How to Make Business Meetings Productive

Whether during my corporate career in management at Prudential Financial, Inc. or as the CEO of my own small business, I have conducted and attended a lot of meetings.

Even with the advent of video chat and conference calls, meetings are essential to business, whether the participants are in the same room or thousands of miles apart. Good etiquette and proper meeting planning are key to making good use of everyone's valuable time.

Here are my tips for maximizing meeting productivity:

Alert Participants
Give attendees ample time to know about and plan for the meeting. Send out a notice that requires a reply or confirmation. That way both the organizer and the participant know they have received the meeting information. Be clear on the time and place of the meeting, or provide access codes or other necessary log-in information if the meeting is done virtually. Advise on the ending time or anticipated meeting length as well.

Stick To The Schedule.
Start the meeting on time. One of the managers I worked with used to lock the meeting room door one minute after the scheduled meeting start time. If you weren't on time, you missed the meeting. Most people were late only once, then learned their lesson. End the meeting on time as well.

Plan an agenda and schedule for the meeting and refer to it, making sure you stay on track and on-schedule. If you have ten topics to discuss and the meeting is almost over with only the first topic discussed, you know you are moving too slowly.

Reduce Distractions
Ask all participants to silence their mobile devices and consider asking they not be used during the meeting. If you do this, offer frequent breaks so people can check their messages.

If you are doing a conference call, request that participants be in a quiet place. Lately we've had problems with noise from conference call participants calling in from a car or other noisy place.

Agenda
Provide participants with a complete agenda of what is to be discussed, along with goals for the meeting. Be sure to alert meeting attendees if they are expected to bring or provide any information. Leave time for discussions, questions, and other follow up time beyond the planned schedule. The more information you provide attendees in advance, the better prepared they can be for the meeting.

Pacing
Bored people don't absorb information well, you need to keep participants engaged and a bit entertained. As the meeting organizer, it's also your responsibility to keep discussions on point and pertinent to the meeting subject, don't let discussions drift off on tangents. Provide some breaks in the action for people to digest what they've heard. Be sure to allow for snack and meal breaks as well.

Follow Up
Meeting organizers may want to summarize key points or facts and include this in a note / call / email sent to all participants. This may also confirm facts or details you want participants to leave with, ensuring they receive the message or information properly.

More from this contributor:

"Getting Good Credit, Keeping Good Credit"

"How A Boss Decides Who Gets Promoted"

"Google Marketing Tips For Small Businesses"