How To Run a Meeting | How To Run an Effective Meeting Tips
Whether you’re a meeting-planning professional or a little bit of a note-taking novice, knowing how to run a meeting, or even how to run an effective meeting, can be a daunting prospect indeed.
This is why we’ve put together a couple of tricks of the trade for you to take a look at, to serve as a little bit of inspiration for those who know what they want to achieve but don’t really know how to go about it! So, without further ado, here are our very best tips on how to run a meeting.
How to Run a Meeting | What You Need To Know
1) Create A Meeting Agenda
Making sure that everything that you want to address is written out and planned through well before the meeting even begins is a crucial aspect of running an effective meeting. The last thing you’re going to want is to look unprepared at your own meeting, and creating an agenda with a meeting checklist to follow will guarantee that you’re not left looking caught-off-guard.
The difference between a good meeting and a bad meeting is that most meeting participants don’t think that a successful meeting was a waste of time. When each and every agenda item or action item is addressed, people feel like you’re a step closer to solving a problem.
Better yet, use an online scheduling tool like Doodle, Asana, or Calendly to organize not only when your meeting will be, but to share your agenda with your team beforehand.
2) Delegate Clear Roles To Team Members
A team that works well together is a successful team, and if you can get your team to run like a well-oiled machine this early on in the meeting planning process, then you’re definitely on to a winner! A good idea would be to think about rotating speakers; if there’s one person talking all the time, you’re going to start potentially losing interest from your audience. However, if each member were to take 15 minutes to discuss their chosen topic, this might be a way to open the floor up.
Delegating can be tough, and some people just aren’t up to the task, but if you want to learn how to run a meeting (or how to run an effective meeting, at that!) then you’ve got to learn how to assign the right tasks to the right people. By using Belbin’s Team Roles, you can successfully figure out how to get the best results from the people in your workplace and learn how to work effectively amongst your team.
3) Actively Engage With All Attendees
If you’re looking for a one-way ticket to Snoozeville, then preparing a meeting with minimal attendee engagement is a surefire way to get one. However, making sure that your meeting is full of energy and life can make a huge difference when it comes to your audience actually paying attention, and taking what you say to heart.
Try using online design template tools such as Canva or Slides2Go to add a little bit of flair to your presentations, to ensure you get the very best levels of engagement with your audience. Also, make sure you’re asking your attendees questions regularly to get a consistent gauge on reception.
4) Keep Timings In Mind
Depending on the type of meeting you’re trying to host, the difference is expected timings can be few and far between. According to Agile Retrospects: Making Good Teams Great by Esther Derby and Diana Larson, there are plenty of tools, tricks, and trips all to do with timekeeping that is practically guaranteed to make your team even more efficient.
However, as a rough guide, we recommend that a regular everyday catchup meeting should ideally last between 20 minutes and half an hour, whereas a strategy meeting should be lasting closer to an hour and a half.
5) Meeting Etiquette Is Important
We know that this might sound a little bit obvious, but just being polite to your fellow meeting attendees and setting some ground rules can get you incredibly far! And vice versa; simply starting your meeting by asking your guests to not use their phones for the duration of your time together, or even just asking them to not be shy and actively participate can surely go a long way. Even just making sure that your meeting starts on time can ensure that you get off on the right foot.
When it comes to learning how to run a meeting, learning how to be a valuable participant can be a step in the right direction. If you, or your teammates, are struggling with mobile phone withdrawals, apps such as Space and OffTime can really help to redirect focus.
6) Leave Meetings With Clear Next Steps
At the end of your meeting, you should feel proud of yourself. However, you should also leave your meeting with a clear view as to what your next moves are, and what steps you should be taking in order to make progress. Communication is key here, and ensuring that both you and your teammates know exactly what you’re doing is essential to success.
We recommend investing in a great note-taking app such as Evernote, Notion, or Microsoft OneNote to compile all of your thoughts and suggestions in one clear space, so everyone is in the loop with regards to what their next steps should be.
7) Accept Feedback And Potential Critique
You’ve just addressed a group of people; congratulations. Whether you knew how to run a meeting beforehand, or you had absolutely no idea how to run an effective meeting, you’ve done it – and people are going to have opinions.
No matter what these opinions might be, a good and effective leader will take any and all comments in their stride, and use these comments to improve how they conduct any future meetings they might have to lead. Whatever feedback you might have received, it’s best to take it on the chin and prepare for the next one!
How To Run a Meeting Concluded
With our list of tips and tricks, you’ll know just how to run a meeting (and how to run an effective meeting!) in no time at all. And if you were the ultimate host beforehand, we hope you’ve found an extra thing or two to hide up your sleeve, so you’re ready to wow your attendees the next time you need to present! So, just as a little reminder, here are our top tips for running the perfect meeting:
- Create A Meeting Agenda
- Delegate Clear Roles To Team Members
- Actively Engage With All Attendees
- Keep Timings In Mind
- Meeting Etiquette Is Important
- Using The Right Tools Is Key
- Leave Meetings With Clear Next Steps
- Accept Feedback and Potential Critique
If you’re looking for the perfect place to host your meeting, then look no further than Kents Hill Park! Kents Hill Park, located in the heart of Milton Keynes, is a fantastic business meeting venue for a whole variety of events.
From religious conferences and meetings to team building and virtual events, we’ve got space for up to 600 people (and 450 cars!) to join us in our facilities. To set yourself up for the best meeting ever, we recommend getting in touch with us at Kents Hill Park to secure your space as early as possible.
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