If you‘ve ever been responsible for organizing a meeting, then you know how much depends on effective planning.
As is the case in all-too-many many areas in life, what seems a piece of cake from the perspective of a participant in reality requires skill and foresight on the part of the organizer – a stressful role for those without much experience. To make things a bit easier, we have prepared a few helpful tips for organizing meetings, so let’s have at how you can make your guests happy:
BEFORE THE MEETING:
Research your participants
find out who they are, what they do, what they’re responsible for at their respective companies, and what their roles at the meeting will be.
Agenda
if somebody else is responsible for creating the agenda – find out the plan for the meeting, including the date, duration, number of participants, and any special requirements regarding equipment, refreshments, diet or any other unusual requests.
RSVP
ask participants to RSVP, and provide contact details in case of questions.
Checklist
create a plan and a checklist (including deadlines) to use as your guide. In case of deadlines – try to plan on finishing tasks ahead of time, in case complications (which usually do come up).
Know your devices
a big part of the stress during meetings is generated when attendees need to share content from their device onto the main screen
Check and re-check
try to find time for one last round of checking before the meeting – just to be on the safe side
Create a seating arrangement
considering attendee roles and meeting flow.
Equipment and refreshments
prepare ahead, taking into account the duration of the meeting and the agenda, as well as any special participant requirements.
DURING THE MEETING:
Introduce guests
(if necessary) or prepare a short introductory note together with the agenda for each participant and connect all speakers to the central screen
Explain the agenda
briefly highlight the most important points of the agenda as well as the time allotted. It may be a good idea to display the agenda for everyone to see (e.g. as described in the point above).
Introduce the moderator
an important role. This person helps maintain the structure of the meeting, sticking to the agenda and making sure the meeting is effective and efficient.
Take notes
on what you can improve next time around, and even share your notes on a split screen so there is consensus on the meeting notes and conclusions.
Plan the next meeting
if it’s a series of meetings, finish by deciding on the date, time and venue for the next meeting. You may also note the points that should be discussed next time.
AFTER THE MEETING:
Send summaries
participants can receive the notes at the end of the meeting using NovoEnterprise’s direct file sharing functionality. Discuss with the moderator – who should be responsible for this part – as notes are best taken digitally during the meeting to stay up to speed.
Evaluate the meeting
you can ask participants to fill out a small survey after the meeting using the NovoEnterprise’s voting and polling functions, or just ask a few questions at the end. You will find out about the meeting from a different perspective and hopefully get insights and very valuable observations.
