Establishing the agenda upfront will help keep everyone on track. Never interrupt the individual who is speaking or sharing a point. Using these questions will help with the previous point: creating an interactive meeting. Here are eight steps you can take to host a successful meeting: 1. Begin the meeting by introducing yourself, stating the objective of the meeting, and giving instructions for audience involvement. endstream endobj 208 0 obj <. Are you reading any good books right now? Starting with the meeting purpose FIRST establishes the all-important context for the introductions that follow. Instead of beating around the bush, the structured format that an agenda provides will allow you to more easily navigate through the points that you have to cover. Heres an example template from Hugo: Weekly meetings are one of the best ways to ensure that your team meets regularly. John Rampton is an entrepreneur, investor and startup enthusiast. Empower your team to build a culture of productive meetings with these on-demand product tutorials. This was the big mistake in the committee meeting I attended; the leader left it up to the group to figure out how to introduce themselves. Terms | Privacy | Trust Center | Community Standards | Legal & Compliance | Do Not Sell My Personal Information | Cookie Preferences, Some of the most common-sense meeting decorum avoiding eating and drinking, minding your body language, and being respectful to whoever is speaking are no-brainers. You should also mention how long the meeting will last. Use your laptop and not your phone since it's more steady and keeps you hands-free to take notes. Depending on the meeting structure and the agenda items you want to cover, you can change the actual agenda you send out. They can sometimes feel awkward and uncomfortable, especially if you don't know everyone in attendance. Open the meeting request. Consider volunteering to pull together information, share new information or take the minutes. Youre not limited to those four tips and examples above, as there are other ways to start a meeting that can be considered. a`4h`` P=@\201c\Q9xfmfI~>|w k[>aa L/ iF i`p=!v%D+@ , Establish the next steps. Yes, you can still keep your audience engaged virtually. Don't forget to follow up after the meeting. Double-click to open the meeting, then use the To line or the Scheduling Assistant to add one or more people to the meeting. Team or department-specific meeting invitations can be a bit less "suit and tie," highlighting expectations but also the . What to do after the remote meeting. Personally, I always schedule the meeting five minutes ahead of time to avoid anyone showing-up late. If you're using aMicrosoft 365 or an Exchange account, use the Scheduling Assistant to see attendee schedules. Don't let your action items burn out with your meeting. For example, you can easily bring everyone back into focus if a participant takes things down on an unrelated tangent. Note:When you add a recurrence pattern to a meeting request, the Meeting tab changes to Meeting Series. When you meet someone for the first time, it sometimes seems difficult to know what to say or how to act. A subscription purchase is the best way to support the creation of these resources. Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. Written by Jul 17, 2020. Or, he could engage emotions by making an analogy to whales who feed far more effectively when they work together to encircle large schools of krill and then take turns gorging on the feast. Your meeting notes and action items right within your Zoom meeting! As it went around the room, each person followed this short pattern, and I began to relax. To identify . It helps you plan your trip in advance and keep you on the best route to reach your destination." Then ask a question. Only Microsoft 365, Outlook.com, and some Gmail accounts are supported. In the Scheduling Assistant, either click the box under your name and type an attendee's name or email address or click the Add Attendees button to bring up your address book. Select a supported account, then use the slider to enable Time To Leave. It's the best way to ensure that you'll be on time and prepared. Related:5 Icebreakers for Distributed Team Meetings. Heres an agenda from Hugo that you can use: Whether you like them or not, meetings play a critical role in running a business and they arent going anywhere anytime soon. Avoid this in your meeting by giving people tasks that they can actively engage in so there is nowhere to hide. Once the subject matter and duration has been established, touch on the purpose of the meeting. With clear points to hit and a path that all employees can follow along with, they help everyone get through meetings more efficiently. Talk through goals in a way that helps the other person understand how working together is advantageous for both parties. Stay seated and present until the meeting has wrapped-up. Some tools like Zoom have a virtual background you could use if this isn't feasible. As an invitee, make sure to review any meeting invites you receive to determine whether you actually need to attend. hbbd```b``+@$ "u`-`0;~"EH@qj"A&3&~`fFN @v100@ _ Weve talked about this one before, and bring it up here again because this is the best example we know of a non-fluffy, clearly useful introductory game for working teams. Not sure what you should ask? If you do, this shows that you don't respect their valuable time. You can also start the meeting off by reminding everyone of the meeting ground rules. As such, they deserve the same respect and etiquette. If you dont sustain a continual expectation of meaningful involvement, they will retreat into that alluring observer role, and youll have to work hard to bring them back. She developed a passion for writing as a young girl and believed the written word could unlock doors as well as the imagination. Remain upbeat at all times. Make sure to prepare for the meeting. There are four broad reasons to hold a meeting: to influence others, to make decisions, to solve problems, or to strengthen relationships. It means doing your research and knowing what you want to accomplish. These are called when an action needs to be taken by a group. This can help you build in travel time between meetings. Copyright 2023 Entrepreneur Media, Inc. All rights reserved. How should that committee chair have started the introductions, then? Leveraging it the right way can help attendees know one another better. Then, go around the room and ask each person to state their name and answer one or two of the questions posed by the group. In these difficult times, weve made a number of our coronavirus articles free for all readers. A high-definition (HD) external webcam will often provide a better quality image than the built-in webcam. Copyright 2023 Collaborate on meeting agendas, assign action items, and ask for meeting feedback. Announce the subject and duration of the meeting, Explain why the participants were chosen to be there. Efficiently gather and document comprehensive 360 degree feedback for all of your direct reports. A host leaving everyone else in the meeting is much like bailing on your own party. Keep things simple. I'm excited to show you our new product and answer any questions you might have. If someone is important enough to be invited, they must be introduced. Instead, create an opportunity for them to take meaningful responsibility.