Tips for running effective meetings!

Create a meeting agenda.

Every efficient meeting starts with a meeting agenda! Agendas help you plan and present the scope, outline, and discussion of you meeting.

Choose the right length to meet.

Use your meeting agenda to determine how long your meeting should last. Keep in mind that if your meetings go on too long, you risk losing your audience’s attention. However, you don’t want to rush through meetings either, or your attendees might not fully understand or retain the information. Many effective meetings only last for 15 to 20 minutes, however, your meeting may need to run longer if you are brainstorming or making important decisions!

Invite the right people.

When meetings are overcrowded, they can become counterproductive and impractical. With too many people offering their opinions or asking questions, your meeting can quickly move off- topic. On the other hand, you don’t want to waste your colleagues’ precious time when they could be working on something else. To run a productive meeting, consider who will benefit from your meeting and avoid inviting anyone who isn’t directly affected by your meeting topic.

Take meeting minutes.

Taking effective meeting minutes is essential. Attendees can reference their meeting minutes to refresh their memory on what was discussed. Meeting minutes also benefit those who were unable to attend. If you’re running a meeting, assign a team member to take minutes for you!

Leave time for questions.

If someone in your meeting has a question, chances are that someone else in the meeting was wondering the same thing. Running an effective meeting means that your attendees have a clear understanding of what was discussed. Allot time for questions in your meeting so that any outstanding questions are answered.

Provide next steps.

If you share a lot of information in a meeting, your attendees may wonder what to do with it all. Provide clear next steps during the meeting so your attendees are all on the same page. Next steps might include due dates, future meetings, and required deliverables.