Meeting Management: Tips to Ensure Effective and Successful Meetings

Suppose you were to believe the internet and the countless memes that live on it. In that case, you’d think that meetings are not conducive to the idea of conducting business. Quite frankly, such assertions, though typically exaggerated, are not entirely untrue. A recent study found that as much as 50 percent of all meetings fail to meet their core objective. Talk about inefficacy! Suffice it to say that this has not escaped corporates’ careful eyes worldwide, resulting in an increased focus on tools, strategies, etc. that can help companies deal with this growing challenge. Of course, the most effective approach to this particular issue is multi-faceted, i.e., we attack the problem from all viable corners.

But that’s rather vague, isn’t it? Okay, we will break it down then. To enhance meetings’ effectiveness and ensure that any given discussion’s objectives are met, one must adopt a carefully-designed strategy. A good system would tend to everything: Starting from the availability of people expected to attend the meeting to ensure that all meeting and action points are emailed to the relevant people once the meeting has been concluded. There is no denying that this is indeed an extensive undertaking. However, we put together a list of some tips to help you achieve better meeting management.

1. Decide an agenda: A meeting without a plan is bound to fail; it is as simple as that. Since schedule helps ensure the conference has the requisite structure from the get-go, make sure that the people who have called the meeting & will be leading it to decide on an agenda in ample time before the meeting is scheduled to begin. It would also help ensure the different subjects are assigned specific time slots to ensure that attendees can stick to the schedule.
2. Assign responsibilities in advance: Now, going into a meeting without knowing who is supposed to do what can take a toll on the meeting’s effectiveness. An important way to avoid that is by ensuring roles, including the host, subject matter, person responsible for the meeting’s minutes, who is tasked with sending them out to attendees, etc. is all decided beforehand.
3. Make a checklist of all the equipment: It is unfortunate, but most people overlook the importance of infrastructure in ensuring top-quality meeting management. To do that, experts recommend making a checklist of all the facilities and equipment required or requested by the organizers. A typical list of meeting equipment includes whiteboards, projectors, AV equipment, microphones, markers, etc. And if it is a long enough meeting, don’t forget to add catering to the checklist to ensure all these requirements are available on time.

While these tips are undeniably handy, another excellent way to ensure ace meeting management standards is to rope in a meeting management system. But don’t forget to plan the development project carefully before you take the plunge.