In the world of business and industry, we all attend a lot of meetings! Stakeholder meetings, team meetings, planning meetings, meetings about when to hold the next meeting – you get the idea! Now that we are transitioning back to in-person meetings and learning how to navigate hybrid meetings, I thought that it would be a good time to take a look at our procedures and protocols for meetings. Now, I’m not going to pretend that I thought all of these up myself. As a matter of fact, I “stole” most of these ideas from a poster I recently saw while attending a meeting with Alabama Specialty Products in Munford, Alabama. So below I have compiled a list of items that should serve to help your meetings – both in-person, online and hybrid – be more productive, efficient and engaging!
- Email all participants an agenda 24 hours in advance.
- Arrive at least 5 minutes early.
- Arrive prepared.
- Set a time limit, then start on time and end on time.
- Turn off, or at least silence, your smart phone.
- Bring paper and pen to make notes.
- Stay on topic.
- Keep your input brief and concise.
- Share all relevant data/information.
- No interrupting.
- Remember that your silence = agreement.
- Disagree without being disagreeable.
- Everyone participates.
- Challenge ideas not people.
- No side conversation or comments.
- Follow-up by email within 24 hours.
