Did you conduct formal meetings in your workplace? Or are you a person who frequently participates in workplace meetings? If yes, what have you noticed about driving an effective meeting? Meeting management requires a set of skills and knowledge. Remember that employees are often reluctant to participate in discussions since meetings steal their valuable time. So, most companies use customizable meeting agenda PPT templates to inform what contents are filled in the upcoming meeting.
In this article, we explore the basics of conducting a formal meeting. Although, for example, staff meetings, problem-solving meetings, planning meetings, project meetings, etc., certain basics are common to all types of meetings. Besides, you can learn what makes an effective meeting, what are the types of meetings, how to plan a meeting, and how to prepare for a meeting.
What Involves in an Effective Meeting
Several ingredients involved in an effective meeting. If you include these elements in your upcoming meeting, it will be beneficial for your company. Note that all these elements are common for any meeting, regardless of formal or informal.
Selecting participants:
Selecting participants depends on your meeting goal or what you want to get done in the meeting. But beforehand, if you are the key person, you should look at how many right people are excluded by your assistants. Besides, get opinions from several other people about who should participate.Preparation:
Without proper preparations, you can’t conduct effective meetings. So first, create an agenda focusing on key points you want to deliver during the meeting. Second, keep this agenda in hand for referencing the points during the discussion.Prepare an action plan related to the discussion:
After the conclusion of the meeting, bring forth an action plan that essentially presents the next phase derived from the discussions. Finally, combine all the feedback and prepare a quality resolution.Focus on points:
Do only says your discussion point. People only take serious notes if the discussion is confined to the focused point. Besides, you must summarize each point of debate. So, avoid loose talks other than your meeting agenda.Encourage brainstorming:
Suppose you want full participation from the delegates. Make everyone ready for discussions. Ensures discussion about their inputs; hence everyone reveals their opinions that will bring greater results for your company.PowerPoint templates:
PowerPoint presentations allow you to easy to summarize your schedule and contents. So, PowerPoint templates are best for office meetings or project meetings to engage your participants and spread your messages into their minds.Arrange schedule for next discussion:
You can easily contact people who need your next meeting if you schedule time earlier. It also lets you avoid confusion for planning the next meeting.
Four Types of Meeting
Team building meetings
This is a formal meeting for business and political purposes. These gatherings aim to unite colleagues and strengthen workplace culture. Team building meetings give the leader a slight view of candidates’ talent and skills so they can outline a picture of the team for their projects.Inspirational meetings
Inspirational meetings are held to engage employees in a particular purpose. For example, a sales manager calls for an appointment to inspire their team to make more sales than the previous month or quarter. These types of meetings are common in marketing and sales.Consultative meetings
Most businesses depend on a consultant to improve their business standings. Therefore, consulting meetings are arranged to get an expert opinion. It is based on Q&A than other types and can assist in navigating your project to the right destination.Problem-solving meeting
Almost every meeting falls under this category. For example, there may be a project to combine, a team dynamic to address, or a problem to fix. Problem-solving meetings are common because of the persistent nature of the problem. It starts with ground information and focuses on how to solve a particular issue.
How to Plan an Effective Meeting?
Effective meetings not only justify experience but also about preparation: the more you prepare, the more successful your session. Use the following steps to plan a meeting.
1. Define the purpose of the meeting
It is obvious that you can’t attend a meeting without knowing the purpose. So, identifying the purpose of the meeting is entrusted to you. Consider whether it is for team building, problem-solving, decision-making, or inspiring your employees.
2. Prepare an agenda
List all contents you want to cover in the meeting as an agenda. The schedule should include your key points of discussion. First, explain the reason for the meeting, followed by key takeaways you want to uncover before your participants. Finally, schedule a time for discussing each point.
3. Select the participants and delegates
First, make sure your key employees are participating in the meeting. Include key decision-makers, people who know the purpose, and people who can help accomplish your goals. It is crucial to know the size of your meeting as well. For example, if you want wide discussions, increase the size. If you wish to solve a problem, trim the size.
4. Authorize suitable roles for your attendees
Assign roles for your participants who have strong knowledge about the meeting agenda. For example, appoint moderators, facilitators, and a few minute speakers who can guide the discussion.
5. Plan venue and time
Set the time and venue of the meeting. Arrange a conference room for an effective formal meeting. If the meeting is informal, a small space is enough. Make sure the time is ample for everyone to participate.
6. Invite participants with agenda
You can invite participants through email, calendar, or speaking with each participant in person. Normally, internal company meetings are invited by email or direct invitation orally. However, if you distribute the agenda before the meeting, everyone can understand the objectives and goals of the meeting.
7. Choose the tools you want to use
Decide what tools and types of equipment should be used for the meeting. For example, you can use presentation templates, an audio recording device, or a screen-sharing platform to support your delivery. Oftentimes, PowerPoint presentations are common in business meetings.
How to Prepare for a Meeting
Preparation is a must when you are leading a meeting. It will give you confidence and thorough knowledge of your content to speak. Use the following preparations before the meeting starts.
Create an agenda:
We have already talked about this. Create an agenda that contains a list of contents and participant speakers, and set a time for each agenda. You can determine when the agenda item is presented during the meeting, i.e., early or later.Coordinate schedules:
Schedule your meeting in accordance with the availability and accessibility of the participants. Make sure the key persons can attend the meeting without any hesitations. Wait to schedule meetings on later afternoon or weekend days. People will only be focused when they are ready to spend the weekend with their families.Ask your speakers to interact:
Do insist your speakers get ready for a speech. Make sure speakers are focused on the agenda and purpose.Distribute your agenda:
Share the agenda before the meeting with the participants. By doing that, they can easily understand for what purpose you are gathering and what is the importance of the meeting. Ensure that the copies are shared with all and know what they anticipate from the meeting.
Ending Note
Planning an effective meeting needs to know four components, it includes what makes an effective meeting, the types of meetings, how to plan an effective meeting, and how to prepare for a meeting. Meetings have an immense power to bring new concepts, address issues, identify solutions to a problem, and make actionable decisions. Make a better formal meeting after reading this article.