Meeting criteria are the criteria used to make a meeting as effective as possible. This depends on many variables, whether it is the type of company, its objectives, the type of employee, whether it is face-to-face or remotely. The types of meetings also vary depending on the environment in which they are held. If you do it online (1), it depends on the platform chosen by the company.
The meeting criteria start by defining the type of activity that will be carried out. Some meetings are just informational in nature, but others focus on project planning. Tying everything up with the types of meetings you want to have in your company makes daily life develop more smoothly.
Check out our recent article: How to Organize Effective Meetings
Summary
- Define objectives in advance. When it is determined that a business meeting is necessary, it must be planned in advance. To do this correctly, it is important to define the objectives to be achieved and the current situation of the company.
- Choose the right space. For effective business meetings, it is important to choose a suitable space (2). It is advisable to reserve a space that has all the necessary materials and technologies for a good development of the meeting.
- Document and share data. After the meeting, prepare a summary with the proposed measures, conclusions, and next steps and send it individually to the attendees. This is a good way to make a meeting effective and make employees feel valued.
Learn more about Meeting Objectives
What you should know about the Meeting Criteria
The meeting should start by addressing the most important points, i.e. the main reason for the meeting. Then, you should propose the work model in order to achieve the set goals and finish with the secondary topics.
What are the Meeting Criteria for?
Meeting Criteria are used to have a pre-established order for all types of meetings within the company. This will help you have more organized meetings and when someone calls a meeting, you will already know in advance what type it is, its duration, and the content that will be discussed.
Advantages and disadvantages of Meeting Criteria
Advantages
- They guarantee a periodic control of the processes.
- They facilitate the adoption of solutions and the correction of failures.
- They avoid the monotony of daily meetings.
- They increase the confidence of the work group and reinforce the awareness of the actions being carried out.
Disadvantages
- When the processes do not bring significant novelties, they can lose their monitoring essence.
Why are meeting criteria important?
They are important because business meetings are intended to drive the achievement of objectives. When everyone is in the same boat and aware of what needs to be done the result is that even the most challenging tasks can be accomplished.
Finally, you will no longer have employees who think meetings are a setback. To achieve this, put these meeting criteria into practice and you will increase the effectiveness and productivity (3):
What are the 4 fundamental phases of a meeting?
Before the meeting
- Prepare it ahead of time.
- Adequately select the people who will participate. You should only choose those people whose presence is necessary.
- Create a meeting plan. This document will specify the reason for the meeting, the objectives to be achieved, the topics to be discussed, and the time to be devoted to each issue.
- Convene attendees sufficiently in advance so that they have time to prepare their interventions.
- Send the meeting plan to all participants.
During the meeting
- Start on time. Punctuality is a fundamental aspect. Try to start and finish on time. Time is money!
- Spend the first few minutes clarifying the key points. Indicate the importance of the topics to be discussed, the main reason for the meeting, the objectives to be achieved and propose the working method to be followed, as well as the participation and intervention rules.
- Follow the structure of the meeting plan. Try to follow the plan in detail, giving each point the proper time and avoiding discussing topics not covered in the plan. Summarize at each stage.
- Address the most important issues in the middle of the meeting.
- The meeting director or coordinator should focus on directing the process of the discussions, but not their content. They must ensure progress and progression in the development of the meeting. A particularly important aspect is to encourage the participants to speak. It is essential to seek the active participation of the attendees, in this way you will get more out of their attendance.
- Do not allow anyone to impose themselves and monopolize the meeting, as this could negatively affect the positive climate of communication and cooperation that you should try to create and maintain.
At the end of the meeting
- Allow time at the end for the participants to express doubts, suggestions, comments.
- Synthesize the essential conclusions.
- Summarize the positive contributions, opinions, suggestions and adopted agreements.
- Thank the participants for their participation.
After the meeting
- Prepare a summary of the meeting to be sent to all participants in the following days. his summary should include whether the previously set objectives have been met, the tasks that have been assigned to the different participants, the most important conclusions, etc..
- If necessary, the attendees should be called to another meeting. This ensures that attendees can prepare in advance. They know what data needs to be updated and what tasks they have in advance. It also helps people to be ready to discuss any obstacles or problems, which also speed up the meeting.
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What is the importance of meeting criteria?
Meeting criteria are important because they establish guidelines beforehand on how to handle each meeting and make the most out of your working time. If, due to poor management of the structure of a meeting, you lose working time, in the long run it will cost money to the company out of its budget.
Conclusion
Meeting criteria are a key part of a company’s operation. The way the criteria are determined, they establish the functioning of a team and therefore, of the organization. Meeting attendees should go into the meeting with a clear mindset, where they know that they need to add value to the agenda and that their contribution is needed.
Meetings should set a key task for each individual to commit to making progress in their area before the next meeting. Holding people accountable for completing these tasks is critical to leading a high-performing team.
References
1. Arauz Salmerón, Juan José (2021) Habilidades y Competencias Directivas a distancia. How to lead Telework teams
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2. Mattijs Van Maasakkers & Jeeson Oh (2020) Where Should We Have the Meeting?, Journal of the American Planning Association, 86:2
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3. Geovanny Pons, Fabiana Claudia, Fonseca C., Efraín R., Oscar Dieste (2022) What personal factors affect TDD quality and productivity? An experiment with professionals
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