How to run productive and effective business meetings

All businesses have regular meetings as part of their way of getting things done. The effectiveness of these meetings is dependent on the following:

The better prepared you are for a meeting, the better results you can expect. Make the best use of the time spent in the meeting by distributing documents or reports that are going to be discussed ahead of time. That way, participants will be immediately engaged instead of wasting time reading during the meeting.

Have an agenda to help to give focus. There should be an opportunity at the end of the meeting to discuss all other business not covered by the agenda, where participants can voice any ideas or concerns. Send out the agenda ahead of the meeting so that all participants are better prepared.

Start on time and finish on time. Meeting participants will be more engaged if there aren’t interruptions from latecomers and if they aren’t constantly watching the clock to check an overrun meeting doesn’t make them late for their next appointment.

Take minutes to capture the discussions and action items that come out of the meeting. Participants can’t be expected to remember all the detail of the items discussed. Immediately after the meeting, summarise the outcome, as well as action items and timelines, and email a copy of this summary to all attendees.

Get feedback from meeting attendees on how the meeting was for them. Use a simple form to solicit feedback, or just informally speak with attendees after the meeting to get their input. That way, you can see what is working and fix any problems that you wouldn’t otherwise be aware of.

At Mantle Business Centres, our meeting rooms are designed with you in mind. You might need a small room to hold an interview, or a larger one for a conference. Whatever your requirement, we have the flexibility in size as well as in location.

Whatever kind of venue you are looking for, we can oblige and provide the technology, stationery and food to make even the toughest board meeting run smoothly.

Give us a call on 0333 00 66 330 or email us to book a meeting room.