You're in charge of organizing a small business meeting. How can you make sure it runs smoothly?

Have you ever been part of a meeting where you asked yourself “why am I here?”. So has everyone else. Be thoughtful of what you’d like to accomplish and only have the people you need in the room to execute.

Every meeting within an established team needs a purpose and agenda to keep it on track and ensure time is spent efficiently. However it’s important to leave space for discussion around related challenges and issues that might be making the daily work activities harder or slower. People need to be heard and supported, and also to have the opportunity to hear other perspectives. You might discover unresolved issues or common issues and challenges that the business must address, if it is to grow and succeed. The meeting is also an opportunity to express empathy and support, both key aspects of a positive and successful workplace.

If everyone has a clear role and responsibility up front, you're unlikely to have a bad meeting: one where everyone walks away after two hours with no context or next steps. Bain & Co invented the RAPID framework to help large enterprises deal with the challenges of decision making. The same framework can be helpful for small businesses as well, particularly for meetings. Here's how the framework works: **R (Recommend)**: Assign someone to propose solutions. **A (Agree)**: Identify key stakeholders who must agree. **P (Perform)**: Decide who'll execute the decision. **I (Input)**: Gather insights from relevant contributors. **D (Decide)**: Appoint a final decision-maker. Note that each attendee can only have one role. This is key!

In addition to what has been written: Setting meeting goals and objectives is paramount to give direction. It is very important to identify and profile the relevant stakeholders. Pre-determining the number of stakeholders you are inviting is also critical. Preparing and sending attractive invite that explains the purpose and benefits of attending the meeting. You can also do a one page Google form to get their expectations from the meeting. Letting the stakeholders know that their inputs, comments, concerns, etc are important to the business project is very important. If possible, get their commitments on the issues discussed. Follow up with them on their commitments. Good time management is critical.

Start off by ensuring a meeting is actually necessary. Far too often small businesses (and big businesses!) schedule meetings for the sake of having them. More often than not, a quick one-on-one chat would suffice. If a meeting is called for, ensure everyone is properly briefed as to the purpose, the agenda and the expected outcomes. Ensure all background materials are circulated well ahead of the meeting and then take those as read. Have a strong meeting leader/moderator to keep discussions on track and on point. And ensure proper, brief, notes are kept and circulated immediately after the meeting, especially any action items and timelines for delivery. Start on time, and end on time!

Selecting the right meeting platform and tools is essential to facilitating productive communication and teamwork. Video?conferencing tools are essential for establishing a connection with participants who are far away, while survey and polling tools improve participation with sizable gatherings. It's a good idea to adapt technology to the particular requirements of your target audience. For example, creative teams can benefit from the use of brainstorming tools. For a meeting to go smoothly, compatibility, reliability, and accessibility are essential factors.

Don’t overcomplicate this aspect of business. Publicly traded companies still use Zoom, Teams, and Google Meets. These tools all have a feature to record meetings, and if you really need transcripts of what was discussed you can purchase a tool such as Otter.Ai to join the meeting

How you choose the platform will depend on a variety of things: 1. How well do you know your audience? What are their needs? 2. Do you have any disabled small business owners attending? How does the platform cater to them? 3. Do you want to control the webinar and have no participation or not? 4. Does it have recording capabilities so people who can't attend can catxh up? 5. Do you need to put up polls and other collaborative activities during the webinar? And there are more depending on the nature of your audience. Carefully consider your requirements against your budget and assess the technology available.

Look for a suitable venue Send invitation with agenda Relevant to business Organize a scriber Organize refreshment Give them background of the small business

Escolher o Local Adequado: Certifique-se de que o local é apropriado para o número de participantes e que tem os recursos necessários, como projetor, conex?o à internet e quadro branco. O ambiente deve ser confortável e livre de distra??es. Verificar a Tecnologia: Se a reuni?o exigir tecnologia, como videoconferência, certifique-se de que tudo está funcionando corretamente antes da reuni?o come?ar. Fa?a um teste prévio para evitar atrasos e problemas técnicos.

Know who will be in the room. Understand how to communicate with each person. Each person should feel like they are part of the meeting. Have a process in place to address any questions. Seek feedback after, (many people simply need to be heard).

I completely agree. In addition, it is worthwhile to ask your meeting participants for their input to weigh in on the agenda to make sure everyone has a reason to set a sign their valuable time.

If you are meeting with a client or a prospect, it is essential to be well prepared. This would entail scheduling the meeting with at least a 2 days notice so all parties can be on the same page and any potential conflicts can be addressed with ample time. Internal meetings with your team can be more impromptu, but you will still want to outline what the meeting will cover and who actually needs to attend

Be mindful of the schedules of participants. Too often I’ve seen companies schedule meetings during prime sales hours. I’ve also seen too many meetings scheduled to the point where it is disruptive to the participants’ day, causing a choppy and ineffective work environment. We’ve all seen the coffee mug “sitting in another useless meeting that could have been an email.”

To ensure that the meetings are productive and efficient, it's important to provide timely and clear communication 24-48 hours prior to the meeting. By sending out meeting agendas and detailed emails with the necessary information, you create a sense of clarity and direction for all participants. This helps to avoid confusion and makes it easier for everyone to contribute their ideas. Additionally, by testing the technology ahead of time, you can eliminate any potential roadblocks and have a smooth experience.

I find that the most productive meetings offer a variety of opportunities for engagement. Not everyone is comfortable jumping in with their opinion or suggestion, but they still deserve to be heard. Ensure participants with stronger personalities allow time for others to contribute. Don’t call them out, but just giving them the chance to speak up will show you value them. Thought should also be given to the meeting space and set-up. Can everyone hear & see each other, or are some people lost in the back of the room? For next steps, set a firm deadline, but give multiple options like email, phone, or one-on-one conversations. By allowing someone to participate in their preferred style, they’ll likely be more productive - and happier.

This can be simplified down to a 2 word sentence: Be mindful. No one wants to be on any more meetings than necessary, and meetings that drag on past the allotted time are typically less valued than a 15-20 minute sprint. Prioritize light check in meetings and allow time for other people to ask questions or bring up points relevant to the meeting topic

Fomentar a Participa??o: Encoraje todos os participantes a contribuir para a discuss?o. Uma reuni?o é mais eficaz quando há um diálogo aberto e participa??o ativa. Pode ser útil pedir contribui??es específicas de antem?o para garantir que todos estejam preparados para participar.

It's important to follow up after a meeting to ensure that action steps discussed during the meeting are carried out. One useful tool for this is the Zoom Meeting Summary Feature, which can help get post-meeting information to participants quickly. Recording meetings through Zoom or other platforms is also essential, as it provides a record of what was discussed and can be used as a resource for those who couldn't attend the meeting.

Follow up is key. There's nothing worse than an employee asking a question, being told I'll have to look into that for you, then never receiving a response. If there are unanswered questions or unaddressed agenda items at the end of the meeting, make it a point to schedule time to close the loop with a response. Doing so indicates the value leaders hold for their team and the true desire for questions to be asked.

Summarizing key takeaways from the meeting can now be streamlined with AI tools that can join the mean and transcribe everything discussed. If you want to play on expert mode, use an AI like ChatGPT to summarize the transcription to make it digestible for all parties involved. I would suggest that this aspect of the business should not take longer than 15 minutes as there are bound to be more pressing issues for the business to focus on to increase profits, build the brand, and improve operational efficiency

Documentar e Seguir A??es: Nomeie alguém para tomar notas durante a reuni?o, destacando as decis?es tomadas e as a??es a serem seguidas. Após a reuni?o, envie um resumo e os próximos passos a todos os participantes para garantir que todos saibam o que é esperado deles. Solicitar Feedback: Após a reuni?o, pode ser útil solicitar feedback dos participantes sobre como a reuni?o foi conduzida e o que pode ser melhorado no futuro. Isso ajudará a aprimorar futuras reuni?es.

- Set clear objectives - Structured agenda with time allocations - Encourage preparation - Respect time constraints - Designate a facilitator - Foster active participation - Check technology for virtual meetings - Use clear communication - Clearly outline decisions and next steps - Follow up with a summary and action items All of this can really help a meeting smoothly and effectively

Infuse creativity into the meeting environment by incorporating interactive elements such as group problem-solving exercises or quick-fire brainstorming sessions. Utilize unconventional seating arrangements to break down hierarchical barriers, fostering a more collaborative and inclusive atmosphere. Surprise attendees with unexpected breaks featuring engaging activities like short mindfulness exercises or impromptu team-building challenges to rejuvenate energy and enhance overall productivity.

Consider shorter, smaller and organizational group specific meetings over long meetings. Having meeting attendees that topics don’t affect is a waste of the company paid production time. Attendees that don’t know or regularly participate in your subject matter interrupt and ask a lot of questions and lost time bring and group back to attention. Upper management should attend as many of these as possible so Lower level staff see they are engaged, care and support all staff levels. Never call out duties or persons in a negative way in a meeting. It’s embarrassing to everyone not hurt the person who you passively aggressively call out. Redact names and or identity a staff when sharing with the groups.

When setting up a meeting of any sort from a small gathering to a large corporate event it is important if there is a goal or a purpose to use Robs Rules to create a sense of order and disipline.