Organize the Perfect Meeting

For the hardworking woman, meetings are part of the daily routine. Whether it’s a casual team briefing or that dreaded client presentation, a meeting can make or break a project or department. It’s more than just getting everyone to attend. Put together the pieces of the perfect meeting with these essential tips:

Necessity
Is a meeting really urgent? If your agenda can be done by sending a group email or delegating memos, then don’t hold a meeting at all. A lot of time is wasted by huddling for unnecessary meetings. “Organizing meetings that are not required can be a waste of money and energy,” says Jiv Trika of ezinearticles.com. “And worse still, needless meetings can lead to employees feeling de-motivated, bored and frustrated.”
 

The Invites
According to smallbusinessnotes.com, the most basic factor in holding a meeting is deciding exactly who should attend. Have you ever been in meeting where you found yourself thinking, “I have absolutely no use or purpose here. I could be in my desk finishing my report! Why was I asked to come here in the first place?” Don’t be tempted to invite the whole department if all you really need are the project managers or team leaders. What you want is a fruitful meeting, not an orchestra with unnecessary audiences.
 

The Right Time
Ideally, a meeting should be organized around the schedule of the important persons, such as the project managers or the boss. According to meetingwizard.org, it’s also important to find the common time where everyone or most attendees are free to meet. Krishna Kumar of thoughtclusters.com gives valuable analysis on different meeting hours:

1. Early morning meetings Pros: Very productive since it’s the time of day where people are full of energy. Cons: May be difficult for people whose job entails them to answer long, numerous emails. Email communication is usual heavier in the morning and tapers off in the afternoon and evening. 2. Late mornings that end for lunch Pros: People who come in early, say 9 a.m., will have more time to make last-minute preparations before the meeting. Attendees will also work extra hard to make sure the meeting ends by lunchtime. If the meeting includes customers or clients, you can establish a better working relationship with them by inviting them to lunch (under the company budget, of course) to continue discussions informally. Cons: If the meeting unfortunately extends beyond the lunch break, you’ll have hungry people making rash decisions and weak-hearted contributions. 3. Meetings after lunch Pros: Most people are in a better mood after they’ve had their lunch fill. Cons: People who are on the field may have to cut their lunch break short in order to make it to the 1 p.m. meeting. Afternoon meetings also tend to last longer than morning ones. 4. Evening meetings Pros: Most customers or clients prefer evening meetings because it causes less conflict with their day work. Cons: The energy and thinking level of workers will run low by the evening, and everyone may be in a hurry to wrap up and head home. 5. Late evening meetings Pros: Works well for companies that have employees doing a lot of fieldwork. The late evening is the only time where everyone can collaborate. Cons: It eats up the only personal time most regular workers have. It causes more stress for employees who have spouses and children to attend to.

 

Load Your Guns
Make sure you have everything you need for the presentation, from paperwork to the gadgets you will use. Ever been annoyed by the officemate who kept stalling the meeting because he/she had to run out to get something she forgot? Make sure the overhead projector is running. Charge your laptop and bring the cable connector. Have enough copies of the report for everyone. Bring enough notepads and pens. If you’re doing a presentation, head to the location earlier than everyone else and organize all your materials before people come in.

The Venue
It doesn’t always have to be the most posh location. As long as the area is clean, conducive and accessible, allocates your electronic equipment and materials, has enough elbowroom, and is distraction-free, then it makes a great meeting venue.
 

The Fuel
Having food on the meeting table may actually be distracting. How can you make verbal inputs or jot down notes if you’re devouring a greasy croissant?

If you’re serving lunch, have the meeting at 10 a.m. so that people will have the incentive to do the meeting progressively in time for lunch. If the meeting is early in the morning, serve light and mess-free pica-picas with coffee or juice. If the meeting is in the afternoon, mints or candies served in a bowl will be enough to get everyone going.
Whether your company has the budget or not, let attendees know beforehand if food will be served. That way, they can have a hearty breakfast, lunch, or merienda before heading to the “no food budget” meeting.