Meeting Etiquette: Effective Ways To Ensure Your Meetings Go To Plan

Business meetings are something that a lot of entrepreneurs dread. Sitting in a room full of other people discussing a certain topic or idea isn’t something that fills any business owner with joy. However, business meetings are an important part of running an effective company. So it’s important that you learn to make your peace with them.

Although time-consuming and stressful, meetings are a big part of running a successful company. So it’s important that you understand how to approach them in the right way, as well as how to ensure that you always make a fantastic impression. This applies to meetings that you are running or attending.

Here are some effective ways that you can ensure all of your meetings go to plan. Take these etiquette tips on board, and you can master the skill of having successful meetings once and for all.

Be a good time-keeper

Whether you’re running a meeting or attending one, it’s important to be a good time-keeper. What this means is that if you’re attending a meeting, ensure that you turn up on time. Ideally, you want to arrive at least five minutes before the meeting is due to start. If you’re running the meeting, being a good time-keeper means starting the meeting on time and ending it on time. The last thing you want to do is overrun and cause an attendee to be late for something else that they had to do.

Always have notes to refer to

When attending a meeting run by someone else, it’s a good idea to research the topic and write notes about it. That way, should the person running the meeting ask your opinion on it, you have information to refer to. Obviously, if you’re the one running the meeting, it’s even more important to have an agenda planned out. Ideally, you want to aim to plan out the meeting in five-minute sections. So that everything that needs to be discussed can be quickly and strategically dealt with.

Be prepared

If you need to take anything to a meeting with you, it’s important to prepare in advance. Say, for instance, you need to have a powerpoint presentation prepared, take the time to research and prepare for it. Don’t rush and do it at the last minute – that’s highly unprofessional. Or, say, for example, you have documents to showcase. To keep them in tip-top shape, it could be worth laminating them with the use of laminating rolls and a laminating machine. This will ensure that they don’t get bent, crinkled or marked. Prepare well for meetings, and they should go to plan. 7

Be a good speaker

Last but not least, it’s important to be a good speaker. There is nothing worse at a meeting than having a speaker who speaks too quickly or is too softly spoken. Whether you’re running the meeting or are attending, always speak loudly and clearly. It’s also important to ensure that you don’t interrupt others – wait until your turn to talk.

There you have it, the etiquette that it’s crucial you adopt for business meetings.

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