Great Meeting Preparation and Planning

We have all been in meetings.  How many of those meetings did we say to ourselves, “Wow! That was a great meeting!”  Or how many of those meetings did we leave saying, “Why was I in that meeting?  What was the reason for that meeting?”  Probably, more often than not, we fall into the second group. 

When we are tasked with leading a meeting, we become stewards not just of corporate resources, but, perhaps more importantly, of one of the most precious resources of all – people’s time.  Benjamin Franklin was a strong proponent of time management.  He said, “Time lost is never found again.”  Time is the one resource that once spent can never be recovered or gained back.  When we begin to plan a meeting, we absolutely need to be cognizant of the expenditure of time we are asking our attendees, and we must ensure we exercise wise stewardship of that time.

When we begin planning for a meeting, we can use a 7-step method to better ensure more productive meetings.  At the core of this method stands the word PREPARATION. When we plan our meetings well, we can host them efficiently and effectively.  Each of these steps begins with the letter “P.”

The first step is PURPOSE.  Why are we having a meeting in the first place?  Perhaps the meeting is an education session, or we are gathering to review performance.  Are we trying to solve a problem or are we discussing our team and its purpose.  The phrase “meeting to meet” is applicable here.  Many meetings, unfortunately, are just people coming together because we have always met on Tuesday afternoon. However, if we develop a Purpose before the meeting, we can often pare the time required for the meeting to what is necessary.  Many, if not all, the software we use to send meeting invitations allow us to add an agenda or at least a reason for the meeting.  So, an invitation that may say, “Budget Meeting,” can have in the invitation or the body of the email mention specifically what department will be affected so others will not need to attend.

The next step is PRODUCT.  What will the meeting produce?  What is the outcome of the meeting?  Will the committee gain education and knowledge through the meeting / class?  Perhaps the outcome of the meeting will be an agenda for a larger meeting.  No matter what, we should leave the meeting with something accomplished.  Again, if we have no outcome or Product, did we just meet to meet?

When we determine the PROCESS of the meeting, we engineer a much higher rate of success for our meeting.  The Process is the method of holding the meeting.  Through the Process, we answer the questions of How, and even Where, we will accomplish the Purpose of the meeting.  This can be as simple as an agenda with notes for the leader or where the meeting will be held.   

When we begin to craft the agenda for the meeting, we should begin to consider the PEOPLE who need to attend.  As mentioned earlier, people’s time is a very finite resource.  If we bring people who do not need to be in the meeting, we spend (waste) that precious resource, which is never able to be recovered.  If we are meeting to review results from Department A, we do not necessarily need to invite people from Department B.  When we have the right People in the meeting, the meeting is more effective and productive. Additionally, if we have People who do not need to be in the meeting, we can introduce negativity, verbal or non-verbal into the meeting mechanics.

PRACTICAL CONCERNS are those matters that help to ensure a successful and comfortable meeting.  Does the conference room need to be arranged differently?  Do we need to supply paper and pens to the attendees?  If we address the small needs of our attendees, the meeting has a much higher chance of success.  Other items for the meeting leader should be considered as well.  Electrical outlets, flip charts, markers, etc. should be on our list to procure and have on hand.  Lastly, depending on the time of the meeting, we may need to have lunch or breakfast (coffee, water, and soft drinks at a minimum).  If the meeting will run longer than a couple of hours, we may investigate breaks and snacks.

No matter how well we prepare, we may run into PITFALLS.  The projector’s bulb blows out just as we get started or in the middle of our presentation. Or just as we begin to go into the conference room, someone comes in and takes over because of an emergency meeting with the CEO.  What are our contingencies to cover these unforeseen events.  Just because we call these events “unseen” does not mean that we cannot plan for them.  There is a phrase, “Hope for the best, and plan for the worst.”  No matter how much we plan everything, something can, and often does go wrong. what’s important is how we react and more forward. 

When we effectively plan our meeting using PURPOSE, PRODUCT, PROCESS, PEOPLE, PRACTICAL CONCERNS, and PITFALLS, we accomplish the most important part of the meeting – PREPARATION.

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