Arranging a Meeting

The first stage in our model for effective meetings is Arranging a Meeting. On the MeetingArk website you can find the relevant discussion groups and a set of FAQs (and answers), both relating to Arranging a Meeting.

Our discussion groups on Arranging a Meeting cover a number of topics, starting with purpose and need. The first questions to ask when thinking about arranging a meeting are “Is this meeting really necessary?” and “What do we aim to achieve?”

After this, the next topics are getting the right attendees (including ensuring a quorum for more formal meetings) and coordinating diaries. Both of these have their own discussion groups.

There is also a discussion dedicated to how to hold the meeting. Traditionally this would have been about venues, but now focuses on videoconferencing apps.

The issuing of invitations and joining instructions also have their own discussions. It is surprising how failings in these apparently simple tasks can cause so many problems. People not having the right information to join can waste a large amount of time at the start of a meeting.

The last group discussion topic covers pre-reading. Make sure to circulate relevant documents to attendees in good time before a meeting. It can do wonders for productivity and the effectiveness of a meeting.

We hope you find these discussion groups useful and hope you will contribute to some or all of these discussions about Arranging a Meeting.