Some companies seem to spend most of their time in meetings and a lot less than they should out in the real world making money. A meeting can easily drag on for hours and yet can solve little that justifies how that time is spent. Therefore, it is a good idea to learn how to conduct a meeting efficiently in order to use everyone’s time effectively.

Before The Meeting

Agendas are a good idea. Decide what you want to cover and achieve from your meeting, focusing on these things to achieve your goal. If you plan in advance all that you want to cover in the meeting, there is less chance of getting side-tracked into discussing other things.

Write out the main areas of discussion and put them in a logical order, but also making sure that if you do get sidetracked, the most important issues are discussed. Then you can send the agenda out to everyone who will attend the meeting before the meeting takes place so that they have some time to prepare their views etc.

You are under no obligation to include a time slot for any other business (AOB) in your meeting, although it is likely that you will.

During The Meeting

There is no definitive, right way to conduct a meeting, but here are some ideas you might like to try:

Firstly plan for the meeting, get something down on paper before the meeting begins, be prepared, after all fail to plan, then plan to fail!

Make sure you’re not the only one talking – no-one likes to feel like they’re in a lecture. As the chair of the meeting it’s your job to make sure everyone contributes and that the meeting stay on-topic and relevant.
Invite contributions from everyone – in every meeting there will be people who are quieter than others, but they often have great ideas that they’re just too shy to voice. Try and bring these kinds of people out of their shells and not let the meeting be purely dominated by the most confident and vocal people in the room

Try standing – some bosses believe this is the best way of conducting any meetings because it means everyone wants to get it over with sooner and therefore prevent time wasting.

Call points to a close – as chairman, if you initiate a subject, you should also conclude it. Make sure that once a subject is decided upon and concluded, it isn’t inadvertently brought up again later in the meeting. This can cause confusion. Everyone should leave the meeting with a clear idea of what has been decided and what needs to be achieved from here.

What Do You Think?

Do you have any other tips and ideas you are willing to share? We would love to know your thoughts and opinions. Leave your comments here.

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