1Running A Meeting

By Peter Lindsay

Meeting BasicsRunning a Meeting

2Running A Meeting

Start on-time

Always start on-time. Don’t wait for people and don’t summarise for them what they missed when they do arrive. Ignore late-comers.

3Running A Meeting

Have a purpose

Make sure that your meeting has a clear purpose that everyone understands. Consider separating Strategic and Tactical issues into separate meetings.

4Running A Meeting

Have a purpose

Ensure all participants understand what is expected of them, are they expected to brainstorm, discuss or sit and listen.

5Running A Meeting

Invite the right people

Only invite people who you need or to whom the meeting will be relevant. If someone and their manager are at the same meeting, there is probably something wrong.

6Running A Meeting

Publish an agenda

Ask people for agenda items in advance and publish the agenda to all participants far enough in advance of the meeting for people to be able to prepare.

7Running A Meeting

Have a facilitatorSometimes, if you want to be actively involved in the discussion you may find it more effective to assign the facilitator role to someone else, they can then worry about keeping the discussion on track and watching the time, leaving you free to contribute.

8Running A Meeting

Use the time effectively

Allocate time for each agenda item and stick to it, leave time for new business. “Park” issues once the time is up. They can be returned to at the end or scheduled for another meeting.

9Running A Meeting

Use the time effectively

Avoid getting taken off at a tangent, if the discussion moves to something that is not on the agenda, park it. Encourage participants to participate, provoke conflict if you have to.

10Running A Meeting

Have concrete actions

Ensure that discussion ends with definitive actions, Who will do What by When.

11Running A Meeting

Publish minutes

Publish minutes as soon as possible after the meeting, email is fine Who, What, When along with any important Information shared. Assign a minute taker before the meeting; it should not be you or the facilitator.

12Running A Meeting

Finish on-time

Always finish on time. If there are uncovered items schedule another meeting and make sure you manage the time effectively. If new items have arisen, schedule another meeting or save for the next meeting.

13Running A Meeting

Running a meetingStart on-time

Have a purpose

Invite the right people

Publish an agenda

Have a facilitator

Use the time effectively

Have concrete actions

Publish minutes

Finish on-time