Have you ever attended a meeting only to wonder what the purpose of the last one hour was? Or even worse, to realise that you feel completely depleted after it was over?
And there are also times, when you walk out of a meeting feeling charged, vibrant and ready to take on the world.
This being February, the month when a lot of firms are laying the groundwork for the rest of the year, it is likely to host a record number of meetings.
What happens before the actual face to face gathering in the conference room is as, or even more important than the actual session.
Whether you are in charge of calling the meeting or an invited participant, there are ways in which you can ensure your time is well spent.
Agenda setting
Circulating an email to team members stating ‘marketing agenda discussions’ just won’t cut it.
Remember the intention is to have an engaging and productive meeting. Break down the agenda into three to five actionable points which can be allocated to team members. Any more than this and you run the risk of having a discussion that is repetitive or never-ending.
Encourage team members to read the circulated minutes or action items arising out of the last related session to avoid wasting time. Set out your agenda and expected outcomes as clearly as possible.
Circulate any relevant information beforehand, request participants who have input to share it and update the original agenda with any new pertinent data.
Run away agendas
Stick to the meeting’s agenda, and be in control of reigning in run-away discussions. A good practice of handling items which are important but not on the main agenda is to ‘park’ them by writing them down and indicating they will be discussed if there is time after the main session, as an AOB or in person with relevant parties.
Always close agenda items with the statement ‘the action for this is xx and will be executed by xx’. If an item is closed then declare it ‘item closed’.
Winding up
Take a few minutes at the end of the meeting to recap the action items. Indicate by when the team members should expect brief minutes and use this document to evaluate whether your goals have been met. Avoid going over the allotted time for the meeting and where possible, close the meeting before the allotted time is up.
