Managing Effective Business Meetings

Overview/Description
Ineffective meetings can waste time, veer off course, and fail to meet objectives. But with the right techniques, you can lead productive meetings that achieve their goals and leave participants with a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment. Whether regular, recurring, or set up to achieve a special task, all meetings follow a core process: from opening on a positive note, through accomplishing the agenda items, to closing the meeting and following up. This course will lead you through that process, presenting best practices that will help you realize success as you fulfill your responsibilities as a meeting leader. It will show you how to open the meeting with a positive tone and facilitate the work of the group using the right approach to decision making. It will explore how to encourage full participation while keeping your agenda moving and discussions on track with effective time-management techniques. Finally, this course will present tips for closing the meeting and ensuring continued progress by circulating minutes and following up on action items.

Target Audience
Individuals who want to develop their planning, managing, and facilitation skills for running effective business meetings

Expected Duration (hours)
1.0

Lesson Objectives

Managing Effective Business Meetings

recognize the goals served by examples of opening statements in a meeting

recognize steps that are common to conducting both regular and task force meetings

recognize how to facilitate decision-making to maximize participation and buy-in

respond appropriately when discussion goes off track in a meeting

recognize the responsibilities of the meeting leader with respect to closing and following up after the meeting