Whether it’s a classic offline meeting in an office conference room or a virtual meeting using tools like Teams, Zoom, Skype for Business, Google Meet, and similar platforms, the fundamental approach remains the same.

Thorough Preparation for the Meeting

Once the purpose and occasion of a meeting are clear, preparation begins. This means an invitation to the meeting is created and sent to the participants. It is important that all information a meeting participant needs should be included in this invitation. Therefore, it is advisable to give it some thought before sending it.

Who?
The number of participants in a meeting initially seems like a simple decision. Often, it has already been agreed upon in another context which stakeholders are needed. Nevertheless, it is worthwhile to carefully consider who benefits from this meeting and its information, who wants or should present something, and which individuals are needed for a productive discussion. Otherwise, it can happen that either too many people are invited, or important decision-makers or contributors are even missing and thus not included. When considering the number of participants, it is also worth considering the so-called Jeff Bezos Two-Pizza Rule. This rule states that the people attending a meeting should be able to be fed by a maximum of two pizzas. Assuming American pizzas, this means no more than eight people should attend a meeting to conduct it as productively and solution-oriented as possible.

What?
We assume that the purpose and goal of the meeting are known to the organizer at this stage. However, the challenge now is to summarize the occasion for the invitation text and title.
The meeting title should be informative, so that simply by reading the title in the calendar overview, it is clear what the meeting is about. It is also helpful to start the title with the name of the project, working group, or overarching topic. This could look as follows: “Project XYZ – Budget Planning”
The next focus is on the invitation text. Often, little attention is paid to this, and it is sometimes even omitted entirely. However, it is a good opportunity to outline the core objectives of the meeting, set an agenda, and provide each participant with a clear summary of the upcoming meeting. This is particularly helpful for bringing in people who have not been involved before and for clarifying the expectations for the meeting to all participants.
Accordingly, the invitation should therefore contain an agenda as well as a summary of the meeting’s goal and purpose.

When and for how long?
The next question that arises when preparing for a meeting is when it should take place and how long it should last.
The question of ‘when’ is often already roughly or precisely determined through prior discussions and agreed upon among the stakeholders. However, if no exact date has been set yet, it is helpful to use the “Scheduling Assistant” function, which is usually activated for participants within the same organization. This way, you get an overview of available time slots in the invitees’ calendars. Various add-ins for calendar applications offer an alternative, finding the most suitable date through a small survey. Each meeting participant can submit their preference from a selection of dates and times, and as a result, the date with the highest availability for everyone is identified.
Another question not to be underestimated is how long the meeting should last. The art here lies in determining a timeframe that is neither too short nor too long. Too short means that not all topics to be discussed can be covered within the allotted time, and a follow-up meeting may be necessary. If the timeframe is set too long, it can happen that the time is not used productively. Since many people’s calendars are often overflowing with appointments and double bookings are not uncommon, it is all the more important not to underestimate the question of ‘how long’. Here, the principle “Practice makes perfect” applies, because only through experience does one best learn to estimate how much time is truly needed.

Where?
When considering the ‘where’ of the meeting, we limit ourselves to the simple categories of online and offline meetings. Should the meeting take place in a conference room at the company office or online via a virtual conference tool? The answer to this question is usually directly correlated with the question of meeting participants. Is it possible for all stakeholders to be physically present in a conference room? If participants are located in different places or even different countries, the decision is easily made. However, if it is possible and no special circumstances prevent it, the best choice is an offline meeting where all participants meet physically. The experience of a “real-life” meeting cannot (yet) be replaced virtually in any way.

Checklist for Successful Meetings, from Thorough Preparation through Execution to Structured Follow-up

Response to the Meeting Invitation
After sending the meeting invitation, the ball is in the invitee’s court. The invitation is read, understood, and any ambiguities are clarified with the organizer. A response to the meeting invitation signifies a decision for or against participating in the meeting and is reported to the organizer as feedback. In this regard, the invitee should honestly answer the following questions:

• Am I available on the specified date?
• Am I the right contact person for this topic?
• Can I contribute?
• Is the information to be discussed relevant to me?

Individual Preparation of Each Participant
After confirming attendance, each participant proceeds with individual preparation for the meeting. This includes, for example, reviewing relevant documents beforehand, creating presentations, answering surveys, and noting down ambiguities and open points to clarify them during the meeting. It is important that the necessary materials are provided to the stakeholders in advance and that it is clearly communicated what needs to be done with them. Every meeting participant must be aware of what preparations they need to make beforehand and what documents and tools they should bring to the meeting.

Ready Check Immediately Before the Meeting
Shortly before a meeting, it is advisable to perform a quick check. This ranges from setting up and checking the functionality of electronic aids such as headphones, microphone, projector, camera, to mentally preparing for the topic that will now be discussed.

The Structured Execution of the Meeting

Now it can begin. All preparations are complete. The execution of a structured meeting can commence.
The execution can be broadly divided into three parts: the introduction, the main section, and the conclusion. In addition, there are general aspects that are relevant throughout the entire meeting.

General:
As already mentioned in our first article on meetings, adhering to meeting etiquette is often more crucial for a successful meeting than using the right tools. For the entire discussion, whether an offline or online meeting, general communication rules must be observed to achieve productive discussions and constructive solutions. [/artikel_text][artikel_text headline=”Intro”]

Welcome and Introduction
In a group of participants who do not yet know each other, the meeting begins not only with a welcome but also with a brief round of introductions. Reserving a few minutes for small talk among those involved can help create a more relaxed atmosphere. The use of so-called icebreakers is also very useful here. By asking a question unrelated to the meeting topic, people can be brought from their previous thoughts, tasks, and discussions into the present moment. We have already compiled some examples of icebreakers with varying scope and intention for you to try. It should be noted that this part of the meeting is factored into the meeting time, and the actual duration is not lost sight of.

Main Section

Meeting Agenda
Before the actual presentations, discussions, and talks can begin, it is advisable to briefly summarize the purpose of the meeting. This is easiest when the agenda is reviewed and general questions are answered: What is the goal of the meeting? What do we want to discuss? What is expected? What does the optimal outcome look like?

Meeting Notes
To ensure that the meeting notes or minutes can be made available to everyone after the discussion, it must be determined who is responsible for this.
A sensible option is to make the electronic live transcript visible to all participants during the meeting by sharing the screen via screen sharing or a projector.

Conclusion

Summary & Outlook
Ideally, the meeting concludes with a brief summary. This includes the aspects that were discussed and (not) agreed upon.
The outlook on what is next and how to proceed with the respective topic also belongs here. This can be summarized under the heading “next steps”. This usually includes the tasks that were identified during the meeting and result as a consequence.

Careful Follow-up

Sending Notes & Providing Documents
To ensure follow-up on the discussed topics, the meeting notes are sent as minutes to all meeting participants. Alternatively, these are stored in a central location accessible to everyone, such as a SharePoint page for the team. Furthermore, all other documents should also be shared, such as presentations shown. Minutes and associated documents serve as documentation of the meeting, for looking up all information on the discussed topic, and also for building upon in future meetings, for example.

Task Assignment
Furthermore, all tasks and next steps that were identified and agreed upon should be distributed. These can be included, for example, in the “Meeting Minutes” – the protocol.
If meeting participants use a common project management tool to manage team tasks, the tasks from the meeting can be entered directly there. An advantage here is that the tasks can be assigned to the responsible individuals at the same time, and an automatic notification may be sent.

Follow-up Meeting
After the meeting is before the meeting, or in other words, the meeting process starts anew. If a follow-up meeting is necessary to discuss open, unresolved points in another round or if new topics have been identified from it, this will now be organized, and preparation will begin.

Conclusion

A successful and structured meeting that creates added value needs to be well prepared. Preparation is the foundation for productive and structured execution and should therefore not be underestimated. This applies not only to the organizer but to all participants. The better each individual engages with the topic beforehand, the more productive the meeting itself will be.