How to run a business meeting
When running a meeting, the most important factor to be aware of is the planning and preparation necessary to ensure the meeting achieves its objectives. Hence, the agenda for the meeting should stipulate clearly who is invited, the meeting location, date, time and what is expected to be discussed. Individual communications with attendees might be necessary to explain the expected format of the content. Increasingly, meetings are placing emphasise on shorter presentations and give more focus to discussion and question and answer type activities. Although the agenda is usually followed, people are not stopped if they digress and are allowed to explore related matters in detail. It is not uncommon that meetings finish with an agreement for another follow up meeting with decisions on the current meeting’s main objectives not having been made.
It is important to ensure that all required attendees are aware of the meeting, and of any necessary work they may need to do in advance. Attendees are always expected to confirm their attendance and may sometimes put forward a replacement delegate, if they are unable to attend themselves.
It is also important to ensure a meeting location is appropriate, that the room has all the required facilities, and enough space for the numbers likely to attend. If you are responsible for the meeting, it is advisable to arrive early to check the room layout, chairs, desk or tables etc. If people arrive to find a shortage of chairs, it will delay the start of the meeting and cause unnecessary disruption.
If a meeting includes non-English speaking attendees, it may be necessary to ensure that an interpreter is available, which should be arranged several weeks ahead of the meeting. Any presentations that have been completed and sent in advance may need to be checked and pre-loaded onto the computer that will be used for the meeting or duplicated for distribution in print.
Some organisations prefer PowerPoint presentations and meeting documents to be circulated in advance of the meeting, so that all attendees are able to review any materials that will need to be discussed. This often increases the efficiency of the meeting, freeing up more time for valuable debate and discussion and helping to advance business goals.
It is courteous in the UK to allow other people to speak, and not to interrupt them while they do. It is also useful to obtain feedback after the meeting and establish what the attendees thought of the content and the discussion. It is considered helpful to acknowledge others’ points and, if necessary, agree to disagree; but at no time should you lose your temper or let your behaviour become overly animated.