How to Run a Meeting

You've spent countless hours in meetings.  When they are run well you know you have accomplished something meaningful.  When they are not run well, they are a huge waste of time.  Below please find a few quick tips that can help you make your next meeting a better one.

• First, decide what you want the meeting to accomplish.  What is the outcome you hope to achieve by this meeting?  Then let that determine your focus, agenda and who should be invited.  Only include those participants who really need to be there.  Send the agenda to everyone before the meeting starts.
  
• Establish ground rules if necessary.  Sometimes you may encounter difficult participants who disrupt, try to take over or are disengaged during the meeting.  When you observe this becoming a consistent pattern, you may want to establish some ground rules to keep everyone on task and on board.
  
• Involve everyone.  Some personalities can tend to talk more than others.  However, they may not always be the ones with the best ideas.  Make sure you engage participation from everyone in your meeting.
  
• Review next action steps and clarify responsibilities.  At the end of the meeting, make sure to summarize the action steps discussed and clarify who is responsible for what and by when.  This can also help you better manage the time of your team so you can accomplish the team's key priorities together.

SummaryDon't let your meetings be a place where the Minutes are kept, but the Hours are lost..... Make yours count!