How to run a successful meeting

A meeting should be short, to the point, and not waste the time of anyone in it. That sounds difficult, but is absolutely achievable. This works for both in-person and remote meetings.

Mastering the best practices for running a meeting is vital if you want to get things done and be as productive as possible.

Meetings are an essential part of running any business because they allow people to collaborate, make decisions, and share information. Read on to learn more on how to run an effective meeting.

10 tips for running a successful meeting

Here are ten things you can do to make sure each meeting goes well:

1. Don’t have a meeting

If you can avoid having a meeting, consider not having one. Something quick can still be disruptive to the work and time of the other participants. Effective meetings, even the well-run ones, are costly.

2. Invite only the necessary participants

Only invite people to your meeting that need to be there. If you want to satisfy the curiosity of people that don’t need to be there but are interested in what is discussed, you can share the meeting agenda and notes with them (see below).

If your meeting only needs all participants for a part of the time, do that first, and tell those people to feel free to leave when they are no longer necessary.

A meeting is a tool to achieve a particular goal. Be careful to not create a culture where being in a meeting means you’re important. It’s not.

Expert move: if you’re in a meeting that you don’t need to be in and can’t contribute to, leave. Don’t disrupt the meeting. Just send a message to your manager / superior and let the person that organized the meeting know why you left.

3. Share the agenda in advance

It’s essential to give the meeting participants at least one day's notice of the agenda so that they can adequately prepare for the meeting. List the agenda items in order of priority, and note who’s in charge of each one.

Also, list any necessary pre-meeting work needed. You can also estimate how long each agenda item will take to help you keep the meeting on schedule.

Additionally, a few hours before the meeting, email the agenda to the attendees once more. Note any last-minute changes that have been made to it.

The easiest way to do this is to link to a Google doc*. Give everyone edit rights and tell them you will only discuss items on the agenda. Do this at least a day before, preferably whenever you send the invite.

Format it like this:

11. Job: A brief description of what I like to discuss
2	1. Marcelo: A comment I have on Job’s point
3	2. Eduardo: Another comment I have on this point
4	3. This is a note someone made while this point was being discussed
52. Luís: A different topic I’d like to discuss

Your name before your point. If it’s your point, you speak up. Have a clear goal in mind for adding something to the agenda. That can be an FYI, a clear ask, or a clear point of discussion.

Everyone who isn’t talking takes notes.

• You want to have a document that everyone can easily modify. Sending around an attachment or an email is not a good solution for this.

4. Stay on topic

Make sure you have dedicated time slots for each topic of discussion and that all participants adhere to them.

You can also set some ground rules for the meeting, such as no interruptions and sticking to the allotted time. Consider using timers or meeting software to help the attendees keep track of time.

If any ideas come up during the meeting that weren’t part of the original agenda, you can set up a "parking lot" meeting to address them later.

You should only discuss what is on the agenda. Nothing more, nothing less. If someone but the person raising the point is changing the topic / going off-course, shelve the discussion and make it a separate point at the bottom of the agenda.

For example:

Job: “Let’s discuss what we’ll put on the bagels”

Marcelo: “Can we also have donuts? Other donut-shaped foods, maybe?”

Luís: “I prefer cubic foods, actually”

Job: “Let’s make that a point on the bottom of the agenda” *adds a point to the bottom of the agenda ‘Marcelo: Other food’.

Learning to do this is extremely important for running a good meeting. It’ll make sure you actually treat each point sufficiently and take notes. This goes for the original topic as the newly added topic.

5. Keep it short

One way to keep the meeting short and not exceed the allocated time is to follow the agenda closely and avoid going off-topic. You can ask participants to be brief and to the point.

And when you set up the meeting to begin with, prioritize a few important topics to limit the number of items on the agenda.

Plan your meetings for 30 minutes or less. You’re probably overestimating the time you need for a well-prepared meeting. If you find that you need more time, you can schedule another meeting - and add some time for the next instance.

In my experience, it’s hard to keep everyone engaged for more than 30 minutes. Even within that time, I find that people start to lose attention twenty minutes in.

Furthermore, holding multiple meetings in one day that eat into employees' personal working time increases the risk of employee burnout. Plus, unplanned meetings or those outside office hours can negatively impact work-life balance, causing stress.

6. Start on time

Ideally, send calendar invites with automated reminders before each meeting. Make sure the agenda, documents, and technical setup instructions are all prepared before the meeting begins.

As mentioned, forward the agenda in advance to ensure that participants know the meeting’s start time and can make the necessary preparations.

Given that you sent an invite in advance, there’s no need to wait for people to arrive if they’re not on time. Just start the meeting as scheduled. Don’t wait for people.

If there are points of absent people on the agenda, move them to the bottom of the agenda.

Make it clear that you’ll be starting on time going forward, and be consistent about this. Before you know it, everyone shows up on time.

7. End on time

Once the meeting begins, you can ask those presenting agenda items to address the most critical topics first. You should allocate specific time slots for each agenda item to help participants adhere to time limits easily. In doing so, the meeting can end on time.

End the meeting early or exactly when planned. Never later. You only asked for a set amount of people, respect their time by ending a meeting when you’re out of time.

Any points left to discuss should be moved to the next meeting (if there is one) or scheduled into a new meeting with the people who need to hear them.

8. Take a leadership role

If there’s no formal or natural leader in a meeting, take it upon yourself to be that person.

Learning how to run a good meeting is a skill. You can get started by:

1. Telling people to start discussing their points once the time of meeting has started.

2. Keeping discussions on topic.

3. Sticking to the time. Clearly running out of time? Address that ahead of the end time, and make a plan for it.

4. Highlighting underrepresented voices. People who tend to speak more or more loudly don’t necessarily have better ideas than those who don’t speak up. As a leader, you can level the playing field.

9. Accommodate remote attendees, if needed

If some employees work entirely remotely or hybrid, you can opt for remote-inclusive meetings to save time. These meetings can offer flexibility, allowing participants to join from various locations, thus supporting a better work-life balance.

Before conducting a remote or hybrid team meeting, perform a test run to ensure that your equipment and software work properly. Also, include the meeting link, dial-in options, agenda, and any preparatory materials in the calendar invite.

If appropriate, record the meeting for those who cannot attend so they can watch it later.

10. Conclude and follow up

Conclude the meeting by reviewing its key takeaways, including any decisions reached and new tasks. Make sure you give everyone an opportunity to ask questions or offer any final remarks. Afterward, state whether there will be any follow-up sessions.

Once something has been discussed, make it clear what the follow-up is all about and who is responsible for it. You should do this right in the agenda, so it’s easy to refer back to, e.g.:

11. Job: Donuts are great - TODO Job: order donuts
21. Luís: Cubic foods are great too - TODO Luís: schedule meeting with fellow cube-fanatics

Once something is done, mark it as such in the same agenda — and provide links where necessary.

11. Job: Donuts are great - DONE Job: order donuts
21. Luís: Cubic foods are great too - DONE Luís: schedule meeting with fellow cube-fanatics
3    1. link to meeting

For recurring meetings, start the meeting with a review of the TODOs of the last meeting.

Bonus: What is the ideal meeting cadence?

A meeting cadence is the regular schedule or frequency with which companies hold meetings. It is basically the schedule of regular meetings, which companies hold every day, every week, every two weeks, or at any other interval that works best for the team or organization.

Having a regular meeting schedule makes it easier to guarantee that team members are tracking their progress and collaborating as needed.

With many companies now going remote, having a solid meeting cadence is even more crucial for remote teams.

In 2022, the percentage of remote workers increased by 27%, and companies are continuing to hire globally.

A well-planned meeting cadence promotes effective communication and collaboration, regardless of your employees’ respective time zones.

To make sure your meetings succeed, clearly outline their purposes and objectives well ahead of time. Then, set a consistent schedule. For instance, you can opt to hold stand-up meetings at 10 a.m. every day.

Also, ensure you distribute the meeting agenda for each meeting in advance and start and end the session on time.

Types of meeting cadences

Let’s take a look at the different types of meeting cadences.

Daily stand-ups

The purpose of a daily stand-up is to keep everyone on the same page and updated on the team's progress.

Agile methodologies rely on these 15-minute meetings, in which each participant answers the following three questions:

• What did I do yesterday?

• What am I going to accomplish today?

• Are there any obstacles in my way?

Asking these questions helps employees stay on track, take responsibility, and quickly address any issues hindering their work progress.

Weekly meetings

In this arrangement, teams meet every week to discuss current projects, brainstorm ideas for the upcoming week, and get everyone in sync.

Weekly team meetings usually include team members providing project updates, discussing priorities, and identifying any problems faced.

Regular weekly meetings help teams stay on track and ensure everyone is on the same page.

Bi-weekly meetings

In these meetings, participants get more detailed updates on progress, talk about ongoing projects in more depth, and discuss any mid-term goals they have. This frequency is ideal for teams tackling complicated projects, as it allows for more thorough check-ins — but less often.

Monthly meetings

Monthly meetings are ideal for reviewing overall progress and discussing strategic initiatives. They typically cover departmental updates, performance evaluations, and goal-setting for the next term.

These meetings allow departments and teams to stay focused on the big picture as they check in on the statuses of specific tasks.

Quarterly meetings

A quarterly meeting cadence allows for in-depth performance evaluations, the establishment or revision of quarterly goals, and alignment on longer-term objectives.

The topics covered at these meetings are high-level, involving strategic planning, cross-departmental alignment, and financial reviews.

Holding meetings every three months allows organizations to monitor their progress toward their annual goals and make any required adjustments based on each quarterly performance.

Yearly meetings

Annual meetings are crucial for reviewing the previous year's accomplishments, outlining objectives for the next year, and debating long-term goals. These are more formal in nature, with the key participants including senior management.

Transform the way you connect with your team

Organizations can improve collaboration, boost project success, and foster a more responsive and cohesive work environment by establishing and sticking to a meeting cadence that works for them.

Setting up the right meeting schedule helps to keep communication open, make sure everyone is on the same page, and increase productivity within the organization. And regular meetings allow team members to communicate, review, and resolve urgent issues as they arise.

If you want to consolidate all your employee data in one place so that you can easily set up a proper meeting cadence, why not opt for a global HR solution like Remote? Reach out to us today to learn more.