What Makes a Successful Meeting?

In the age of The Informational Revolution, we’re asking ourselves more than ever “Could this meeting have been an email?”

The relationships we build with our co-workers during meetings can make or break a business, or even your career. Meetings are often over-scheduled, under-utilized, and energy-drainers. Why do we do it to ourselves? More importantly— how can we make it better? Here are some of my top tips to make the meetings in your life something that you look forward to rather than dread:

Cancel your meetings

Could it be an email? Audit your calendar and keep the meetings that have clear intentions, and that regularly prove to be a productive use of time. If not, tie it back to the main purpose and clearly communicate the purpose to attendees. It is key to only include the essential participants— If they don’t directly benefit from attending simply share the meeting minutes in lieu of an invite.

Define the Purpose

If your meetings have lost their effectiveness, see if there is another way you can achieve the purpose in a new format. Maybe you change your Stand Up Meeting to an “As Needed” basis instead of a daily meeting where the team regularly relays that they have “no update” and provide you agree to update the team via email throughout the week. There are a few main categories you can segment your meetings into to help with this audit:

Meeting Purposes

1. Share Information

2. Seek Input

3. Make a decision

4. Collaborate to produce a deliverable

Once you define the purpose, you can re-evaluate if there is a better way to accomplish that goal. In certain Use Cases, a meeting will be best. But don’t be afraid to get creative with meeting alternatives! Dashboards, MS Teams/Slack Channel updates, or even a voice memo can be more effective than a meeting, depending on the end goal and purpose.

Set the Stage

Preparation for your meeting should include an agenda, sharing any (and as many) reference materials in advance, and getting in the right mindset. Coming into a meeting after back to back calls derails the productivity from the beginning. STOP! Take the 5-10 minutes to properly prepare. A best practice I leverage is blocking 15 minutes for prep before and follow up after meetings. This ensures I don’t miss an action item making it on to my list, and that I am respectful of everyone’s time that is attending the meeting.

Flip the Script

Planning through the lens of engagement will create the best experience. How do you do that? Set expectations and leverage the tools you have available for asynchronous engagement. Re-send the Agenda and expectations the day before the big team meeting. It might look something like:

Hi Team,

Looking forward to the meeting tomorrow! A reminder that we will be covering:

• Project Proposals

• Software Implementation Update

• Role Descriptions for New Positions

Please take some time to prepare you suggestions for Role Responsibilities and bring them with you to the call.

See you soon!

This brings the agenda back to their top of mind, and has a clear Call-To-Action for how the meeting will be most productive. If you know that your team won’t have time to review in advance, then add a few minutes into the agenda to do so. Be realistic! Don’t set expectations you know will not resonate with the way your team works.

You should also consider the engagement requirements of the meeting. Does everyone need to be on camera for an All Company Meeting? Probably not. Consider adding expectations for engagement to your meeting invite. Telling your team that they are expected to be on camera for 1:1s, but daily morning huddles don’t require it will get everyone on the same page (and maybe even help combat “Zoom Fatigue”).