CPD tips - How to make meetings more effective

Meetings are an essential part of work-life, no matter the industry - they always have been and always will be. But since the shift towards hybrid working, meetings have become more commonplace as people’s physical presence is no longer required to attend. At their best, meetings can facilitate exceptional teamwork and better results. At their worst, they can hinder productivity and decrease motivation in the workplace.

In this CPD article, we set out to give you all the tools you need to ensure that you have more effective meetings. The first place to start is asking yourself:

Does this need to be a meeting?

When planning or preparing for a meeting, always have this question in your mind. It’s easy to default to scheduling a meeting when multiple stakeholders are involved, but that doesn’t mean it’s the right thing to do. If you’re expecting a back-and-forth discussion, or if the subject matter is related to a tight deadline, then a meeting is often the best forum. But:

• Is the agenda light? If so, consider online messaging.
• Is the attendee list small? If so, consider speaking one-to-one.
• Is the agenda a list of items for you to tell people about, rather than an open discussion? If so, consider drafting an email.

How to prepare for a meeting

The key to the success of any meeting lies in the planning. Preparing for a meeting involves a few key steps - they don’t seem big isolation, but as a combination, they’re a powerful influence on holding effective meetings.

1. Set an agenda to ensure that you are covering all topics and to give yourself a structure to follow.

2. Make sure to circulate this agenda ahead of time so people can prepare. They may even have additions or builds that could improve the meeting itself.

3. Always consider hybrid working and ensure that there is a working conference link and that the room A/V is working as it should be - this will avoid any potential “can you hear us?” moments.

4. Identify your objectives for the meeting, and what you’d like to get out of it ahead of time, to help maintain the focus of the session.

5. Assign someone to take notes if you’re unable to do so yourself - that way, you’ll be able to track the discussions and outcomes better. 

How to lead a meeting

Leading a meeting may seem daunting at first, but meeting facilitation is an important part of career development. Being a facilitator means your role is to keep the meeting on track. The agenda you set should be used as the guide, and it's your role to ensure that it is both followed and fulfilled. When doing so, keep the following pointers in mind: 

Start and end on time

People have made time for your meeting, so you need to ensure that this is respected. One way to do this is to define a timekeeper. It’s this person’s role to keep tabs on the time and the progress that has been made through the agenda. With someone dedicated to timekeeping it’s much easier to ensure the meeting stays on track.

If there isn’t the resource for a dedicated timekeeper, developing the skill of ‘holding time’ is extremely useful. This is the skill of keeping tabs on the time whilst also remaining present and engaged within the meeting.

If you notice that time is running away, you can gently encourage the participants move onto the next agenda item to ensure the meeting doesn’t run over. One reason that this often doesn’t happen is the fear of interrupting when good conversation or cooperation is happening. One way to combat this is to offer the participants five minutes to note down whatever they had in mind that they were going to offer in addition to what was being discussed and ask them to send it to you. You can then follow up with a collection of all the notes on that subject so that it can be picked at a later date, if necessary.

Give people the opportunity to speak

People have inherently different personalities, and some suit meetings better than others. If you notice that people are dominating the conversation and providing a one-sided view, encourage input from other members of the team (but don’t attempt to force people into speaking if they’re not comfortable, as this will have the opposite effect).

A good way to encourage input from all attendees is to allow members to write thoughts down. This can be on post-it’s if the meeting is in person or by direct message if the meeting is virtual. Doing this allows those who may not be as confident sharing ideas verbally can ensure their input is received. 

Be firm

If you feel like the meeting is veering off course, and your objectives aren’t likely to be fulfilled, be clear about the need to stick to the purpose of the meeting. Bring the participants back to the original goals set out for the meeting and return to the agenda. Be sure to check the time and what progress has been made in the agenda items to bring the remainder of the meeting in line with the planned outcomes and to ensure that all is still achievable in the allotted time. 

How to follow a meeting

Your role doesn’t end when the allotted time is up, it’s important to follow up and make sure everyone has everything they need. Review your meeting notes and consolidate them to make sure the key points are prioritised - general discussion often doesn’t need to be documented in great detail, outcomes are the most important. Once that’s done, circulate the notes to all attendees (and any stakeholders who couldn’t make it) and encourage feedback - this provides a good opportunity for quieter members of the team to ensure their points are raised.

Find CPD courses to improve meeting management skills

Established in 1996, The CPD Certification Service has over 27 years’ experience providing CPD accreditation. With members in over 100 countries, our CPD providers benefit from the ability to promote themselves as part of an international community where quality is both recognised and assured. We have a number of certified courses aimed at improving meetings in the workplace hosted on behalf of our members. You can explore the different courses available to you in our CPD Courses Catalogue.

We hope this article was helpful. If you are interested in offering training courses, seminars, workshops, eLearning, or educational events suitable for Continuing Professional Development, please visit the Become a CPD Provider page or contact our team to discuss in more detail. Alternatively, if you are looking for a free online CPD record tool to help manage, track and log your ongoing learning, as well as store your professional training records and attendance certificates in one simple place, go to the myCPD Portal page.