Summarzing and Looking Ahead of Business Meeting

Summarzing and Looking Ahead of Business Meeting

         A successful meeting starts well before everyone is gathered in a conference room. The person running the meeting needs to make arrangements, gather materials, send out invitations and coordinate the activities. Participants need to be prepared to handle any required tasks, provide feedback, make presentations or brainstorm ideas. Doing the groundwork ahead of time will keep the meeting running smoothly and help you success with your objective.

How to Prepare for a Business Meeting ?

1. Determine if you are running the meeting or expected to participate in any fashion. If you are in charge of arrangements, be ready to coordinate scheduling, materials and the pacing of the meeting.

2. Set a goal for the meeting. Decide if you are trying to make a sale, bring an investor on board, train employees about company policies or brainstorm new product ideas.

3. Set an agenda for the meeting. Give participants a heads up if the meeting is expected to be particularly long. Allow time for bathroom or refreshment breaks. Prepare a schedule if there will be multiple speakers or presenters.

4. Make arrangements for a meeting room, conference call or online meeting. Book a time that works for all key participants. Call or email the group to make sure that the chosen time works for everyone.

5. Send out time and location details to all participants. If you are dealing with employees, let them know if attendance is mandatory or optional. Email conference call-in numbers and codes if you are arranging a phone meeting.

6. Prepare for any needed equipment. For example, if you are going to have a computer presentation, be sure that the conference room has a screen and projector. Know how to hook your laptop up to the projector so that you don't have to waste valuable meeting time dealing with technical details.

7. Take your presentation for a test drive before you do it in front of clients. Make sure your sales or investment pitch is professional, concise and interesting. Endless charts projected on a screen don't make for compelling meetings. Understand your audience, how you can meet their needs and what goals you want to reach.

8. Gather materials. Print off handouts. Make sure there are enough chairs for everyone. Prepare refreshments or make catering arrangements if necessary.

9. Remind participants 24 hours ahead, or on the morning of, the actual meeting. Aim to start the meeting promptly at the given time.

What to do after a meeting?

         Don't assume that ideas discussed during a meeting will be put into action or even remembered. To ensure follow-through and accountability a meeting, leader needs to do three key tasks after the meeting ends. These are discussed in detail below.

1. Distribute minutes

         Ensure that minutes are produced and promptly distributed to all attendees including guests. Meeting minutes don't need to include everything everyone said. They do need to include following:

• Date, time location
• Attendees
• Key points raised and decisions made
• Motions and voting results if votes taken
• Who is responsible for what follow-up action and by when
• Name of the Recorder
• Most word processing software includes templates for agendas and minutes

2. Archive meeting documents

         All meeting documents including the agenda, minutes and supporting documents should be kept together and archived. These records can be checked when quesitons arise about past decisions or actions. It is discouraging to committee or group members to rehash prior discussions or decisions because of poor record keeping.

3. Check on action

       Often people need a gentle nudge to remind them about completing action items. Leaders need to check to ensure that action is taking place as agreed. The check can be an E-mail or phone call to the point person or a meeting devoted to checking on progress. Not checking may send a message that not much action is really expected.

Tip : Every goal and action item needs a "point person." This person is responsible for reminding everyone of action items connecting people to their work and following up with colleagues to make sure the work has been completed. The point person also reports on results.

How do you write result of businesss meeting report?


-  Collect your notes

Gather your notes from the meeting and any audio or video recordings you made. Include the meeting agenda in your materials, it is a useful guide for the report.

-  State basic information
Write a title that explains what the meeting covered. Include a list of participants, the date, the time and the location of the meeting.

-  Summarize the meeting's content
Using the meeting agenda as an outline, write a summary of each discussion or presenter. Explain any conclusions surrounding action items from the last meeting. In one or two sentences, explain the basics of each speech. Use simple, straightforward language that makes no judgments or analysis.

-  Include action items
List the action items decided upon at the meeting. Identify the person responsible for each task and give the deadline, if available. Note items that are due for completion by the next meeting; these items are crucial for organizers.

-  Add upcoming information
If the meeting is a regular occurrence, mention the date of the next gathering. Include the time and location, if available.