HBR Management Tip

Keep Your Meetings on Track

Everyone appreciates a meeting that’s run efficiently. To stick to a schedule and make the best use of everyone’s time, start by planning your talking points. Ask yourself questions like: What ideas do I want to raise in this meeting? What problems do we need to solve? What questions do I most want this group to discuss and consider? At the start of the meeting, lay out what exactly needs to be decided, reviewed, or accomplished. Avoid vague verbs like “exploring” or “addressing” that promise talk, not action. Give the team a preview of what will be covered so they know what to expect and can follow along. Throughout the meeting, keep detours brief. When a tangential idea arises, even if it’s a good one, consider whether it’s the right meeting to discuss it. If not, steer the meeting back toward your agenda, and follow up later about the unrelated idea. Finally, end on an actionable note. Decide who’s doing what next and when.

This tip is adapted from?“10 Tactics to Keep Your Meeting on Track,”?by Joel Schwartzberg