Practices For Effective Meetings

As consultants, we spend a lot of time in meetings. Much of the value we bring to our clients is realized in meetings. That is why we have developed a set of principles and practices that we bring to every meeting. Many of these are not new or specific to Victoria Fide, but I have seldom experienced the same effect in meetings run without these principles and practices.

Define Meeting Objective and Agenda

Having an agenda is likely to show up on anyone’s list of meeting best practices. Having a defined meeting objective is not as commonly recommended. Defining your objective for the meeting can really help you determine an appropriate agenda. Creating an agenda helps you prepare for the meeting.

Distribute the meeting objective and agenda in advance

Distributing an agenda in advance seems like common sense, but I am surprised how many times that does not happen. Distributing the agenda in advance allows others to be prepared for the meeting.

Distribute objective and agenda separate from the meeting invitation

Distributing the meeting objective and agenda in a separate email makes it much more likely to be seen prior to the meeting. Several times I have joined a meeting only to learn that the agenda wasn’t what I thought it was. The meeting agenda was in the invitation, but while I was looking at the invitation I was focused on the date and time of the meeting and the meeting title. The agenda got lost in the meeting invitation body.

Assign a Scribe (other than the presenter)

Having a designated scribe ensures notes will be taken. Having the scribe be someone other than the presenter increases the likelihood the notes will be complete.

Display the Notes (in progress) For All to See

At Victoria Fide we require the notes to be shown to all meeting attendees as they are being taken. Although this can add complexity to the meeting logistics, I believe this is one of the greatest effectivity boosters for meetings.

Face-to-face meetings

In face-to-face meetings, there are a couple of ways you can accomplish this. Both methods assume there are no remote attendees.

Use a second monitor or projector

Often, conference rooms will have both a large screen and a projector. In these cases, one can be used for the main meeting content while the other can be used to display the notes.

Use a digital meeting

Often, we will display the presentation or main meeting content locally in the conference room but use a Teams (or Zoom, etc.) meeting to display the notes. This allows people to see the presentation in the room and see the notes on their laptops.

Remote meetings

When you have remote meeting participants it becomes a little more difficult because you cannot simultaneously share content from multiple participants. To address this you can start with the suggestion above to use a second monitor or projector. Once you have your second monitor or projector displaying your notes locally you simply point a participant camera at the notes, and you see the notes in the gallery rather than a person. This can be a simple, low-tech solution.

Review task assignments before ending the meeting

Reserve time at the end of the meeting to review the tasks and next steps and make sure they are clearly defined, assigned, and documented.

For external meetings (i.e. customers or vendors) that require significant internal discussion, we recommend scheduling an internal meeting immediately after the external meeting. The time to debrief and define, assign, and document internal tasks are directly after the meeting. If you wait and meet later, you run the risk of forgetting important items from the meeting.