MANAGEMENT
Meeting Fundamentals – Part 1
Selecting Participants and Creating Agendas
H
ow many times have you attended meet- and keep track of replies, etc. If your organi-
ings that wasted your time? Many meet- zation doesn’t use a meeting application, ex-
ing participants leave the conference room tending invitations gets more tedious and less
questioning why they were there at all. The reliable the larger your invitation list.
next few issues of SBI Magazine will include
tips on “Meeting Fundamentals” to help your Inform invitees about the date, time, loca-
meetings become more effective, efficient, and tion, and purpose of the meeting. If possi-
meaningful. ble, include the meeting agenda in your invita-
tion. Agendas reinforce the meeting’s purpose,
Step 1 - Selecting Participants help keep people focused, and give partici-
pants a schedule. They also give people the
Figure out the “type” of meeting and its opportunity to do some prep work before-
purpose. Staff meetings, planning sessions, hand.
or a company pep rally all have different goals
and usually require a different list of partici- Step 2 - Developing an Agenda
pants.
Develop an agenda after getting input.
Schedule meetings properly. Many orga- Even though you can’t choreograph every-
nizations use Microsoft Outlook to schedule thing, seeking comments from important par-
meetings and inform invitees. Meeting soft- ticipants can give you foresight into how the
ware allows organizers to announce meetings meeting will develop. Working their feedback
into the agenda helps you prep better, may
have the group reach consensus faster, or en-
ables people to focus on discussion areas that
need more attention.
Ask what action should be taken. Includ-
ing action steps (delegated task, decision,
vote, etc.) in the agenda after each meeting
segment highlights what steps should be ad-
dressed. Be careful, however, about over-de-
signing things. Although listing discussion
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