Mastering Meetings: A Complete Practical Guide to Meetings

In this course, we'll take a deep dive into meetings, calls and catch-ups. This course will give you the skills to schedule, chair and contribute to productive, quality meetings that add value and help you get the job done.

Poor quality meetings are a common complaint at many organisations. This course gives you the skills to not only master the role of an attendee, but also a chairperson and dives into the psychology of meetings and what you can do to build a reputation as an amazing meeting organiser at your organisation.

What to Expect

I've had thousands of meetings over the years. And I've come to know a thing or two about what makes a good, and bad meeting. Many people cite too many meetings, or the poor quality of meetings as one of the main workplace frustrations. It comes up often on employee satisfaction surveys. Too many meetings. Too many bad meetings. Too much time wasted. Running a good meeting isn't just a case of turning up. Meetings can cripple productivity if allowed to spread uncontrollably, and can be a real productivity booster if done well. And you’ll know those people in your organisation that add value to meetings as well as those that don’t. In this video series, I'll talk about how you can run meetings that add real value, and don't disrupt everyone's valuable time.

About Me

I've got over 20 years experience working for some of the biggest and highest-pressure enterprises in the world, including some of the most prestigious financial institutions there are. I've led teams small and large, remote, local and global and have experience providing Agile IT solutions and services to non-technical business users, as well as IT professionals and development teams.

The Cost of Meetings

Sometimes meetings can occur for all the wrong reasons. We talk about them here. As well as the correct reasons for having meetings or calls. To host or attend a meeting you're effectively being charged. Let's explore the ways in which we all pay a price for meetings. 

Types of Meetings

There are many different types of meeting. And each type has many similarities but also a number of specific considerations that you should be aware of.

Timing and Scheduling

There are a lot of variables that come into play as regards setting up a meeting in terms of when you should schedule the meeting for, and how long it should last. It's certainly not a case of simply picking a free slot in your calendar and firing off an invitation.

Ok so you've done all of the required due diligence and you're absolutely certain you need to call a meeting. Great. Well it's certainly not just a case of opening up your work calendar application and picking a slot that works for you.

We will take a look at the essential aspects of creating a great meeting invite that helps your attendees and makes sure they get the most from your meeting.

And now you've found the perfect time slot for your meeting, what else can you do to ensure that you're respecting your audience and helping to build a reputation as someone that schedules meetings only when necessary.

Sometimes you'll be inviting people to your meeting that work for another company. For example a partner or a vendor. These need some extra considerations.

Every time you call a meeting, you're giving yourself a chance to be judged on the quality of your interaction, the level of respect you're showing for your audience's time, and the attention to detail you're applying to make the cost of the meeting less for your audience.

The Meeting

So you've scheduled a meeting and it's all good. Now what? You might have picked the perfect set of attendees, scheduled a really good slot and designed an effective meeting invitation, but your responsibilities are only just beginning.

As meeting chairperson it's your job to start the meeting off well. Kicking off a call effectively can make the difference between a great meeting and one that's a waste of time.

Scheduling and starting a meeting is just the beginning. Now the chairperson has to steer the ship through the minefield that is the meeting agenda. You've got to ensure the agenda gets addressed, that everyone has a voice, and that people don't end up destroying their professional relationships.

After Meeting Minutes

Ok so that went well right? A solid meeting, good progress, no major arguments, everything covered in the time that you had. Superb. And relax. Well not quite. As a meeting organiser you still have an important job - and that's the follow up email or minutes of the meeting.

Considerations

There are a few rules that you can easily follow to help build that reputation as someone who can be relied upon to add value to meetings. This might lead to an increase in the number of meetings you get invited to, but it's always positive to be seen as a go-to person so don't panic.

Hopefully this course will be useful for you. We've seen how you can manage meeting preparation according to the importance level of the meeting, as well as the important considerations regarding meeting scheduling such as timing, constructing an invitation and the gotchas to avoid.

1. Office professionals
2. Meeting chairs
3. Leaders & professionals

I enjoyed the course, was very informative ~ Tshepang P

1. How to run meetings that people want to attend
2. Building effective meeting agendas
3. Being an effective meeting chairperson
4. Minutes & follow-ups

Desire to want to improve productivity and build relationships in the workplace.