Leading effective meetings is a super power for people that want to lead. Meetings that go off track, rabbit hole or don’t have a clear goal all drive wasting time. That is the last thing you want as a leader!
With that, the MOST important question to ask yourself is…is this meeting needed? If it’s something you can handle individually or via email or your company’s messenger platform, then do that! Only do the meeting if there is a very clear an concise benefit to pulling all those people together, then make sure you have a specific leader for that meeting!
From there it’s just about make sure you are inescapably clear on what the meeting is, have a very clear purpose and goal for the meeting. Then verify you have the RIGHT people for the meeting, not the MOST people for the meeting. Anyone that is in a meeting that doesn’t need to be not only wastes their time, but it also can add to confusion and lack of focus from other attendees. Keep the list tight and concise.
Lastly, make sure that someone is designated as the note taker and have them write down the takeaways and action items. Without those, your meeting was a waste, because there is nothing to check against if things go off track after the meeting. Clear action items and owners for those action items are an integral part of running an effective meeting!
I hope this was helpful! Thanks for being here! Take care!
