Free Quick References!
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