Although it may not seem like it, but meetings require a great deal of preparation. And most companies hold meetings with their staff on a daily basis to address important matters.
Whether you meet face-to-face or virtually, preparing for meetings is crucial for its success. If certain steps are not taken, the desired results of the meeting may not be achieved.
Read about the main Meeting Challenges
Summary
- Good meeting management starts before the actual meeting takes place, so you should carefully prepare for it.
- Our guide can help you prepare for a great meeting, whether it’s a face-to-face meeting, a virtual meeting or a hybrid meeting.
- The better you prepare for a meeting, the better results you will get, so you will have better time management and better results.
What you should know about the meetings
Meetings are a widely used tool in business, with the purpose of bringing together a group of people to discuss important and relevant issues (1). The main objectives of the meetings are often to finalize sales or to plan strategies for the better functioning of the company. There are three types of meetings.
What are the 3 types of meetings?
| Types of meetings | Features |
|---|---|
| Face-to-face meetings | Face-to-face meetings are held in company meeting rooms |
| Virtual meetings | Virtual meetings can be held anywhere, you just need an internet connection and a laptop |
| Hybrid meetings | In these meetings, you can combine face-to-face meetings and have a group of people remotely |
How to prepare a business meeting to make it more effective?
For a meeting to be more effective, it has to be well organized, this way you can achieve your objectives and avoid the feeling that the meeting was not productive. Here are the best steps to follow for making your meeting more effective.
Establish purpose and goals
When planning your meeting, set the objectives of the meeting. When we refer to objectives we mean that you define the purpose of the meeting, and value the topics you want to discuss, for example:
If you define the objectives and what you want to achieve after the meeting, this will help you to create a better agenda.
Remember, if the points you want to discuss can be more feasibly communicated via email, there is no need for a meeting.
Create and share an agenda
After defining the objectives of your meeting, you should create an agenda, which will help you summarize the exact points to be discussed at the meeting. In addition, having an agenda will give the impression that you have better planning, and you will know perfectly well what points to discuss.
The agenda will be focused on your objectives, and during the meeting you will be able to keep order and not miss any points, achieving more effective meetings. There is no set template for the agenda, but you can create basic ones for recurring or first-time meetings. How to create an agenda for your meeting.
Agenda for recurring meetings
Generally, you would think that for more recurring meetings, it would not be necessary to create an agenda.
But, if it is necessary, this type of agenda usually is more simple. Hence, you can include precise discussion points in this type of agenda.
Remember to share your agenda with the participants via email or any communication app used in your company.
Agenda for first-time meetings
With first-time meetings, if you need to go into more detail, the people attending the meeting will typically not have much knowledge of the meeting’s objectives.
It is therefore necessary that your agenda template has the following important points:
- First, communicate the general purposes of the meeting
- Describe the points to be discussed, from the most important to the least relevant
- Explain the roles and tasks to be performed by each participant
At the beginning of your meeting, it is important that you share the agenda, more so if it has presentations and that people know at what point they can proceed with it.
Prepare your presentations
It is very essential to have visual support during meetings, this helps while the meeting is taking place.
A study by Lussier showed that presentations and audiovisual elements help participants to stay focused on the meeting (2). Therefore, they make your meetings more effective and keep participants aligned with the objectives set out in your agenda.
Distribute support materials
If you want to provide support materials, such as relevant documents, it is best to provide them to your participants before the meeting. If you do this, your participants will already have a clearer idea of the purpose of the meeting.
Where can you provide this information? The best way is to attach it to the invitation, which is shared via email or an internal communication platform.
Manage the meeting time
For an effective meeting, you need to have good time management during the meeting.
Good time management is a management tool that allows you to obtain better results and achieve the objectives of the meeting. In addition, having good time management will make your meeting more proactive and better organized (3).
Preparing for meetings
Finally, prepare your meeting and make sure everything is in order. Depending on the type of meeting you want to hold, you must first organize the date and time of the meeting, as well as have the meeting rooms ready. Read more about meeting preparation.
Determine the date
Following the steps of setting up your meeting, you should first set the date. Discuss with your participants what day is convenient for everyone, so that you can be sure that everyone will attend.
Set the meeting time
Next, you need to set the time, if you do a face-to-face meeting it will be much easier to determine a convenient time, as it could be during business hours. Whereas for virtual meetings, you will need to take time zones into consideration.
Establish whether the meeting will be remote or face-to-face
Nowadays, you can do not only face-to-face meetings, but also remote or hybrid meetings.
Therefore, when planning a meeting, you need to establish how the meeting will take place. You should also consider everything you need for the meeting to run smoothly. Take into consideration the following:
| Face-to-face meetings | Remote meetings | Hybrid meetings |
|---|---|---|
| Book a meeting room, with the right size for all participants | Hold the meeting in a suitable location, without interruptions | Book a room with a large screen for good projection |
| Make sure everyone has enough space | All participants should have a good connection | Check that the audio and internet connection are accessible |
| Arrange for refreshments at the end of the meeting | Encourage participants to use a camera | Ensure that all participants have access to microphones |
Now that you have this step-by-step guide, start preparing for your meetings and get the most out of them.
Conclusion
The success of your meetings depends on good preparation. Of course, there can be mistakes, but this guide will help you to be better prepared.
With the tips we have given you, you will be ready to prepare for a great meeting. Good luck!
References
1. PAEZ JASON. Importance of Knowledge Management and Human Talent … – CCB. UNIEMPRESARIAL FUNDACIÓN UNIVERSITARIA DE LA CÁMARA DE COMERCIO DE BOGOTÁ; 13Oct2022
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2. How to Conduct Effective Meetings. Universidad de Concepción Department of Social Service; 13Oct2022
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3. Recuerda A, Varón D, Ripoll F, Villalobos A. TIME MANAGEMENT AS A MANAGEMENT SKILL. Polytechnic University of Valencia; 13Oct2022
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