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Host a Meaningful Meeting

October 4th, 2017 by Brittney Settlage

Unfortunately, the most effective tool in exchanging information, planning, and collaboration has been given a bad reputation in the corporate world over the years. Meetings have become too long, less productive and seem to happen all too often. In the workplace, it is important to share, get feedback, and make important decisions as a team. Meetings and conferences allow everyone to engage in a professional environment and when managed correctly they can convene meaningful results. These tips will help to make your meetings more structured and effective.

Have a Purpose

When you are holding a meeting, there should be an end goal, a purpose. By listing exactly what you want to get out of the gathering you can be sure to get everything you need from the attendees. If everyone knows the purpose of the meeting they will do a better job of coming to a conclusion as a team and everyone can walk away feeling as though the meeting accomplished what it needed to, as well as improving their retention of what the meeting was for and what they learned from it.

Keep on Topic

Having specific content that needs to be covered can help to keep on topic during a business meeting. The leader of the meeting should encourage engagement while keeping everyone on track during discussion. Other issues may come to light during a meeting and this is where a leader should take a note of it so it can be discussed at a later time and get back on track with the purpose and topics of this specific meeting.

Practice Positivity

By keeping a meeting positive and showing gratitude, the attendees will be more engaging. Keep mindful to reduce impatience and stress. When serious matters arise treat them as such, but dwelling on the past and what is wrong is not as effective as focusing on the future and what can be done right.

Follow Up

Following up after a meeting is vital habit to get into. When it comes to meetings, following up is a fantastic way to keep everyone on the same page. This is a wonderful time to address those off-topic issues that came up in the meeting that you didn’t take time to address. Having a write up will also allow people who weren’t directly involved stay informed about changes and decisions that are being made.

Change the Setting

Occasionally, change is the best way to keep the mind fresh and break from the same old song and dance. Holding a meeting in the overused conference room will yield the same mentality and expectations. Hosting at a less predictable location will yield less predictable thoughts and reactions during a meeting or conference. For lengthy presentations or discussions this is a great way to keep engagement and energy levels at maximum.

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