Designing a good meeting

Any good meeting needs good planning. Typically, businesspeople spend ten per cent of their time planning a meeting, 80 per cent in the meeting itself and (maybe) ten per cent on a follow-upNachbereitungfollow-up. It would be better to spend a lot more time on planning and follow-up. Then, you’d need much less time in the meeting. There are four key steps to follow:

1. Define the key business

The first question is whether you need a meeting at all. If you can’t describe in one sentence the main reason for it, you probably don’t need it. Consider the alternatives to get the work done — email, group chat or a simple conversation.

Apart from training, there are three main reasons for a group of people to meet at work, in person or online. The first is to create a forum for the exchange of ideas and experiences. The second is to make a decision that provides directionRichtung; hier auch: Vorgabendirection. This might include solving a problem. And the third reason is to build or strengthen the team, by developing interpersonal skills or instil sth.etw. einflößen; hier: herstelleninstilling a sense of togetherness, for example.

Whatever the reason, you’ll need to set criteriaKriterium, Maßstabcriteria for success, including specific outcomeErgebnisoutcomes for each itemhier: Punktitem on the agendaTagesordnungagenda. This should include time management and the desired level of interaction among the participants. The aim is always to ensure sth.etw. sicherstellenensure the meeting is focused.

2. Identify who needs to be there

Once you know the content, it should be reasonably clear who needs to be there. Invite the minimum number of people required. Ask yourself who will really benefit from being there and whose expertiseSachkompetenzexpertise is needed. Amazon founderGründer(in)founder Jeff Bezos swear by sth.auf etw. schwörenswears by his “two-pizza rule”: “If you need more than two pizzas to feed everybody, there are too many people.”

The larger the group, the more discussion and disagreement there’ll be. According to Blenko, Mankins and Rogers, authors of Decide & Deliver: 5 Steps to breakthroughbahnbrechendBreakthrough Performance in Your Organization, once you have seven people in a decision-making group, each additional member reduces decision effectiveness by ten per cent. surveyUmfrage, ErhebungSurveys by the software company Atlassian suggesthier: vermuten lassensuggest that workers consider most meetings to be ineffective — 77 per cent say meetings frequently end in a decision to have another meeting, and 80 per cent think that most meetings could be done in half the time.

3. Choose the right tools

Think again about the outcome you want to achieve. Is it to establish common groundGemeinsamkeit; hier: gemeinsame Basiscommon ground? Generate ideas? Make decisions? Choose the best method and tools. go around the tablehier: sich nacheinander äußernGoing around the table is a good way to build trust, but an anonymous brainstorming tool will probably produce more ideas.

4. Write an effective agenda

The agenda should communicate the purpose and goals of the meeting. It should also include practical information, have a logical order, and use clear and conciseknapp, prägnantconcise language.

Here’s a sampleBeispiel, Mustersample agenda:

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SAMPLE AGENDA

quarterlyvierteljährlichQuarterly European Sales Meeting Agenda

To be held on 16 May 2025 from 09.00 to 12.00 in Conference Room D
(Where and when)
Participants: T. Jones, A. Heimbring, G. Evans, G. van Eyl, F. Lacroix, D. Ponti
(List who should come)

1) apologieshier: Entschuldigungen für NichtteilnahmeApologies
(Record those who can’t attend and why)

2) minutesProtokollMinutes of previousvorangegangenprevious meeting
(Check they were written correctly)

3) Progress reports from each subsidiaryTochtergesellschaftsubsidiary (10 minutes each x 4 = 40 minutes)
(indicate sth.etw. angebenIndicate time required)

4) revisionÜberprüfungRevision of sales targetUmsatzzielsales targets for… (30 minutes)

5) Strategy for introduction of new products — Amcolite and Amcorex (40 minutes)

6) staffingPersonalbesetzungStaffing requirements for… (30 minutes)
(Note what decision is taken)

7) any other businessSonstigesAny other business (15 minutes)
(Allow only urgent itemhier: Punktitems here)

8) Date of next meeting