#353: The 3 things you need to have a great meeting
Hint: The meeting is not where you do most of the work
Have you attended a meeting recently where it feels like you know less about something after attending? Do you dread going to the next meeting on your calendar? Do you even know why this meeting just popped up for today? As meeting attendees, we all have had those feelings, so let’s ensure the team doesn’t feel that way about your meetings.
If you are organizing the meeting, it’s up to you to provide a great experience. It requires careful planning and attention to various details. And just like a successful meeting, I’ll make this quick and to the point:
Here are three key elements that are crucial for a successful business meeting:
Clear Objectives and Agenda:
Define the purpose of the meeting and the specific goals you aim to achieve.
Are you there to make a decision or to gather information? Make it clear to everyone what that will be.
Develop a clear and concise agenda outlining the topics to be covered, the order of discussion, and the allotted time for each agenda item.
If there is more than one topic, ensure you have allotted the time and don’t let it get away from you. Have a timekeeper in the meeting, and give them the power to end debate or discussions.
Share the agenda with participants in advance to allow them to prepare and contribute effectively.
If there is someone in particular that you want to hear from, let them know in advance what you expect of them. Put their name on the agenda for that topic.
Effective Communication and Logistics:
Ensure that all necessary technology, such as audiovisual equipment or virtual meeting platforms, is set up and tested before the meeting starts.
If it’s your meeting, arrive early to ensure the projector is ready and properly working. Don’t waste valuable time looking for an adapter or connecting your laptop.
Provide participants with relevant pre-read materials or background information beforehand to facilitate a more informed discussion.
If you see people reading material in your meeting, you have already lost them. You must give people time to read, analyze, and interpret whatever data is required beforehand.
Engagement and Participation:
Foster inclusivity by allowing all participants to voice their opinions and ideas.
Go around the table and get everyone’s input. Make this a normality in your meetings. Make it an expectation that everyone participates.
Assign participants roles and responsibilities, such as facilitator and note-taker, to ensure the meeting stays on track and key points are captured.
If this is a recurring meeting, we suggest having someone new take minutes at each meeting and rotating who chairs it. Even you, as a leader, could take on one of those roles.
As the leader of the meeting, make sure you thank everyone for their thoughts and make sure you are listening. Find something good in their argument or debate point, and tell them it is appreciated.
Go last
If you are the group leader, don’t speak first. Make sure you hear from everyone else on a subject before you weigh in. Don’t let them know if you are leaning one way. When a leader speaks on a topic, many around the table will often affirm to avoid confrontation.
Once you have spoken, ask the team to poke holes in your idea. What are they seeing that you might not see?
When you gather a group around the table, significant costs are involved. If you have ten high-paid executives around a conference room table for an hour, will you get a return on investment for this time? And while they are in this room, they are not executing whatever plans they have under their responsibility.
It’s great to have meetings to check in and promote teamwork. But if it is a working meeting, ensure the above three points are addressed so that it is also productive.
As a performance coach, I often sit in on meetings and offer critiques and suggestions on how you can improve and where you are held back. Connect with us at the Kole Performance Group, and we can help you work hard today to improve your tomorrow.
This is a great way to communicate