Meeting Etiquette

Monday, 20 September 2021

Today's Next LVL Business Tip is all around how to run an effective meeting.

Now, if you're like me and you've been to a million meetings throughout your career, you'll know what works and what doesn't.

Today we are going to talk about some of the things that are great when running a meeting.

So first and foremost, when should you hold a meeting versus sending an email or picking up the phone? Well, there are four main reasons.

To teach people something to these
To bring people together, to make really important decisions quickly.
To bring people together in a forum type setting.
To build relationships with people, whether it's one-on-one or in a group, a meeting is a great way to do that.

Secondly, who should attend a meeting and essentially it's anyone that satisfies one of those four categories above. If they don't fit into one of those four categories give them back their time. Perhaps you can send them an email with an update on how the meeting went or pick up the phone and talk to them.

Please respect people's time. Don't invite people for the sake of it.

What if you are hosting a meeting? There are a couple of tips that you should keep in mind.

Firstly, when you're sending your meeting invitation out give enough time so that people can attend and shuffle their diaries.

Secondly, be very clear and succinct on the purpose of the meeting and what you're looking to achieve. One of the great ways to do that is to include an agenda in your meeting invitation.

Thirdly thing that you should do is really be considerate of how long you need to hold the meeting for. We know that the most effective timeframe for holding a long meeting is 45 minutes. Can you say what you need to say in 45 minutes? If not, if you need to go longer, have a break at the 45 minute mark, because you're going to get the most out of your people. They'll be more focused with a fresh perspective.

Lastly, when it comes to running an effective meeting, and this isn't about the host. This is about the attendees.

Firstly, if you are not speaking, go on mute. Nobody needs to hear the garbage truck going past your house.
Secondly, if you are having a video call, make sure you have your video on. As I mentioned before, meetings are a great way for people to build relationships. And it's very hard to do that if you can't see somebody's face.
Thirdly, if you are attending a meeting is to be engaged, be focused, interact, answer questions, write notes - don't multitask. I know it's very tempting not to, but, um, try and be present in the meeting. Uh, and that's all. So if you're running an effective meeting, remember these quick tips, uh, and you'll make the most of your time and it'll be great, um, valuable meeting for everybody. See you next time.

If you're ready to tackle 2021 (or Q3/Q4 of Financial Year 2021) with gusto then book a Strategic Planning session with the team at LVL UP Consulting today.

Meeting Etiquette

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