Best Practices of Meeting Organization

While we’d all love to spend less time in meetings, they are key to speeding up team movement, optimizing individual impact, and ensuring an aligned approach.  Maximizing the value of our time in meetings benefits everyone and makes them more enjoyable.  Here are some key tips:

1.      Preparation

1.1.    Setup a time and space at least a day prior to give everyone time to prepare and be present. 

1.2.    Include an agenda that clarifies what will be reviewed as well as who is responsible for each item.  List a conference line and a link to share screens.

1.3.    Make sure that all the key stakeholders are invited that may add value to the topic. 

2.      During the Meeting

2.1.    Take notes that track an overview of progress, clarify deliverables, and capture specific details about the key acceptance criteria of the deliverables.

2.2.    If there is a shared document the team is focused on,update it together during the meeting.

2.3.    Ten minutes before the end of the scheduled time, align on next steps and when to review progress.

3.      Follow Up

3.1.    Review and refine the notes to make sure that they are easy to consume and that each specific document that was reviewed is linked and/or attached.  Send them out to all attendees and cc: anyone who should be informed as well.  Save copies in a shared location.

3.2.    Update action plans to reflect progress made on deliverables as well as next steps.

3.3.    Schedule the follow up meeting.

Reference:

·         Work Session Notes Template