12 Golden Rules For Productive Meetings

Rule 1: Make sure you really need a meeting before scheduling it.

Rule 2: Book your meeting space ahead of time.

Rule 3: Don't schedule more time than necessary. Most topics require 20-30 minutes.

Rule 4: Invite only the people who are required to be present at the meeting.

Rule 5: Set an agenda & share it at the beginning of the meeting to ensure the participants remain fully aware.

Rule 6: If you want the participants to read something ahead of time, you need to send it latest a day before.

Rule 7: Start on time & don’t wait for stragglers; otherwise, waiting for participants will become a culture within the company.

Rule 8: A few minutes of chit-chat at the beginning of the meeting helps participants to be ready.

Rule 9: Every meeting needs someone clearly assigned ahead of time to run it.

Rule 10: End on time. Meetings that take longer than necessary will demotivate the participants.

Rule 11: At the end of each meeting, you either need to make a decision or complete an action together.

Rule 12: Share all the results, meeting notes and materials obtained at the end of the meeting with the participants.