How to Conduct an Office Meeting
Managing office meetings is a talent unto itself. Without a proper plan and a leader, a business meeting can drag on and on, accomplishing little. Office meetings should be just long enough to cover the topic and make decisions. If you know what you're doing, you can conduct an office meeting that accomplishes more than you had thought. Go into the meeting with a set plan and let others know what's on the agenda.
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Instructions
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Write an agenda. A business meeting agenda will help pinpoint the issues that you are going to discuss and help you to stay on task. Allocate specific time frames for each topic. Be sure that all meeting participants receive a copy of the agenda ahead of time.
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Invite only those employees that need to attend. You'll waste time and money if there are people in the meeting that don't need to be there. Identify the key players pertinent to the meeting. Talk to them about when to schedule the meeting so that you can be sure everyone can attend.
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Stick to your agenda and the time frames that you've set. If things start to veer off-topic, bring the group back to the topic on hand, saying that you'll make a note to discuss their concerns at a later date.
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Use visual aids to illustrate your points. For example, you could create a PowerPoint presentation on your computer that lists bullet points for the ideas that you will talk about. Set up a projector so that you can highlight these key points on screen. Alternatively, you could also use a white board or a large notebook to write down ideas as you talk about them. Both can help people take notes and understand complex ideas.
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Ask for the input of other employees. Toward the end of the meeting, leave time for meeting participants to discuss their ideas about the topic.
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Tips & Warnings
If you're using an onscreen presentation, offer to email participants the file to refer to at a later date rather than printing it out and distributing during the meeting. This saves on paper costs.
