Meetings are part of the day-to-day running of businesses. Running a productive meeting requires a clear understanding of how to structure and plan for one. Here are some important tips on how to run a productive and successful meeting.
Have a Clear Objective
Before holding any meeting, you should have a clear idea of what the agenda will be and the desired outcome. Before the meeting, it is advisable to inform every attendant of the agenda and objective to make them more prepared. At the start of the meeting, it is crucial to bring everyone onboard by outlining the meeting’s objective and agenda to everyone in attendance. This helps attendants to contribute toward the meeting’s objective while bringing a sense of focus during the entire meeting.
Consider the Attendees
The people invited to a meeting should be carefully selected to ensure that they will contribute to the achievement of the specific objectives. Inviting people who don’t need to be there is a quick way to jeopardize the success and effectiveness of the meeting. Those invited to the meeting should be directly involved and touched by the objective on the table.
Start With a Positive Note
Experiments have proven that attendees tend to be more focused, involved, and psychologically prepared for meetings in situations where the meeting kicks off in a positive way and on a light note. This demands that you not be too official and commandeering. You may choose to start the meeting by giving everyone a minute of talk time to express themselves and share some positive ideas and experiences.
Stick to a Schedule
Time management in meetings is highly crucial, especially when it comes to gaining the interest and support of the meeting’s attendees and participants. The meeting should have a strictly defined schedule with a start and finish time. Extending the meeting beyond the prospected finish time has a negative psychological effect upon the attendants because they generally tend to disconnect from the meeting. It is therefore crucial to spend time wisely and ensure that no time is wasted unnecessarily.
Follow Up
Bring everyone on board and help them feel part of the meeting by assigning some light responsibilities where the need arises. Such responsibilities, once delegated, bring about a sense of involvement, creativity, and motivation among the attendees.
Originally published on FredSines.co.uk