How to Make Meetings More Successful

Idea

Just because you’ve prepared all the data, analysis and materials for the meeting doesn’t mean that you’re prepared to make that meeting a success.

Unless you’ve taken at least a few minutes to synthesize your message, anticipate the likely questions, and determine what success would be for the session, you might not achieve your goals.

My colleague Catherine and I call this the 5-Minute Rule, and it can make every meeting more effective. In just five minutes.

Example

I remember being embarrassed in a client meeting when my boss asked me a question, which in retrospect I really should have been able to answer.

Because I had been up late putting the materials together and checking all the numbers, I was so exhausted that it was all I could do to stay awake in the meeting.

After that, I realized that my preparations were not complete until I had also carved out at least a few minutes ahead of the meeting to anticipate what the key issues and questions might be, and the points that I would want to make.

Later on when I was running my own meetings, I found myself sometimes leaving the meeting feeling like we had a great discussion, but then realizing in the taxi back to the office that we had missed some important points.

That’s when I added to my pre-meeting routine the point about identifying at the outset what success would be from that meeting. I hope it serves you well too.

Action

Take 5 minutes before each meeting today to:

1. Decide what you want to convey (remember the Rule of 3)
2. Anticipate the likely questions, and
3. Determine what success would be for that session.