Meeting Manager Tasks to Run Your Meetings Effectively

Many employees believe that most meetings are just a waste of time, but in fact the reason behind this may be that they are poorly and ineffectively managed by business leaders. Learn about the duties of meeting manager through this article. Meetings are one of the most recognized ways to inform employees about the latest achievements or concerns or even to ensure efficiency in general or talk about the latest developments, but if the way you manage your meetings is ineffective, it may undermine the productivity of employees and the company as a whole.

This type of meeting has a negative impact on employee morale and teamwork. If you notice that employees are trying to avoid attending the meetings you manage, this most likely means that your company needs some improvements that you must make before it is too late.

Read more about: How to Manage Successful Meetings

A set of tips so that Meeting Manager runs your meetings successfully

Decide if you really need to hold a meeting

Before setting up any meeting, ask yourself if you really need it. Think about the specific purpose of the meeting versus the expected value it will add. Most recurring meetings are held because they are scheduled, not because they are useful or necessary.

For example, if there is no reason to hold a meeting but you want to talk to all your employees about general business matters, you could send an email inviting everyone to share the latest developments in their departments instead of holding a physical meeting. Sharing less important information via email saves people time in the meeting, leaving more time for thinking, strategizing, team building, and collaboration.

Important article on: The challenges of running hybrid meetings or workshops

Prepare a detailed agenda or agenda

An agenda is a crucial element for entrepreneurs, but it is often overlooked in meetings. Ideally, if you hold a weekly meeting, for example, to talk about achievements and developments. In general, it is best to prepare the same agenda to maintain efficiency and adherence to a work routine.

If there is a new topic or project you would like to discuss in the meeting, you can send some information about it in advance to give everyone a chance to review it before the meeting. This saves time and effort for all employees during the meeting.

The meeting should be as conversational and action-oriented as possible. Having an agenda is important to help you ensure that the meeting gets back on track.

Suppose you spend time in the meeting reviewing data that was supposed to be read in advance rather than discussing questions related to that data. In this case, it is best to distribute information about the meeting at least 24 hours in advance so that employees can review it and prepare questions to make your meeting more effective.

An example of a list of the essential elements of any successful agenda:

• Topics that will be covered during the meeting.
• A brief description of the meeting objectives.
• A list of tasks assigned to each person.
• Any background information employees need to know about this topic.
• Set deadlines if there are tasks required of employees.
• Set a timetable for the meeting, for example, you can share news for the first 10 minutes, then solve problems for 30 minutes, and leave 10 minutes at the end for any final questions.

Start on time and end on time

Starting and ending on time is crucial for your team to ensure that everyone’s day stays on track. It is also a way to show respect and appreciation for the time of others. This depends on your administrative ability to organize time to cover all the topics of the meeting. Therefore, you should set a specific time plan that allows you to discuss all the issues fully and leave time at the end of the meeting for questions and comments.

It is also important to know the right time to organize a meeting with your team, as it is one of the signs that you are a strong and professional entrepreneur. For example, if you notice that the last week of each month is not a good time to participate in brainstorming sessions because employees are trying to reach the end-of-month numbers, it is better to organize the meetings in the first or middle of the month.

Ensure that only the right people attend

To have an effective meeting as a successful entrepreneur, you must first ensure that the right people and departments are attending. Many entrepreneurs who run meetings tend to invite too many employees without a specific purpose or task for each person. These unnecessary participants accept the invitation to attend the meeting just because they feel they have to attend but do not need to, which leads to lost productivity.

Once you have confirmed the required employees are attending, set a clear purpose for the meeting so that everyone can prepare accordingly. Then try to interact with each person present at the meeting. This increases the input and ideas from each employee according to his job and capabilities.

Encourage everyone to participate

Ask a lot of questions and encourage employees to ask questions about the topic of the meeting, as it is necessary for everyone to participate in some way in order to be able to manage the meeting effectively. For example, if the company is facing some difficulties in a certain area. You can give employees a minute or two to think of creative or even traditional solutions. Then present them to the group.

Also pay attention to the employee who does not participate or the person who tends to be quiet and listen instead of talking announce, especially if the meetings are online; you can talk to him privately about his job satisfaction and whether he is even the right person for the position.

Try to keep your meetings short

It is very likely that after a 30-minute meeting, your team’s attention will not be as sharp as it was at the beginning. This does not mean that they are bored or easily distracted. It is just that there is an excessive number of information and tasks that you are sharing in the meeting. The longer the meeting, the more effort it will take to maintain the energy of the attendees. It is best to keep meetings no longer than an hour in general. If the meeting is longer than the time you have set, it means that you are not managing your time and preparing for the meetings well.

Follow up after the meeting

If there are any next steps at the end of the meeting, it is important to communicate them effectively and to the people in charge. Everyone should know what is expected of them when they leave the meeting. You should also follow up on your meetings with the attendees. Everyone has different interpretations of things and two people in the same meeting may have completely different understandings of what happened. So, you can check people’s understanding and send an email. For example, summarizing what you talked about during the meeting to avoid misunderstandings.

Read more about: What happens after the events are over?

Skills that Meeting Manager should has

• Communication skills.
• Active speaking and listening skills.
• Ask effective questions that encourage participants to express their opinions.
• Be able to express their ideas clearly and directly, so that participants can easily understand them.
• Be able to analyze the problems being discussed in the meeting and identify their root causes.
• Use critical thinking skills to solve problems in a creative way.
• Ability to think creatively and find innovative solutions.
• Must be able to think outside the box and find new solutions to problems.
• Encourages participants to think creatively and present new ideas.
• Management skills, planning and organization skills.
• Be able to plan and organize the meeting in an effective manner.
• Set a clear agenda for the meeting and allocate sufficient time to discuss all topics.
• Direct the discussion and keep it on track.
• Supervise participants and ensure that they are all engaged in the discussion.
• Resolve conflicts that may arise between participants.
• Maintain an atmosphere of respect and cooperation between participants.
• Able to work effectively with others to build a cohesive team.
• Encourage participants to work together to achieve the objectives of the meeting.
• Be able to make the right decisions in a timely manner.
• Involve participants in the decision-making process.

Read more about: The role of effective communication strategies in the success of meetings