Suggestions for a Business Meeting

Business meetings should have an agenda and a purpose.

A business meeting that is successful is one in which all the set goals have been accomplished. It also helps when participants do not feel as if time has been wasted. Careful preparation before the meeting commences can help ensure that time has been used productively. As long as rules are followed, business meetings can provide an opportunity to share knowledge and generate ideas.

Purpose

Understanding the purpose of the meeting is important. Whenever there are two or more different avenues that need to be addressed, there should be smaller meetings set up for each of those elements. If a meeting is designed to generate ideas, it is important to create an atmosphere that will be conducive to creativity. On the other hand, if the meeting is to be information sharing, a more formal structure might be maintained.

Agenda

Another important aspect of a business meeting is the agenda. The agenda is the road map for the meeting, and it is what keeps a meeting on track. Whenever the energies in a meeting begin to get scattered, the agenda can serve as the focus for returning the meeting to where it needs to be. Items on the agenda should be assigned to individuals who can address each particular area.

Comfort zone

Sometimes, having a business meeting in a location that is different from where most business meetings take place can help to remove everyone from the comfort zone. Business meetings that are designed to enhance creativity can be scheduled in areas that are less formal and constrictive.

Discussed later

Keeping a meeting on track can sometimes be difficult. One way to prevent the meeting from going down a different path is to have a clipboard that has the sole purpose of writing down things that can be discussed later. That way, issues that need to be addressed will be recorded, and the meeting can still move forward. At the end of the meeting, time permitting, those items that have been written down can be addressed, or another meeting can be scheduled that can address the issues.

Break time

Schedule breaks, if the meeting is longer than an hour. Give participants a chance to stretch, move around, get a cup of coffee or take a restroom break. Concentration is hard to maintain if an individual is hungry or needs to go to the bathroom. Make sure that all participants are provided material to take notes. A whiteboard should also be present, so that those speaking can provide visual information as well as verbal.

References

• Rossiter and Company: Examples of Business Meetings
• University of California: Conducting Effective Meetings