September 26th, 2009 by Bruce

It has been widely observed across organisations everywhere that meetings tend to take an inordinately large amount of the available working time of employees – and more often than not, these meetings fail to achieve the necessary ends.

To begin with, we need to recognise the features of a successful meeting. In a “nut shell”, these particular features can be described as being result oriented and limited to a set time period. Let’s take a closer look at some key steps that need to be followed for effectively conducting a business meeting.

1. Preparation – Like any other business activity, advanced preparation is required, as the better prepared you are, the more effective the meeting will be. Besides, this way you will be able to make much more meaningful contributions.

2. Timing – Most business meetings should be conducted according to a specified time period, and they should start and stop at the times indicated. Meetings which are scheduled and task-oriented usually get quite a bit more active participation from everyone present.

3. Agenda – There needs to be an agenda which is readily available that clearly outlines the topics to be discussed in the upcoming meeting. This agenda will give a fair idea of what is to be discussed, thereby enabling all of the participants to prepare in advance for the proposed topics.

4. Focus – It’s important that the focus of the meeting should be maintained steadfastly on the topics which were agreed beforehand – as it is very easy for a meeting to veer off in a different direction, therefore meeting leaders and participants must strive towards minimising the drifts from the set aim.

5. Communication – Complete and accurate information should always be provided in every meeting to ensure effective communication.

6. Agreement – Often during a meeting, the views of two or more people won’t match, but it’s crucial that at the end of the meeting all of the participants agree on a common decision. After all, as anyone invoved in management training knows all to well, this unilateral agreement on a single line of action is the common aim of every meeting.

7. Feedback – A meeting may be successful in achieving the desired result, however there may still be room for improvement in the overall method or implementation. To have a clear idea how effective the meeting was, request feedback from the participants.

8. Confidentiality – The confidential material discussed in the meeting should be restricted to the attendants only, and if possible, measures should be taken to ensure that unauthorised persons can’t access any of the restricted documents or materials.

Finally, at the end of the meeting, most business coaching experts suggest that a brief review should be discussed, covering what was discussed during the meeting as well as any major decisions which were agreed upon.

Alan Gillies is the Managing Director of the L2L Group, specialising in providing Executive Coaching, Training and Consultancy Services to Businesses across the Globe. Want to learn more about these business success strategies? Get Alan’s popular FREE Business Pack today!

agenda, aim 5, Alan, Alan Gillies, Business, conducting a business meeting, Executive Coaching, meaningful contributions, meeting, nut shell, result, time