The Characteristics of an Effective Business Meeting

We all complain about meetings which are a waste of our time and the truth of the matter is that so many are exactly those. We’ve also seen the “corridor” meeting that takes place afterwards where it seems the real decisions are taken, or the agreed decisions are overturned.

You’ll get your chance at some point in your career to run your own meeting – is yours going to go the same way? Or will you make sure it’s effective and does the job it is supposed to?

Well run meetings contribute to team building and high morale; badly run meetings are at best a waste of everyone’s time and at worst potentially damaging to work relationships and the business as a whole.

Here’s how you can get it right:

All successful meetings depend upon a number of interdependent factors, and if you approach each one methodically, you’ll find that your meetings are the ones that get actioned and you’ll get the credit.

Planning

• What is the meeting intended to achieve?
• What will the meeting actually achieve?
• What happens if you don’t hold the meeting?
• Who needs to attend and why?
• Is there a more effective way of communicating?

Preparation

• Prepare and circulate an agenda in advance
• Invite agenda items before the meeting
• Arrange agenda logically
• Consider the important and the urgent issues
• Arrange the timings and set limits
• Clarify objectives for each item

Information

• Tell those involved what’s expected of them
• Tell everyone the time, date, location etc
• Circulate any required pre-reading or information

Structure & Control

• Discuss each item in turn
• Seek contributions but keep people to the point - avoid the cycle of going over old ground
• Be aware of the needs of the group
• Prevent splinter discussion groups
• Summarise often to bring back to the point
• Commend contributions
• Confirm any conclusions
• Stress actions and who takes them

Records & Action

• Record discussions, actions and responsibilities
• Produce clear, simple minutes immediately

Effective handling of meetings:

For you to hold an effective meeting, it is important that the right people are invited and the agenda is doable. You should also control timings and members discussions. Encourage people to listen to each other, note actions and then review.

So if you want to avoid the “let’s all just turn up and see what happens” approach, it just means you need to take the time to think through what you really want and need to achieve and then get on with it. People will thank you for not wasting their time - and you’ll be glad too!

If you need help with recording any of your future meetings, Admin and More have expert minute takers who can assist with this. This can be done in person or via video call. We can take notes and prepare the minutes for distribution. You can use this service for a day, a week or any time period that you wish. For more information book a free consultation with us so we can discuss your needs!