The content of a meeting should reflect the purpose of holding the meeting in the first place. If there is no content to share or discuss, there is no meeting, just a gathering of people and some wasted time.
The objective
The expectation of the facilitator and the participants should be known before a meeting is scheduled. The planning process that we discussed previously (Effective Meeting Basics - Part 1) will lay out the objective of the meeting, whether it is educational, to solve a problem, or to gather input/feedback on an existing process. The answer to the question, “Why are we assembled here?” must be clearly stated and communicated to the participants, preferably in advance.
The expectation
The result, or return on the investment of time, of the meeting must be something attainable. If it is a training session, the return is a minimum amount of knowledge about the topic. If you are looking to solve a problem, you should come up with a solution, or list of possible solutions. If the meeting is to provide input or feedback, there should be a way to communicate the summary of findings to participants and show its value.
The information
The knowledge that the meeting imparts must be accurate and available to the participants. This information may be used as a reference or foundation for any decisions to be made or actions taken because of the meeting.
The Next Actions
Each meeting should end with a list of action steps to be implemented afterwards, who these actions are assigned to, and their due dates. In addition, the facilitator should communicate a follow-up schedule for each Next Action.
Providing the objective, expectation, and information required for a meeting to all participants in advance of a meeting is a best practice to follow for all meeting planners. This pre-conference information gives the participants the time and the opportunity to:
- think about the issues that pertain to the meeting;
- read, contextualize and assimilate the information;
- make preparations of their own for furthering the goals of the meeting.
The more that information is shared before a meeting, the greater the likelihood of having a successful meeting. The next post in this series will explore the process involved in planning a meeting.
