Imagine if you walked away from every meeting feeling like it was a valuable use of everyone’s time. It’s not as far-fetched as you may think. By using these three guiding principles, you can ensure a successful meeting every time:

(1) Be purpose-led and outcome focused
A purpose-led meeting clearly outlines the reasons why you are holding it, which will encourage attendance and help you to stay on track during the meeting. For example, ‘we have come together to share information about the new strategy’.
An outcome focused meeting requires you to articulate what you want to accomplish or what end-result you are seeking by holding the meeting. For example, ‘We are meeting today so that we have clarity around our strategy and decide on what we will be doing within our individual teams to implement it.’

(2) Prepare and communicate
Communicating the meeting purpose and desired outcomes beforehand means attendees are more likely to prepare for it, and more likely to attend. It also allows invitees to opt-out if the topic is not relevant or they feel they cannot add value. Reminding attendees again at commencement of the meeting establishes the right mindset and means they’re more likely to participate and stay focused.

(3) Adopt the right structure for the right meeting
Adopting a simple meeting structure will help keep you on track and provide clarity and consistency. As the meeting organiser your reputation for holding good or not-so good meetings will have an impact on team attendance and engagement for future meetings.

There are lots of meeting models out there, however here’s a simple one called the ‘PODS’ model. It can be used it for 1-1’s, small huddles, team meetings or even larger presentation-style meetings.

PODS: PURPOSE, OUTCOME, DECISION, STRUCTURE

In addition to these guiding principles, here are eight tips for successful meetings

1. Invest time in the agenda
Ensure there’s a clear agenda outlining the purpose and desired outcomes of the meeting and that everyone in attendance gets a copy prior to the meeting.

2. Specify how attendees should prepare for the meeting
Pre-reads are very useful and provide consistency of baseline information for the group allowing the meeting to be more efficient. They’re also useful so the team can read background materials and prepare their initial thoughts for each agenda item ahead of time.

3. Who needs to be there?
Ask yourself, do all of these people really need to attend? Or could some of them just receive a brief email summary, quick call or update from their manager afterwards? Reducing a half-hour meeting list by, say, four people whose presence isn’t essential, that’s two hours of productive time returned to the organisation.

4. Be efficient with your – and others’ – time
Think about scheduling half the time you usually would. Meetings are like accordions – they stretch naturally to fill the allotted space.

5. Don’t start late
Way too much time is wasted on late arrivals. Don’t wait for latecomers, start on time.

6. Consider holding a stand-up meeting
There’s some (old but good) research showing that stand-up meetings can be more efficient than sit-downs. In one study, groups who were standing took around one-third less time to make decisions than those who were seated, with no loss in the quality of decisions.

7. Identify who is responsible for leading each topic
Someone other than the formal meeting leader is often responsible for leading the discussion of a particular agenda item. Identifying this person next to the agenda item to ensure they prepare for it before the meeting.

8. Think about occasionally asking for quick feedback
If your team meets regularly, ask every now and again: What did we do well? What do we want to do differently for the next meeting?