Most people think of meetings as an event - the time we’re gathered together in a physical or virtual room. But meetings are actually a cycle that consists of three phases - before, during and after. Too often meetings are unproductive due to a lack of proper preparation by both the meeting leader and participants. Yet, by spending a few minutes designing a thoughtful agenda, developing appropriate prework, and communicating clearly with your meeting participants, you can transform the entire meeting experience. 

In this episode, I walk through what to do before a meeting to prepare yourself and your colleagues for a productive conversation.

The full episode guide includes my meeting agenda template, tips for writing a desired outcome, and how to design and communicate pre-work. Get it when you join the Modern Manager community or purchase the full guide at www.themodernmanager.com/shop.  

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Read the related blog article: How to Prepare Yourself and Others For A Productive Meeting

Key Takeaways:

• Preparing yourself and your meeting participants will help create a more productive meeting.
• The most important element of any meeting is the desired outcome: what will the meeting achieve?
• The more specific the desired outcome, the easier it will be to plan the agenda and facilitate the conversation to accomplish that goal.
• Consider what people need to know, what they can think about, or what they can do prior to entering the meeting that will prepare people for a more productive and efficient conversation.
• Pre-work can be reading or listening to an article, video or podcast, a document, voice or video message.
• Pre-work can be reflecting on specific questions or generating ideas ahead of time.
• Pre-work can be completing a worksheet, answering questions, contributing to a shared online document.
• Sometimes you may need to produce a document, record a voice message or video presentation in order to share important information in the optimal format prior to the meeting.
• When you assign prework, be sure to include clear instructions that explain (1) why you have assigned this pre-work or how it will help the meeting, (2) what specifically people should do, (3) how long it will take and (4) when it needs to be done by.
• Share the agenda and pre-work with enough time for meeting participants to review and complete any actions.

Additional Resources:

• Episode 33: Do You Really Need That Meeting?
• Book: Momentum: Creating Effective, Engaging, and Enjoyable Meetings

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