There is nothing like a decent business meeting. It is a perfect opportunity to reply to outstanding e-mails or finish an Excel report. Or you can correct your presentation for the boss, check what’s new on Facebook or browse the Internet. If push comes to shove, you can listen to the participants. You have probably often wondered how to run such an effective meeting. We have prepared 5 golden rules.
Invite everyone, absolutely everyone
As you know, your meeting is extremely important. So, you should invite everyone you can only think of. They do not have to have much to do with the subject of the meeting. They can work in the same department, on the same floor or at least in the same company – this is all fine. You never know who can be useful and it would be foolish to pass somebody over.
Keep the objective of the meeting secret
You like surprises, don’t you? When inviting everyone you can only think of, put “Meeting” in the email subject. This will be enough. Everyone will be looking forward to this ‘mysterious meeting’. If anyone dares ask “what is the meeting about”, tell them they will know when they get there. :) High turnout guaranteed!
Schedule the meeting at 8:00 a.m. or after 4:00 p.m.
There is nothing like starting or ending your day with a meeting. The invited will surely appreciate it and turn up in large numbers at the specified hour. It is no secret that the most effective ideas come to the mind early in the morning. And staying an hour or two longer at work is pure fun. Scheduling a meeting in the middle of the day is definitely unfashionable.
Forget about the agenda
Who needs an agenda anyway? You would be forced to follow it... This rule goes in line with the second rule, which is keeping the atmosphere of mystery regarding your meeting. Each subsequent topic you bring up must raise the tension and make the participants more and more surprised. Do not spoil it by telling them what to expect at the beginning, since it would ruin the entire effect. Ideally, they should not be certain what the meeting was about when leaving the room.
Prolong the meeting
This is so much fun... It is not like the participants have anything else to do that day. Remember – you make the rules here. Prolong the meeting as much as you like. Keep your shirt on, there is no rush, nobody will get hurt if the stay a while longer. You have not presented the agenda anyway.
Following these five golden rules you will earn the respect of all colleagues and high turnout on meeting. Unless your co-workers are reasonable people... then you might have a problem. ;)