Dream Think Act

• What is the objective of the meeting?
• What is the expected outcome of the meeting?
• What do you want participants do during the meeting?
• Who should be there?
• What do the participants need to prepare?
• What is in it for them?  (Give your participants a reason to come)
• Where is it?
• When does it start and end?
• What should you call this meeting? (Give it a good name!)

2.      Invite the Right People

Don’t waste your or other peoples’ time. Invite the people who really need and want to be there.

3.      Motivate the Right People

Once you get the right people on board, you need to create some meeting angels. Meeting angels are the few people who support your goals and objectives even before the meeting begins. They like you and want to help you in making the meeting successful. They can help you to move the meeting along. They can also ask other right people to join or support your meeting. 

P.S. You must identify your meeting angels a minimum of one week before the meeting. You need to give your angels some time to think about how they can help you.

4.      Prepare the Agenda

When you prepare your agenda, think about these questions:

• How much time do you or your participants have?
• How much time do you need to achieve your objectives?
• How much time can you expect to get from your participants?
• Can you accomplish your objective in one meeting or do you need multiple meetings?
• Who would be the best person to drive and lead the agenda item?  (It doesn’t have to be you.)

Your agenda must include the following:

• Start & End Time
• Date / Location
• Agenda items with allotted time and owners
• Introduction
• Conclusion (Time to review action items)
• Ground Rules (No laptop or phone?)

You must make copies for all participants. This is not about saving a tree. It is about getting everyone on the same page.

5.      Define Clear Roles & Responsibilities

There are a minimum of three kinds of role in each meeting: the leader, the facilitator and the participant. The leader drives the meeting objectives. The facilitator drives the agenda and time. Be very clear about who is doing what. Just because you initiate the meeting doesn’t mean you have to be the facilitator.  

6.      Follow the Agenda

You need to encourage people to respect and follow your agenda. If your participants get excited about certain agenda item (good problem to have) and won’t stop talking, just say this “I hate to break up this conversation, but we need to move on to our next agenda item. Let me follow up and set up a different meeting just focusing on this.”

7.     Read Your Audience

Watch your participants.  Here are some signs of losing interest:

• Reading emails (on laptop or Blackberry)
• Staring at distant objects
• Looking at the clock
• Going to the bathroom
• Sleeping or yawning

You can bring them back by:

• Taking a break
• Ask them a direct question (What do you think?)
• Talk to them privately
• Point out the no emails or phone rule
• Ask them to stand up and stretch

8.      Wrap Up

Give yourself at least 10 minutes at the end to conclude your meeting. This is the most important part of your meeting and you need to address the following:

• Summarize the meeting
• Review the outcome of the meeting
• Review action items (Who needs to do what and by when?)
• Acknowledge leaders and participants (Make them feel good about your meeting)

Just Do This…

Review these meeting tips when you prepare for your next meeting. It will save you lots of time and frustration for years to come.

Related Articles

• All Hands Meeting

• Goodbye to Corporate America Log - Day 11

• Second Imtrepreneur Mastermind Meeting Review

• First Imtrepreneur Mastermind Meeting Review

• Imtreprenuer - A Mastermind Group for Immigrant Entrepreneurs