Are you one of those people who visibly cringes when someone suggests a meeting? Or are you someone who thrives on the interaction and idea sharing that only happens when everyone is in the same room? Whether you are on one end of the spectrum or somewhere in between, it’s beneficial for everyone to make each meeting as effective as possible.
Maximize your meeting with these simple steps:
1. Stay on task. If a subject comes up that doesn’t pertain to the goals of the meeting, politely suggest to take it up later via email, call, or another meeting. Make note of those items and follow up! Don’t allow your meeting to be derailed.
2. Summarize. At the end of the meeting, summarize what you’d decided. Confirm next steps and deadlines. This is a good time to determine if or when your next meeting will be.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Before you get to the meeting itself, it’s important to note that the most productive meetings were prepared for in advance:
3. Define objectives. Why are you meeting? What do you need to accomplish? Who needs to be there? Identifying these things beforehand will allow you to narrow your focus during the meeting. It also is helpful when measuring the success of the meeting afterwards.
4. Provide an agenda beforehand. If you are the organizer, don’t spring the agenda on everyone when they arrive. While it may give you more time to prepare, it means that the rest of the attendees will be completely unprepared.
5. Identify expectations beforehand. When you send your agenda, it’s helpful to outline what you need others to bring to the table to contribute. Maybe it’s a report, a summary, a strategy, or they just need to think over a subject and have their thoughts prepared to share. Communicating expectations early can keep your meetings on task and on time.
6. Book your meeting at Blue Ocean Facilities! This isn’t just our bias speaking, meetings at Blue Ocean really are more productive. A distraction free, stimulating meeting venue goes a long way towards a successful meeting.
So now that’s we’ve imparted our wisdom on you, we hope you feel empowered and pumped for your next brainstorming session. Click or call us to reserve one of our three unique rooms and you’ll see our ingenious goes well beyond meeting planning.
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