If you’re in business management, sooner or later you will have to chair a meeting, which is not an easy task. Here are some tips to make the most of your time at the meeting.
1. Have your agenda ready and sent to everyone who’s going to attend the meeting so they will be up to par about what’s going to be talked about.
2. Set a time limit to every item on your agenda and follow it strictly. It shows organization and competence. Have a clock by your side so everyone can see the time.
3. Have someone be the minute-taker of the meeting if you don’t have a permanent secretary. After each topic is talked about, ask the secretary to read what has been written down and see if everyone agrees.
4. Only start a new topic after the previous topic has been talked about thoroughly.
5. If you’re making a presentation, get your stuff ready in advance (OHP, computer, PowerPoint presentations, etc.).
6. Encourage people to speak up and not be afraid, consider everyone’s ideas and never berate someone in front of others.
7. Start and finish on time. Punctuality is mandatory and it shows respect to everyone attending the meeting. If someone is late, have a one-on-one talk about how important it is to be punctual.
8. Start your meeting with a recap on what has been happening since the last meeting if the topic is recurring.
9. If people start going off-track, break it gently with sentences like, “Let’s discuss this some other time” or “Let’s get back to our agenda”.
10. Make sure things get done and have people give you feedback on what was discussed.
