Preparing effective meeting

For a meeting to be effective, the preparation must start long before it ever starts. You first have to determine the purpose of the meeting. The best way to do this is by writing down the purpose of the meeting in one clear sentence, and the expected outcome in another.

People lose control of meetings because they prepare ineffective agenda. Here's how to make sure that your meetings run the way that you want.

Put the goals for the meeting on the top of the agenda. These should appear as headlines above each major part of the agenda.

Plan activities that achieve the goals. These activities should be based on equitable participation and consensus. Include the amount of time allotted for each step. Put the meeting's arrival time as the first activity. Distribute the agenda before the meeting so that the participants can prepare.

Conduct the minutes to a meeting with structured activities. These powerful, modern tools focus people’s attention on the issue and force progress toward results. Present every issue as a question that leads to a result.