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Ten Tips for Organizing Meetings

image © 2010 Professional Organizer Lea Schneider

An informal poll was conducted - meaning I asked around. It seems that most people dislike meetings of any kind. They like to network, meet new people and socialize but they don't like sitting through meetings.

Most likely, that is because they've sat through meetings that were disorganized. They watched the time crawl by and worried about all the things they needed to be doing that weren't getting done.

You'll find more success in holding meetings- no matter if a social club or a corporate operating committee- if you take time to organize it.

1. Have a defined goal for the meeting. Don't meet just to meet.

2. Write an agenda for the meeting. Allocate an appropriate amount of time to each item. This will help the meeting leader control the length of discussions on a given topic.

3. Present the agenda in advance to your group. This allows everyone to arrive with materials ready, presentations prepared and questions formulated.

4. Notify anyone speaking at the meeting well in advance. Be sure to clarify the goal of the meeting, the topic of their presentation and how many minutes they have to present.

5. Provide a written copy of the agenda to each person at the meeting. A meeting without one seems endless. Following the agenda through the various topics allows attendees to track how much meeting time is left.

6. Start the meeting on time. No matter if a social or work meeting, people have planned their day or evening around this meeting. Be considerate of their time. In addition, latecomers will soon learn that people are not willing to wait on them.

7. The meeting leader should be aware that it is their job to keep people on task. Be ready to interrupt in a positive manner. Common ways to do this include saying: See me after the meeting, let's add that to next meeting's agenda, our time is running out so let's table that until next meeting, how about bringing more information on that for all of us and so forth.

8. Committee leaders should be prepared to give a brief report, not turn the meeting into another committee meeting. One way to insure that the committee's have met and worked on a given project is for the meeting leader to ask for a written summary to be emailed to them prior to the meeting.

9. End on time. If you get caught up in the discussions and tend to forget the clock, appoint someone to give you a five or ten minute warning before it is time to end the meeting.

10. Conclude the meeting with thanks. Remind members how and when to place items on the next meetings agenda, the time and date of the next meeting, any information or items required for the next meeting and a reminder to anyone who is presenting material or reports.