Running Effective & Actionable Meetings
When properly planned and executed, meetings can efficiently communicate ideas, solve problems, and generate action items. Unfortunately, many managers waste time by holding unnecessary or ineffective meetings. Read this summary to learn how to run an effective meeting, and use Demand Metric's Meeting Agenda Template and Meeting Minutes Template to standardize your meeting process.
Meeting Facilitation Best Practices:
- Plan & Delegate - Set a firm agenda and provide to attendees in advance. Only book as much time as should be required to discuss each agenda item. Delegate responsibilities such as recording minutes or setting up the room.
- Respect & Engage - encourage participation from all attendees to gather multiple perspectives. Don't allow one or two individuals to control the entire discussion. Be respectful and listen carefully to each participant's responses.
- Monitor & Measure - start your meeting at the scheduled start time, even if all participants have not arrived. Review meeting minutes on a weekly basis to ensure that action items are being followed up on.
Action Plan:
- Plan your Next Meeting - review minutes from previous meetings, set clear goals, objectives, and desired outcomes. Select a meeting location and arrange logistics (seating, refreshments, equipment, nametags, parking, etc). Use Demand Metric's Meeting Agenda Template to organize topics for discussion and set timelines. Prioritize the agenda such that most important items are discussed first. Send invitations and agenda to each attendee.
- Facilitate the Meeting - start with a pointed introduction, amendments to the agenda, and general housekeeping. Engage participants immediately by setting expectations and helping them to feel comfortable. Use Demand Metric's Meeting Minutes Template to document discussions for each topic.
- Finish the Meeting - leave 10-15 minutes at the end of the meeting to discuss resolutions, assign action items, and schedule next steps or meetings. Send the minutes to each participant, and ask for feedback to determine areas for improvement. Follow up on action items as outlined in the minutes.
