Here’s the summary:
- Consider if a meeting is really necessary or could you handle matters in another way: by e-mail, fax, telephone conference, memo, or by an informal discussion.
- If the meeting is necessary, plan it with care.
- Invite those persons whose presence will assist in achieving the goals of the meeting: those who need information, those who will present information and those who have sufficient authority to make decisions.
- Draw up an agenda for the meeting and send it to all participants in good time.
- Set the objectives for the meeting: What should be discussed, what should be decided and what is the aim.
- Keep to the timetable you have agreed to beforehand. Observe the agreed starting and finishing times for the meeting. Remember to keep to the agreed breaks.
- Participants should come to the meeting prepared.
- At the end of the meeting, make a summary of the decisions that have been taken, the measures that has to be taken in the future, the timetable and sectors of responsibility.
- Bear in mind! Holding meetings is expensive. You can try to calculate the cost on the basis of minutes per participant, in relation to their salary.
- Always record the issues that were handled at the meeting together with the decisions made.
- Meetings are necessary – but are they always effective?
