New ideas and fresh perspectives can only be uncovered if people are willing to share their knowledge, listen carefully to others, and not get caught up in their ideas.
This can happen only through meetings. So as a manager it is necessary to understand how to conduct a meeting.
That’s why effective meetings are so important in any organization. If you’re leading a meeting for the first time, it can be nerve-wracking. You want to steer the conversation in productive directions without coming off as bossy or overbearing.
Furthermore, you want to make sure that everyone who needs to be there is there, keep track of time, and ensure everyone leaves feeling heard and included. Sound challenging? It is! But with practice and preparation, you can become an expert meeting leader. Read on for some helpful pointers on how to conduct a meeting like a pro!
Define the agenda in advance
List of Contents
At the start of the meeting, briefly review the agenda, and highlight your reasons for choosing the topics you’ve selected. This helps people understand how the conversation will flow and allows them to prepare for topics that may be more unfamiliar to them.
If you’re leading a meeting for a group of employees you manage, you should consider their experience and expertise when deciding on the agenda.
For example, if you’re leading a meeting for a group of engineers, you probably don’t want to start with a discussion about marketing strategy. But if you’re leading a meeting for a group of executives, you should probably address a broader business agenda.
Hold effective meetings
If you want to make sure your meeting is effective, there are a few things to keep in mind. First of all, know the purpose of the meeting. Why are you meeting in the first place? What do you hope to accomplish? Make sure everyone attending the meeting has the same goals and objectives in mind.
Because meetings are a collaborative experience, it is important to give everyone time to share their ideas and opinions. However, you also need to keep the meeting moving along and make sure everyone stays focused on the agenda.
Here are some helpful meeting tips that will help you achieve both of these goals:
– Before the meeting, identify one or two objectives. You should be able to answer the question, “What did we do in this meeting?”
– Encourage participation from every attendee.
– Use questions to guide the conversation, rather than opinions and ideas.
– Stay on track. If you stray from the agenda, bring the conversation back to the topics at hand and find a way to address the other topics at a later time.
– Use a timer to keep the meeting on track.
– Assign action items at the end of the meeting and follow up with attendees to be sure they’re completed.
– Take notes to help you stay organized and focused.
– Wrap up the meeting by summarizing what was discussed and outlining the next steps.
Always start and end on time
This may seem obvious, but it’s surprising how many meeting leaders don’t do this. If your meeting starts at 9:15 am, don’t start at 9:30, even if that’s when the last person arrives. The same goes for ending on time. If the meeting is scheduled to end at 3:00 pm, don’t let it run a few minutes over.
Even though you may want every attendee to get every last word in, you need to show respect for the other people who have other obligations. If you let the meeting run over time, you’re making it harder for everyone to get to where they need to go.
Ask for input ahead of time
If you have a meeting where you expect input from attendees, let them know in advance. This allows people to prepare their thoughts and make sure they’re ready to share their ideas when they’re needed.
If you’re leading a meeting for a group of employees, you can ask for input ahead of time by including a survey or gathering data in some other way.
If you’re leading a meeting for a group of executives, you might want to plan to bring up a topic and invite discussion.
However, you do it, asking for input ahead of time gives attendees the chance to prepare their ideas and thoughts and make sure they’re ready to share them when the time comes. This helps keep the meeting moving along and ensures that everyone has a chance to be heard.
Use check-in questions
The goal of any meeting should be to bring out the best ideas and opinions from every attendee. While you can do this by asking questions, it’s important to remember that not everyone is the same and not everyone likes to be asked questions in the same way.
People in different fields or with different levels of experience may think or speak in different ways than you do. You may be able to see things they don’t because you’re more familiar with the topic.
To make sure everyone feels heard and included, use check-in questions to gauge the thoughts of everyone in the room. This will help you better understand the perspectives of everyone in the meeting and allow you to follow up on ideas and thoughts that you may have missed.
Wrapping up
At the end of the meeting, make sure to summarize what was discussed, highlight action items and make sure there is clarity around the next steps.
This will help attendees leave the meeting feeling confident in their ability to move forward and accomplish what needs to be done. The meeting leader should take notes.
While you don’t want to take verbatim notes, you should be sure to capture the ideas and comments that are brought up. This will help you follow up with attendees if needed and keep the conversation moving forward.
Also, send a summary of the meeting to all attendees as soon as possible following the meeting. A meeting summary helps everyone remember what was discussed and what was decided. With practice and preparation, you can become an expert meeting leader and help your team achieve more.
[learn_press_profile]