How to Conduct Effective Meetings in the Workplace

Updated February 4, 2023

Published November 5, 2020
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Whether you're a manager, supervisor, team leader or employee, conducting a meeting gives you the
opportunity to share ideas and information, collaborate with your coworkers and address important
issues and goals. Knowing how to properly conduct a meeting helps you run your organization more
efficiently.
In this article, we explain what makes an effective meeting, how to plan a meeting, how to prepare for a
meeting and how to follow up after a meeting.
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What makes an effective meeting?
An effective meeting involves several elements. The more you include, the more effective your meeting.
Here's what an effective meeting includes and essentially what makes them important and beneficial for
the company:
 Preparation: Proper preparation ensures you make the most of your meeting. Create an agenda
that emphasizes key points you want to address during the meeting. Keep this agenda on hand so
you can reference it during the meeting and take notes as needed.
 Delegation: When conducting a meeting, it's important to address all key points and ensure that
all voices get heard. To help you lead the meeting effectively, consider doing a roll call so you
know who is in attendance and review the agenda with the attendees to help them stay focused
and engaged.
 Action plan: To end a meeting successfully, you need an ending summary that confirms what
everyone must do after the meeting's conclusion. An action plan essentially presents the next
steps everyone should take.
 Focus: Having everyone stay focused ensures you have to address every key discussion point.
Reference the agenda when you need to. It's also important to summarize the points made after
each agenda item, ask if anyone has questions and move on to the next item on the agenda.
 Engagement: Attendees need to stay focused and entertained throughout the duration of the
meeting. Having engaged participants ensures you get input from everyone, which can produce
greater results for your company as a whole.
 Planning ahead: Scheduling the next meeting during the current one allows you to reach the
most participants. It also lets them vocalize any scheduling conflicts.
How do you plan a meeting?
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When it comes to meetings, make sure to have a plan in place to make the most of everyone's time. The
more you prepare, the more effective your meeting. Use these steps to plan a meeting:
1. Determine the meeting's purpose
Before you set a meeting time, identify the purpose of the meeting. Consider whether you want to solve
a problem, come to a decision, share information or motivate your employees. If you don't have enough
time to prepare or if you think another form of communication would work better or just as well, don't
plan a meeting.
2. Create an agenda
Develop an agenda that lays out key topics you want to cover and the order in which you want to cover
them. Make sure to plan a short introduction that explains the reason for the meeting, followed by key
discussion points you want to address. Allot a certain amount of time for each discussion point.
Related: How to Write a Meeting Agenda: Tips, Template and Sample
3. Choose the participants and attendees
Consider the key employees you need to attend the meeting. For example, you need to include the
people who can help you accomplish your goals, who the meeting affects, key decision-makers and who
have knowledge of a topic you're addressing. It's also important to consider the size of your meeting. If
you need to solve a problem, keep your meeting small. If you need to brainstorm ideas, increase the size
of your meeting to foster a greater discussion. Make sure to only invite the people that absolutely need
to be there.
4. Assign roles to your participants
Once you know who you want to participate and attend, assign each participant a role. For example, you
can have someone keep the time and have a facilitator guide the discussion.
5. Set a time and place to meet
Determine the time of the meeting and its location. Consider whether you want an informal gathering or
something more formal. You can hold an informal meeting in a small room, whereas a conference room
better suits a larger and more formal meeting. In terms of the time, make sure the meeting time works
for the majority of your attendees to improve participation.
6. Send an invitation and agenda
Send out meeting invitations and the agenda so everyone knows the meeting's purpose. Consider
sending an email, sending an invite via a calendar invitation or speaking with each invitee in person.
7. Decide on a decision-making process
If you need to make a decision during the meeting, decide on the best decision-making process. For
example, you can have a majority vote, have people share their expertise to come to a group consensus
or have a leader decide on a particular decision. Having a process helps things move along smoothly.
8. Select the tools and equipment you want to use
Consider whether you want to use productivity or collaboration tools during your meeting. For example,
you can use an audio recording device or a screen-sharing platform. Deciding on this ahead of time
helps you avoid technology issues during the meeting. Take into consideration any accessibility issues
for your attendees.
9. Finalize the agenda and distribute it
Make any final changes to the agenda and distribute it to the participants. This lets them review the
agenda prior to the meeting, giving them an idea of what to expect.

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10. Follow up with prospective attendees
If you haven't heard from certain participants regarding their attendance, get in touch with them before
the meeting. It's especially important to verify the attendance of anyone you assigned a role to.
Related: How To Run an Effective Staff Meeting
What are the best ways to prepare for a meeting?
To ensure you have an effective meeting, start preparing in advance. Preparing for a meeting helps you
make the most of your time and gives you the confidence you need to conduct a successful meeting. Use
these methods to help you prepare for a meeting:
 Have an agenda. Prepare an agenda that includes a list of topics, delegates speakers and sets
aside time for each agenda item. Ask for agenda suggestions, be realistic with your time
allotment for each agenda item and determine the importance of each item. When you know the
importance of an agenda item, you can determine whether to address it during this meeting or
bring it up at a later date.
 Ask your speakers to participate. Before the meeting, ask various speakers to participate in the
meeting. They typically address individual objectives. Make sure to select speakers who can
effectively describe the process and outcomes for various objectives.
 Coordinate schedules. Schedule the meeting to accommodate everyone's availability and
accessibility. Make sure to set a realistic meeting time. For example, having a meeting during the
late afternoon hours on a Friday may not be best as many people are ready to head home for the
weekend and won't be as focused. If not everyone can make the meeting, make sure the key
employees for a project can attend and that those who couldn't make it receive notes with a
summary of what occurred and what was discussed.
 Share the agenda. Before the meeting, circulate the agenda to the appropriate employees. Make
sure everyone has a copy and knows what to expect from the meeting.
 Send reminders. Remind everyone of the meeting date and time ahead of time. This ensures
they fit it into their schedule and remember to attend.
Related: Planning Meetings: How to Manage and General Meeting Tips
How do you start a meeting effectively?
Not only does the beginning of a meeting set the tone, but it also helps people feel more comfortable and
willing to share their opinions and ideas. Here are some ways to start a meeting effectively:
 Start with a brief introduction. Greet everyone at the start of the meeting and introduce
yourself. Thank them for attending and give them your name and position at the company.
 Define the purpose of the meeting. Explain the subject of the meeting and summarize the
agenda. You can also use this time to introduce the participants and key speakers.
 Use icebreakers. Consider lightening the mood with an icebreaker. This can help your attendees
feel more comfortable and get them to open up during the meeting. You can ask people questions
to get to know them or ask fun questions to create a more comfortable environment overall.
What are the steps needed to conduct a meeting?
When it comes to meetings, not only do you need to prepare, but you also need to take certain actions to
ensure its success. Here's how to conduct a meeting:
1. Set a clear objective

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Prior to the start of the meeting, make sure you have a clearly defined purpose and objective for holding
the meeting. Consider what you want the meeting to accomplish. For example, you may want to seek
input from other employees or aim to arrive at a decision on a company matter.
2. Consider your attendees
Take time to determine who you want and need to attend the meeting. If you plan to discuss an issue or
topic that involves a specific employee, make sure they're in attendance. It's also important to invite
people who can provide valuable input regarding a particular agenda item.
3. Start and end the meeting on time
Distribute the agenda to the appropriate parties ahead of time to ensure everyone knows the meeting's
start time. Set ground rules and make sure everyone knows the different time allotments. This helps
everyone stay focused and ensures the meeting ends promptly.
4. Follow your schedule
Make sure that you not only create a clear agenda but also stick to it throughout the meeting. Ensure you
get to everything you planned to cover and follow the time allotments you set for each agenda item.
Consider displaying the agenda for everyone to see and follow along with during the meeting.
5. Follow up
After the conclusion of the meeting, send everyone an email highlighting what the meeting
accomplished, the tasks that were delegated and the upcoming deadlines or newly established goals.
This ensures all attendees know what's expected of them.
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How should you follow up after conducting a meeting?
Following up after a meeting helps remind everyone of what was discussed and what needs to happen. It
essentially serves as a reminder and informs everyone who was absent what the meeting entailed.
Consider these follow-up tips:
 Share meeting minutes. Right after the meeting, share the meeting minutes via email with all
attendees and anyone who couldn't make it. Make sure to share the minutes no later than 24
hours after the meeting. The notes should record everything that happened during the meeting,
including any decisions that were made and action plans that were created.
 Check on the progress of each action item. Make sure to check in with your team regarding
their progress with the action items from the meeting. You can do this in person or via email.
This ensures everyone meets their goals on time and reminds people of their responsibilities after
the meeting.
 Schedule individual meetings. After the meeting, schedule individual meetings with project
leaders or other employees in charge of the action items you established during the meeting. This
allows you to speak with them directly about these action items and gives you an opportunity to
check in on their progress.
 Schedule another meeting. At the end of the meeting, take time to schedule the next meeting.
Doing this makes everyone aware of the next meeting date and gives them a chance to address
any scheduling conflicts.

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