e P’s of Successful Meetings: Preparation, Participation, Prioritization
Although a successful meeting requires a skilled facilitator, that is only part of the puzzle. Equally important is the activity that has occurred prior to the meeting.

The First P: Preparation
Effective use of your meeting time relies on all parties being prepared to participate. This means that each person in attendance has already read the meeting materials p

Whether your company holds one meeting a week or dozens of meetings a day it is essential that this time is used efficiently and effectively. Most meetings are less effective than they could be not because they are poorly managed, but because meeting managers spend all of their time focusing on the one or two hours when people will be gathered around the conference table or video screen. Smart meeting managers know that it is the actions you take during the three days immediately before the meeting which are much more important than the meeting itself.

When Your Meeting Starts
The key to making your meeting successful begins long before the scheduled start-time of your meeting. Just as any athlete knows the importance of stretching before exercising, top-level meeting managers know that how you spend your time the week prior to a meeting is as important as or more important than the meeting time itself.

Common signs that a manager has spent too much time focusing on the meeting itself and not enough time focusing on the activity leading up to the meeting include people coming to your meetings unprepared, a few people suggesting many of the ideas, and a consistent pattern of rushing through the items at the bottom of your agenda.

Roger Burns, a 30-year veteran of high-level meetings describes it like this, “Often times the first 20 or 30 minutes of our meetings would be spent with people flipping through the documents I had sent them over a week ago. They had not prepared and had no idea what questions I was going to ask in the next few minutes."

If you are like many, these symptoms show up more often than not. So what is a meeting manager to do? How can you avoid these common pitfalls? The answer is simple, but it begins a full week before the meeting is scheduled to start.

The Three P’s of Successful Meetings: Preparation, Participation, Prioritization
Although a successful meeting requires a skilled facilitator, that is only part of the puzzle. Equally important is the activity that has occurred prior to the meeting.

The First P: Preparation
Effective use of your meeting time relies on all parties being prepared to participate. This means that each person in attendance has already read the meeting materials pr

ree days immediately before the meeting which are much more important than the meeting itself.

When Your Meeting Starts
The key to making your meeting successful begins long before the scheduled start-time of your meeting. Just as any athlete knows the importance of stretching before exercising, top-level meeting managers know that how you spend your time the week prior to a meeting is as important as or more important than the meeting time itself.

Common signs that a manager has spent too much time focusing on the meeting itself and not enough time focusing on the activity leading up to the meeting include people coming to your meetings unprepared, a few people suggesting many of the ideas, and a consistent pattern of rushing through the items at the bottom of your agenda.

Roger Burns, a 30-year veteran of high-level meetings describes it like this, “Often times the first 20 or 30 minutes of our meetings would be spent with people flipping through the documents I had sent them over a week ago. They had not prepared and had no idea what questions I was going to ask in the next few minutes."

If you are like many, these symptoms show up more often than not. So what is a meeting manager to do? How can you avoid these common pitfalls? The answer is simple, but it begins a full week before the meeting is scheduled to start.

The Three P’s of Successful Meetings: Preparation, Participation, Prioritization
Although a successful meeting requires a skilled facilitator, that is only part of the puzzle. Equally important is the activity that has occurred prior to the meeting.

The First P: Preparation
Effective use of your meeting time relies on all parties being prepared to participate. This means that each person in attendance has already read the meeting materials p

self.

Common signs that a manager has spent too much time focusing on the meeting itself and not enough time focusing on the activity leading up to the meeting include people coming to your meetings unprepared, a few people suggesting many of the ideas, and a consistent pattern of rushing through the items at the bottom of your agenda.

Roger Burns, a 30-year veteran of high-level meetings describes it like this, “Often times the first 20 or 30 minutes of our meetings would be spent with people flipping through the documents I had sent them over a week ago. They had not prepared and had no idea what questions I was going to ask in the next few minutes."

If you are like many, these symptoms show up more often than not. So what is a meeting manager to do? How can you avoid these common pitfalls? The answer is simple, but it begins a full week before the meeting is scheduled to start.

The Three P’s of Successful Meetings: Preparation, Participation, Prioritization
Although a successful meeting requires a skilled facilitator, that is only part of the puzzle. Equally important is the activity that has occurred prior to the meeting.

The First P: Preparation
Effective use of your meeting time relies on all parties being prepared to participate. This means that each person in attendance has already read the meeting materials p

of our meetings would be spent with people flipping through the documents I had sent them over a week ago. They had not prepared and had no idea what questions I was going to ask in the next few minutes."

If you are like many, these symptoms show up more often than not. So what is a meeting manager to do? How can you avoid these common pitfalls? The answer is simple, but it begins a full week before the meeting is scheduled to start.

The Three P’s of Successful Meetings: Preparation, Participation, Prioritization
Although a successful meeting requires a skilled facilitator, that is only part of the puzzle. Equally important is the activity that has occurred prior to the meeting.

The First P: Preparation
Effective use of your meeting time relies on all parties being prepared to participate. This means that each person in attendance has already read the meeting materials p

e P’s of Successful Meetings: Preparation, Participation, Prioritization
Although a successful meeting requires a skilled facilitator, that is only part of the puzzle. Equally important is the activity that has occurred prior to the meeting.

The First P: Preparation
Effective use of your meeting time relies on all parties being prepared to participate. This means that each person in attendance has already read the meeting materials prior to the meeting taking place. In addition to this, the meeting participants should be given the questions that are going to be discussed prior to the meeting.

Historically, most meetings begin with the chairperson asking a question to those in attendance. As an example if you were holding a strategic planning meeting, a good question might be, “What do you think are the strengths of our organization?” At this point the discussion moves around the table with each person having two minutes to process the questions, come up with a smart-sounding solution, and express the solution coherently to the group.

The problem with this method is that most good ideas do not come in those two minutes. Good ideas come as you are driving to work, as you are falling asleep, as you are in the shower – the very times you are probably not with your co-workers in a meeting. (Unless you are routinely holding your meetings in the company locker room!) Giving the questions you are going to ask to each meeting participant prior to the meeting is essential to getting the best ideas out of your participants. It also gives them a reason to read the materials you have distributed prior to the meeting.

The best time to distribute the materials and questions is three to seven days prior to your meeting. This gives participants a chance to think about the issues and questions, but not long enough to forget their good ideas and why they liked them. The payback here is fast and obvious. You will get more accomplished in less time – saving your organization money and allowing you to get your ideas implemented faster.

The Second P: Participation
Getting the best ideas from your best people is essential for your meeting to be successful. The other half of this equation is to get a broad base of participation so there is ow