The Arena Newsletter
Issue 38 | April 15, 2021
“The difference between something good and something great is attention to detail.”
— Charles R. Swindoll
It’s not your imagination, there ARE more meetings in your day than there have ever been before. The ease of scheduling and popularity of videoconference software have made meetings ubiquitous and somewhat indistinguishable. Your meetings, though, can stand out in all the right ways with just four practices.

#1 Prepare

As you draft the meeting agenda, also select relevant background information that will provide context for the conversation and decisions. The agenda and all relevant materials should be distributed to participants prior to the meeting. 

To level up, draft an internal agenda for yourself with a few talking points next to each agenda item. If you will be introducing someone, write out their name phonetically and practice the introduction by saying it out loud a few times prior to the meeting.
#2 Convene

Begin and end the meeting on time. As the meeting progresses, keep an eye on the clock and move through the agenda with a sense of purpose but not at the expense of a thoughtful discussion. It takes practice to know when to move things along and when to let a discussion play out. If meeting facilitation is something you want to improve on, consider watching a tutorial or taking a class from LinkedIn Learning, Udemy, Harvard Business School, or other highly-rated source.
#3 Capture

As people are speaking, note the actions that should be taken following the meeting; who will take the lead (e.g., FirstName LastName (Department) is far more meaningful than simply Department); and a by-when.
#4 Follow-Up

After the meeting, circulate the list of actions/leads/by-whens to the participants with a note of thanks. Then, individually follow up on the actions before the deadlines. This gives the leads a gentle reminder that the action is due and every opportunity to be on-time with the completion. 

You can put these steps into practice by using the pre-built checklist for Facilitating a Meeting in The Arena App. Download it today for FREE in the App Store and check it out for yourself!
#InTheArena #SeizeTheDay #Productivity