How to Prepare for Important Meetings

Important Meetings are a necessary evil, which is why it’s important to make sure that those you attend or host are productive and have a clear purpose or objective.

Though you might be tempted to think about the meeting only until minutes before it; the best way to ensure that you don’t waste your time by attending is that you prepare yourself ahead of time. Below are some tips on how to prepare for an important meeting to be sure you make the most of it.

For starters, make sure you have the right date,time, and location scheduled in your calendar. If you’re hosting the meeting, send the meeting’s agenda a couple of days beforehand; if you’re an attendee make sure you either have this agenda or know what topics the meeting will cover, that way you can prepare your materials and gather your thoughts.

Take some time to check out who the other attendees will be; make sure you know who they are, what they work in, and why they were invited. Knowing who else will be joining ahead of time will save important time during the meeting and will give you a better idea of the direction of the conversation in the meeting.

Once you’ve covered that, it’s time to think about what you want to get out of the meetings. What are your objectives? What do you hope to accomplish? Do you have any important information or updates that you need to share? These questions will help you drive the meeting in a direction that will help you achieve your goals.

On the day of the meeting, make sure you arrive on time and that you have all of the necessary materials or files with you. Once the meeting starts, make you listen carefully and take notes of what is being said and by whom. If you are presenting or want to share an idea/though, be as concise and direct as possible.

Before the meeting is called to an end, make sure you don’t have any pending questions or comments. Once it’s over, gather your thoughts, organize your notes, and send the necessary follow-up emails and/or activities.

About Cecilia Amador

Cecilia Amador is a writer and content strategist based in Guatemala City. She's been writing about coworking, virtual offices, and business centers since 2015 and she is currently getting a Masters Degree in Innovation from The Pontifical Catholic University of Chile.