Communication

Six tips for a successful meeting

Follow these simple tips and people may actually want to attend your meetings:

1. Create an agenda and stick to it.
Your attendees will appreciate being able to follow along with your agenda. They’ll know what to expect from the meeting and they’ll also know what’s not appropriate to discuss at the meeting, helping to keep things on track.

2. Begin the meeting by stating the purpose.
Reiterate why you called the meeting and the specific objectives you hope to accomplish.

3. Don’t be the secretary.
Don’t be the meeting secretary, especially if you’re running the meeting. If you need a word-for-word dictation ask a administrative professional to join or ask someone else already attending the meeting to take notes.

4. Make eye contact.
Make eye contact with every person around the table. Don’t stare at the agenda or the table, and don’t pick one person to focus on. If making a strong point, stand while speaking.

5. Review action items.
Ensure that everyone has a clear understanding what is expected of them after the meeting. Review the actions that come out the meeting and who is handling them.

6. Follow up.
Nobody likes to attend a pointless meeting. Send out an email with the action items immediately following the meeting and follow up with the results shortly thereafter.