How to prepare for an important meeting

No matter if it is your first time attending a meeting or your hundredth time, you should always be prepared. Whether the meeting is about future actions to take to increase the sales or to talk about the recent concerns you may have had about a mission given to you, it is important to communicate every information smoothly. Even though you might not be the one leading the meeting, you will surely have to participate actively. We gathered for you some tips to always keep in mind in order to be well-prepared for each one of your meetings.

Acknowledge the purpose of the meeting

Way before the meeting starts, you should already be well-informed of its prime purpose. Is it a problem-solving meeting, a discussion about a new project, or an update on the company’s organisation? It is only when the purpose of the meeting is clearly exposed that you can propose cohesive ideas and solutions.

Be aware of who is at the table

If you are leading the meeting, you might have assigned missions or proposed solutions to the participants and every one of them has a role to play. In fact, you want to select participants that are directly concerned in order to be more productive. There is no need to invite the whole team if they are not actively working on the project, you can always make a brief to share afterwards.

State clear objectives

For the smooth running of the meeting, every objective should be stated clearly. A meeting does not have to last more than an hour if it is well-presented and straight to the point. If during a moment during the meeting you feel that you don’t understand what should be really done, don’t hesitate to speak up. Your active participation is key for the meeting final results.

Prepare an agenda

The agenda gives a constant update on the meeting’s progression to all the attendees. You may share it and leave it open during the meeting shall any participant propose a new idea that could bring more clarity to the discussion. Make sure to have a proper schedule from the introduction to the outcome of the meeting to make sure not to go off trail.

Understand your audience

During a meeting, your speech has to be appropriate to the topic and attendees. Take into consideration the size of the audience and their knowledge of the topic to better communicate the objectives of the meeting. Even if your presentation consists of important numbers and facts that have to be stated remember that it is easy to lose focus. Make your documents as visual as possible with graphs, charts, bullet points, among others in order to lighten the information and make them easier to remember.

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