Meetings are typically synonymous with business. Each and every day, the mass droves of us in the U.K. that work for a business will take part in a meeting of some description.

So, before taking a look at our tips for managing a meeting, let’s first truly understand what a meeting is.

What is a meeting?

A meeting is an assembly of people for a particular purpose, especially for formal discussion. Meetings can be held in a variety of walks of life, with the end goal being multiple different things. You can have a meeting to discuss major business shaping decisions such as agreeing on which paid search agency to partner up with, or alternatively, it can be something as trivial as to where to host the office Christmas party.

Managing, or hosting a meeting can sometimes be a daunting proposition. However, if you follow the tips below, then you’ll be in a great place to make sure your meeting is not only productive but also a roaring success!

Location

When hosting a meeting – especially if you’re expecting people based around the country to attend – then finding a location that’s possible for attendees to reach is key.

Finding a location that is easily accessible and is in a suitable, pleasant setting makes a meeting much easier to manage as people are more likely to arrive on time and be comfortable in their surroundings.

For example, the meeting rooms at MAC in Birmingham offer a great location and setting to host a business meeting.

Agenda

A well-managed event of any description relies largely on structure. And, where meetings are concerned, setting a well thought through agenda is the primary way to ensure a meeting has structure.

A clear agenda sets out the list of topics to be discussed at a meeting. It should include the purpose of the meeting and the order in which items are to be discussed, helping to ensure that the meeting ensures it’s purpose.

Preparation

Leading on from the agenda, another pre-meeting facet that will make it much easier to manage is ensuring you’re prepared. There are many elements that can be included in meeting prep; some of which seem slightly trivial, yet do make a huge difference. For example, ensuring that there are ample refreshments may seem a drop in the ocean, but can be important in making sure your meeting runs smoothly.

Attendees

A successful meeting is all about arriving at a solution to a potential issue. So, managing a meeting and achieving its core goal, without doubt, hinders on the correct members attending. You don’t want to end up in a situation where a meeting ends up crashing to a halt because the relevant person is not there to input on a critical point.

Define Action Points

Having managed a great meeting and it now coming to an end, it’s important to make sure that the meeting has achieved its goal. Defining important action points – that if completed will help to achieve a solution – will provide a clear plan post-meeting and render the meeting a success.

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