Meetings best practice
Meetings are a big part of the workplace and can be a little intimidating at first. Whether it’s a team catch up, meetings with clients or just review meetings, we’ve included lots of tips that helped our team!
Invitations:
Make sure to check people’s diaries to ensure you’re not booking a meeting at the same time as another or when they may be out of the office.
Send the link to the meeting or the location of the meeting in an email - this helps with clarity and avoids any technical issues with online calendars syncing up.
Avoiding common problems:
Give yourself extra time to account for technical issues - this could be software updates or internet issues. It’s always better to be early rather than late.
Have someone’s phone number or email in case of issues - this just allows you to let them know if you are running late.
When in person, create a backup link - this can be helpful in case of any issues, like illness, travel problems etc.
Starting a meeting:
Starting a meeting can be intimidating and sometimes awkward, so here are some tips!
If there is a waiting room for an online meeting, it can be better to wait and let everyone in all at once. It means you’re not repeating yourself or having an awkward silence while waiting for latecomers.
Small talk is helpful! It can feel awkward sometimes but having a bit of small talk can help build connections, especially when working remotely.
It is also good at the beginning of the meeting to just set out the agenda/reason for meeting. People are often busy and in and out of calls all day, so taking a minute at the beginning to jog everyone’s brains can help with clarity and productivity.
Setting an agenda:
Setting an agenda is a good thing to do prior to your meeting. It helps people prepare for the meeting and allows everyone to think about the topic before arriving, often leading to better and more productive conversation.
Do make sure you send out an agenda with enough time for people to prepare if they need to. You don’t want to stress people out by sending it the evening before a 9am call!
An agenda could be as formal or informal as you feel necessary. It is there to help guide the call and ensure that everyone knows what they need to discuss and prepare.
Sending a follow-up:
It’s always good to end the meeting discussing ‘next steps’ but to make sure these are actioned and everyone is clear, follow up with an email. It is helpful to include an overview of what was discussed, any tasks that need to be completed following the meeting and adding names to these tasks for extra clarity.