There are a few key steps to ensure that you’re well-prepared to attend. No matter if it’s for a project planning meeting or an employee performance review, investing the time and effort into your preparation will make the difference between having a successful conversation and a sour one.
Make your agenda, and send any reading materials you’d like your attendees to read prior to the meeting. Communicating these materials ahead of time helps ensure that everyone is aware of and has a thorough understanding of the read here event and is able to participate effectively. You can include them in your invitation or share them via internal communications. Be aware of what you consider essential to read and what’s nice to have.
Anticipate any obstacles that may be encountered during the meeting and come up with a plan on how to handle the issue. The delay in bringing up these issues during the meeting could result in many wasted time in the meeting as everyone tries to be up-to-date on an issue that could have been solved in advance.
Don’t forget to create the system of recording and sharing minutes of meetings and other documents. Implementing this will ensure that the momentum continues after the meeting and ensure that all participants are aware of what was discussed and decided on in the meeting.
Last but not least, make sure you have a list with the most important takeaways that will help everyone leave the meeting confident about what next steps to take to move the discussion or project forward. This is an excellent way to close the meeting and let everyone feel that they are part of a group that is capable of meeting its goals.