Questions to Answer Before Planning a Meeting

If nothing changes as a result of a meeting, it was a waste of time. Here are some questions to answer before planning one – a well-planned meeting always has better prospects.

What Information is Needed?

What information needs to be shared and how detailed must it be? You can easily overburden attendees, but as a rule of thumb, more is better. One should always be careful with confidential information, but sharing such in a small group can impart trust.

How Often Should we Meet?

Depending on your group, the frequency will vary. Many companies have meetings once a week. Ideally, it should be once every two weeks or, if possible, once a month. In every event, it’s important to stay current and have an agenda.

Who Should be There?

Do you want to divide participants by responsibilities and roles or be more inclusive? You need influencers and other important people present. Exclude people who don’t really need to be there, because they might perceive the meeting as a waste of their time.

Why Are You Calling a Meeting?

Your employees have the right to know what is going on and how the company is doing. Are you planning on making changes? Communicate to people how these changes may potentially affect them. Make sure they understand the agenda.

Who is Speaking?

Meetings with just one speaker tend to be boring. Consider who has the most information and who knows it best. Bring people with good presenting skills and / or expertise to the fore.

Where and When Are We Meeting?

Location can be crucial to the outcome of a meeting. The best meetings take place in open, airy premises or function rooms with few distractions, in particular noise. It shouldn’t be too hot or cold. The space should accommodate any needed equipment. The meeting shouldn’t be scheduled too early or too late. Ideally, it should take place during business hours. If it doesn’t, it might be perceived as unpaid overtime.

What Should Your Meeting Achieve?

Meetings are not a goal in and of themselves, but a means to an end. We started by saying something should change after a meeting. Establish your goals before you call it. Do you want to solve a problem? Inform your participants of something? Fulfill a requirement? What goal do you aim to achieve? If you don’t know, it’s best not to organize a meeting. Ideally, the objectives should be at the top of the agenda.

What is the Meeting Format?

This is a key point to consider when planning a meeting. Is the meeting going to be via video or face to face? Chat or teleconference? Each has its advantages and disadvantages.

Consider what the minimal result you will accept is. What needs to happen for the meeting to count as a success? This is just as crucial as knowing what your objectives are.

Can I Involve Everyone?

Some people are naturally more talkative. Others tend to be quiet. You need a plan to get everyone involved before you conduct the meeting because the ideas of an extreme introvert can be just as good as everyone else’s. Make a list of attendees and underline their names as they speak. It’s unacceptable to have some people dominate while others sit in silence. A meeting facilitator has the skills needed to involve all participants. You can learn more about meeting facilitation here.

Establish Ground Rules

What will your standards or norms be? Failing to establish such poses a risk of the meeting going off course. People might start rambling, complaining, or idly chatting away.

Will the Meeting Start and End on Time?

Finally, take measures to make sure the meeting starts and ends on time. Conference calls usually begin up to fifteen minutes late as you resolve technical issues or simply wait for everyone to call in. You could start talking at three or five minutes past the hour.

At any rate, create the right expectations. This could be that the meeting will start exactly on time or a few minutes late. Of course, the meeting should end on time as well. If you need more time, ask participants if they agree to extend it and stick to any group decision that is ultimately made.

Final Thoughts

Meeting quality is crucial to outcomes. A skilled facilitator can help you plan and conduct your meeting effectively, saving you time and money in the long run. If attendees perceive a meeting to be valuable, they will be inclined to contribute more. If not, they’ll start looking for excuses to skip meetings in the future. You should invest time to improve overall meeting quality rather than just focusing on the agenda. Go over this checklist when planning your next one – we guarantee it will add value!