Meeting Planning - 7 Tips for Effective Meeting Management

How many times have you heard someone grumble at the mention of having to attend another meeting? Perhaps they feel that most meetings are a waste of time or unproductive. Given the endless pulls on people's time, meetings need to be carefully planned. Before you call a meeting, make sure that the meeting is necessary, not just convenient for you. With the continuous wave of technology affecting the way we conduct business and meetings, meeting alternatives are endless. From teleconferences to web meetings, businesses and organization have a wide variety of tools to effectively implement meetings. So make sure the type of meeting you choose matches the objectives of your meeting.

Here are just a few suggestions to ensure that you create effective meetings:

1. Have an agenda. Take some time to pre-plan your meeting. Make sure you have your objectives for the meeting well planned out. List the objectives of the meeting and provide the agenda to attendees before the meeting starts. If you have documents that the group will need to review and discuss at the meeting, make sure they have those documents beforehand. This will save you time during the meeting, avoiding the need to read or review during the meeting. This will also help attendees be more prepared.

2. Break the ice. Start the meeting with an icebreaker or activity. Make the icebreaker entertaining and engaging. Get the group talking and even moving. The icebreaker should be included in your agenda and given an allotted amount of time.

3. Stay on task. Only discuss the agenda items. Don't allow for other items to be added to the agenda that are not related the current task. Table those items for another meeting or at the end of the current meeting, if time permits. Don't extend the allotted time of the meeting just to include those additional items. Accomplish what has been established in the agenda.

4. Involve the group or team players. If you're having a committee meeting, getting feedback a few days before the meeting from the group regarding items they might want to discuss can help establish the meeting agenda. It will also make the group feel more involved in the meeting and its process. Be sure everyone in the group has been delegated a task to achieve by the next meeting or established deadline.

5. Location. Location. Location. If your meetings are normally held in a conference room or hotel room, think of other places to hold your meeting. Be sure that the location does not distract the meeting, but be open to other meeting spots. Thinking outside the box for your meeting location can stimulate great results and break up some of the monotony that some meetings have.

6. Good Eats. No, I'm talking about Alton Brown's program on the Food Network Channel. Nor do I reference this because I personally enjoy good food. Just don't fail to appreciate the power that food can have at a meeting. Food can help set the stage for the meeting, not to mention it fuels the energy needed from your participants. Food is engaging and can also help lead into your meeting icebreaker.

7. Follow up. In order to achieve the results desired from your meeting, a follow up system has to be established. As a group/meeting leader, hold each member accountable for the items they have committed to. Have regular check ups with the team members to ensure they are progressing towards completing their task. Identify any potential road blocks or time delays and address them accordingly.

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