In the sake of evading any irony, we’ll go ahead and get straight to the point with this topic! Let’s talk about how to host a productive business meeting! The first question to ask yourself before sending out that calendar invite is “Is this business meeting absolutely necessary?” and the second question should be “How do I create the most impact from this meeting?” If your proposed meeting has passed question #1, then here are some tips on how to get the most productivity out of your meeting!

Upon beginning the meeting, be very clear and concise on what you aim to accomplish. What are your objectives and what are the end results you desire out of this meeting? Below are some good examples of possible objectives.

• Update employees on new policies, procedures, or company news.

• Make a collective decision with staff members.

• Gain a commitment or “buy-in” for a new product or idea.

• Brainstorming mastermind session.

• Solving a key problem which inhibits the company from doing business at peak performance.

• Introducing new members of staff and further unifying your team.

Ensure you prepare and distribute an agenda prior to the meeting. This might sound obvious but it’s often ignored. Structure is key – it enables your staff to prepare, compare goals from the last meeting (if in a series), and ponder on any questions or further contribution prior to the meeting’s start time that can further add to productive discussion. When sending out your agenda, make sure to include a title, date, time, location, a list of invitees, discussion points, and who will be leading those discussion points.

When you’ve distributed the agenda, it’s likely that participants will move their schedule around according to that new meeting schedule, so make sure you start on time and end on time! That being said, if a participant needs to leave in the middle of the meeting or believes that other work is more important, let them go! There’s no use in trying to keep someone wrapped up in a meeting when they feel they’re not getting value out of it, or there’s more pressing issues to tackle.

Make sure you lead the discussion in such a way that everyone’s voice is heard. Especially if you’re strategizing or seeking input from multiple parties, you’ll get much more value having heard everyone’s thoughts on a subject, as opposed to talking at people or having a single voice dominate the discussion. Additionally, you’ll find that people are more attentive and less apt to scroll their Facebook timeline or doze off!

Provide the meeting attendees with snacks and beverages. It shows them you care and also keeps them energized and oils up the brain for some enhanced discussion! If the meeting is an hour long, provide water and coffee and maybe a small snack. If the meeting is 2 hours, you’ll definitely want to provide a snack. If the meeting takes place over lunch, provide lunch! If you don’t everyone will just grab lunch after the meeting anyways, and that’s one more hour in which everyone is away from their active work roles. If the meeting is 4 hours or longer, you’ll definitely want to provide ample food and drink to ensure everyone stays sharp. Aim to engage in breakout sessions to get attendees out of their chairs. Get creative, get goofy, give people time to stretch and go to the bathroom. The modus operandi here is to keep people moving, keep minds engaged, keep it weird. If you’re able to pull off structured yet nontraditional, you’ve got the potential for a great meeting!

We hope these tips provide you with a few more arrows in your quiver the next time you schedule a meeting and aim to conquer the world in your company’s own special way!

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