So what makes a meeting effective?

This really boils down to three things:

1. They achieve the meeting's objective.

2. They take up a minimum amount of time.

3. They leave participants feeling that a sensible process has been followed.

If you structure your meeting planning, preparation, execution, and follow up around these three basic
criteria, the result will be an effective meeting.

1. The Meeting's Objective

An effective meeting serves a useful purpose. This means that in it, you achieve a desired outcome. For a
meeting to meet this outcome, or objective, you have to be clear about what it is.

Too often, people call a meeting to discuss something without really considering what a good outcome would
be.

• Do you want a decision?

• Do you want to generate ideas?

• Are you getting status reports?

• Are you communicating something?

• Are you making plans?

Any of these, and a myriad of others, is an example of a meeting objective. Before you do any meeting
planning, you need to focus your objective.

To help you determine what your meeting objective is, complete this sentence:

At the close of the meeting, I want the group to ...

With the end result clearly defined, you can then plan the contents of the meeting, and determine who needs
to be present.

2. Use Time Wisely

Time is a precious resource, and no one wants their time wasted. With the amount of time we all spend in
meetings, you owe it to yourself and your team to streamline the meeting as much as possible. What's more,
time wasted in a meeting is time wasted for everybody attending. For example, if a critical person is 15
minutes late in an eight person meeting, that person has cost the organization two hours of lost activity.
Starting with your meeting objective, everything that happens in the meeting itself should further that
objective. If it doesn't, it's superfluous and should not be included.

To ensure you cover only what needs to be covered and you stick to relevant activities, you need to create an
agenda. The agenda is what you will refer to in order to keep the meeting running on target and on time.

To prepare an agenda, consider the following factors:

• Priorities – what absolutely must be covered?

• Results – what do you need to accomplish at the meeting?

• Participants – who needs to attend the meeting for it to be successful?

• Sequence – in what order will you cover the topics?

• Timing – how much time will spend on each topic?

• Date and time – when will the meeting take place?

• Place – where will the meeting take place?

With an idea of what needs to be covered and for how long, you can then look at the information that should
be prepared beforehand. What do the participants need to know in order to make the most of the meeting
time? And, what role are they expected to perform in the meeting, so that they can do the right preparation?

If it's a meeting to solve a problem, ask the participants to come prepared with a viable solution. If you are
discussing an ongoing project, have each participant summarize his or her progress to date and circulate the
reports amongst members.

Assigning a particular topic of discussion to various people is another great way to increase involvement and
interest. On the agenda, indicate who will lead the discussion or presentation of each item.

Use your agenda as your time guide. When you notice that time is running out for a particular item, consider
hurrying the discussion, pushing to a decision, deferring discussion until another time, or assigning it for
discussion by a subcommittee.

An important aspect of running effective meetings is insisting that everyone respects the time allotted. Start
the meeting on time, do not spend time recapping for latecomers, and, when you can, finish on time.
Whatever can be done outside the meeting time should be. This includes circulating reports for people to read
beforehand, and assigning smaller group meetings to discuss issues relevant to only certain people.
 3. Satisfying Participants that a Sensible Process Has Been Followed

Once you have an agenda prepared, you need to circulate it to the participants and get their feedback and
input. Running a meeting is not a dictatorial role: You have to be participative right from the start.

Perhaps there is something important that a team member has to add. Maybe you have allotted too much, or
too little, time for a particular item. There may even be some points you've included that have been settled
already and can be taken off the list for discussion.

Whatever the reason, it is important you get feedback from the meeting participants about your proposed
agenda.

Once in the meeting, to ensure maximum satisfaction for everyone, there are several things you should keep
in mind:

• If certain people are dominating the conversation, make a point of asking others for their ideas.

• At the end of each agenda item, quickly summarize what was said, and ask people to confirm that
that's a fair summary. Then make notes regarding follow-up.

• Note items that require further discussion.

• Watch body language and make adjustments as necessary. Maybe you need a break, or you need to
stop someone from speaking too much.

• Ensure the meeting stays on topic.

• List all tasks that are generated at the meeting. Make a note of who is assigned to do what, and by
when.

• At the close of the meeting, quickly summarize next steps and inform everyone that you will be
sending out a meeting summary.

After the meeting is over, take some time to debrief, and determine what went well and what could have been
done better. Evaluate the meeting's effectiveness based on how well you met the objective. This will help you
continue to improve your process of running effective meetings.

You may even want to get the participants' feedback as well. Depending on the time frame, this debriefing
can be done within the meeting itself or afterward.
Finally, prepare the meeting summary. This will be forwarded to all participants and other stakeholders. It is
a record of what was accomplished and who is responsible for what as the team moves forward. This is a
very crucial part of effective meetings that often gets overlooked. You need a written record of what
transpired, along with a list of actions that named individuals have agreed to perform. Make sure someone is
assigned to take notes during the meeting if you think you will be too busy to do so yourself.
 Meeting preparation checklist
The meeting preparation checklist below is designed to help you organise and run more productive company
meetings.

• Meeting objectives/outcomes

o What key results do I want to achieve? For example, your aim might be to provide upward
and downward communication, identify best practice and share experiences, make a decision, or
generate new ideas and suggestions

o How will we know that the meeting has been successful?

o What past history or experience of these meetings (or the group participants), will help or
hinder the achievement of the outcome?

• Meeting agenda

o What format should the agenda take?

o Who is responsible for preparing and distributing the agenda?

o What supporting information is required?

• Meeting timing

o How long should the meeting last?

o When is the best time to hold the meeting (day of the week and time of day)?

o How frequently should the meetings be held?

o What start and finish time will be scheduled?

o What breaks do we need to schedule?

• Participants

o Who should attend?

o Which guests and/or speakers are to be invited and what time do they need to schedule?

o Who will check confirmation of their attendance?

• Role assignments

o What role assignments need to be made? E.g. chairperson, minute taker, facilitator and
timekeeper.
• Role clarity

o Having identified the assigned roles, what activities do each of the roles need to do before,
during and after the meeting?

• Physical arrangements

o Where geographically should the meeting/s be located?

o What type of environment do we want to create?

o How should the meeting room layout and seating be arranged?

o What facilities and equipment are needed?

o What refreshments are required?

• Supporting materials

o What supporting materials such as presentation slides and handouts need to be produced and
who will be assigned to complete this?

• Evaluation method

o How should the meeting be evaluated in order to improve the next meeting? E.G. group
review at end of meeting, evaluation form, follow up telephone discussion?
 EVALUATE THE MEETINGS:

Sample Meeting Evaluation Form

Please indicate how much you agree with the following statements by circling your response using the scale
provided, where 1 = strongly disagree and 5 = strongly agree.

SD D N A SA

The meeting purpose and objectives were clearly stated. 1 2 3 4 5

Our meeting time was convenient for me. 1 2 3 4 5

Our meeting place was convenient for me. 1 2 3 4 5

We shared decision-making at this meeting. 1 2 3 4 5

All meeting participants were actively involved. 1 2 3 4 5

We used our meeting time effectively. 1 2 3 4 5

I am satisfied with this meeting. 1 2 3 4 5

I enjoyed this meeting. 1 2 3 4 5

What aspects of this meeting were particularly good?

What aspects of this meeting were particularly bad?

Do you have any suggestions or additional comments about this meeting?

Agenda Template
• For instructions on meeting agendas, visit www.mindtools.com/rs/Meetings.

Agenda

Date: Time: Duration: Place:

Meeting Purpose:

Time Allocated Objective

Topic/Item Topic Leader
(Minutes) (Choose one)

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

© Copyright Mind Tools Ltd, 2006-2015.

Please feel free to copy this sheet for your own use and to share with friends, co-workers or team members, just as long as you do not change it in any way.