Keys to an Effective Business Meeting

590 Words2 Pages

When it comes time to plan and execute a business meeting it is important to follow a few simple steps to ensure that the meeting is effective as can be. There are four steps that can help guide a meeting in the proper desired direction. These steps include, setting the meetings intentions in advance, invite only the doers and decision makers, have a clear meeting leader and a tight time lined agenda, finally, post meeting send a meeting recap to all parties involved. This paper will explain how following these four steps will lead to a more effective business meeting.
The first step in running an effective business meeting begins with setting the intentions of the meeting in advance. Determine the purpose of the meeting before ever setting up the meeting. If the meetings only purpose is to give out basic information that could be distributed through memo or email, opt to do that instead of holding a meeting. Also, if the meetings purpose is to debate and issue or prove a point, it may be an unnecessary waste of time. If the purpose is to make a particular decision, brainstorm ideas, or make specific plans then schedule the meeting. Once the purpose of the meeting is determined, work out a clear agenda and time allotment for the scheduled meeting. 45 minutes is a good goal for a meeting, if it must take longer, plan a break around that time to allow the participant’s time to refocus.
The next step in creating an effective business meeting is to invite the doers and decision makers. This means only include the necessary personnel. When trying to hold an effective meeting allowing excess people who really have little to do with a situation or ability to make decisions will just crowd the meeting with interruptions that could be a...

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...time drainer. Preparing a purpose for the meeting in advance and holding to a strict agenda will allow for the topics that need addressed to be discussed while leaving out the unnecessary discussions that are not beneficial to the topic. Providing a recap of the meeting will allow for the participants to have a guideline for what the next steps to take and a clear guide to work toward the agreed upon outcome of the meeting.

Works Cited

Comaford, C. (2012, February 28). 4 Steps to Fast, Effective Meetings. Forbes. Retrieved December 30, 2013, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/christinecomaford/2012/02/28/cut-the-b-s-and-get-to-the-point-the-only-2-communication-types-that-drive-results/

Running Effective Meetings. (n.d.). - Communication Skills Training from MindTools.com. Retrieved December 30, 2013, from http://www.mindtools.com/CommSkll/RunningMeetings.htm

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