4 Ways to Supercharge Your Small Biz Meetings for Success

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Let’s be honest, meetings can be a bit of a drag, right? But they’re also where the magic can happen for small businesses. The right meeting can spark creativity and bring the team together on a shared mission that couldn’t happen if everyone wasn’t in the same room (physically or virtually). Who doesn’t love seeing ideas fly and solutions unfold? I’m here to help you turn those routine gatherings into your business's secret weapon. We’ll chat about how every meeting can leave your team feeling more connected and ready to tackle whatever comes next by:

• Defining the purpose of the meeting

• Preparing for the meeting

• Facilitating the meeting

• Assigning action items

Only four simple ways to supercharge your small business meetings for success? Sign me up and let’s dive in!

Defining the Purpose of the Meeting

Every meeting is like a mini-road trip—you need a destination. Without a purpose, you're just driving around in circles, burning fuel, and getting nowhere fast. So, let's talk about how we set that all-important direction. Clarity here isn't just a preference; it's a necessity to a successful meeting.

First things first—what do you want to achieve with this meeting? Setting specific, measurable objectives is like plotting points on a map. It's not enough to say, "let's have a meeting to talk." Now THAT is where your team is going to be like, “this could have been an email, boss.” *eye roll* Instead, pin down exactly what needs to happen.

• Be Specific: Want to increase sales? Aim for "outline three strategies to boost next quarter's numbers."

• Make it Measurable: Try "develop a plan to increase sales by 20% from the previous quarter."

These objectives don't just guide the discussion—they light the way, ensuring everyone stays solution focused.

Preparing for the Meeting

As the one leading the meeting, it’s imperative that not only you prepare, but you communicate what you want your attendees to bring to the table so it’s not a huge waste of time. Preparing for the meeting means creating an agenda and sending it out to everyone in plenty of time to respond so their discussion points can be added. Once the schedule is nailed down, everyone will know what’s expected of them and can come prepared to rock it out.

Creating an Agenda

An agenda acts as your meeting’s structure. Without it, precious time and dollars are wasted. Start by listing the key topics you want to cover and then break them down into bullet points. Make sure to:

• Prioritize topics by importance, so the big-ticket items get the attention they deserve.

• Assign Timeframes to each point so there’s room for everything and no one gets stuck in a never-ending loop.

• Include Purposeful Actions, so every agenda item ends with a step forward—not just talk.

By doing this, you set the stage for a focused and productive meeting where everyone knows what the deal is once they walk into the conference room.

Sending Out the Agenda

Say your meeting is happening on a Wednesday morning. As the leader of the meeting, you need to have your first draft of the agenda pulled together by Monday before lunch. A great time to get this emailed out to all your attendees is right before lunch so they have some time to review, think it over and see if there’s anything else they need to add. Give your attendees until Tuesday before lunch to get their points back to you. 

Once you receive everyone’s additional topics of discussion, it’s time to make some decisions. Put everything in priority order. Start assigning time limits to each discussion item. If you want to keep the meeting an hour long, can you realistically talk about each topic for only a few minutes and get some action going? If not, it’s time to start trimming. Decide how long it’s realistically going to take to talk about something. Assign it that time limit. Keep doing this with each discussion point until you’ve reached your overall meeting time limit. This is your final draft of the agenda!

Send this final draft out to all team members who will be in attendance by the end of day on Tuesday. Let them know that anything that didn’t quite make the cut is on a list for the next meeting. Now everyone is totally informed and can hold each other accountable on what they need to bring to the table the next morning.

Once you get in this cycle, this system becomes fairly easy and routine. You’ll have an ongoing list of items of discussion to pull from to create an agenda. You might even start seeing some items from that list fall off because it resolved itself. Funny how some things do that when we give them enough breathing room, yeah?!

Setting a Meeting Schedule + Time Limit 

Ever been in a meeting where time seems to crawl at a snail's pace, leaving you checking your watch constantly? Yeah, same. Not a fan!

A well-defined timeframe forces focus and inspires urgency. Meetings that drag on tend to lose energy and veer off track. Here’s the magic of time-limiting:

• Keeps Participants Engaged: A ticking clock compels people to get to the point and stay on topic.

• Enhances Efficiency: Knowing there’s a hard stop encourages everyone to prepare in advance.

• Prevents Fatigue: By confining discussions to essential points, everyone leaves feeling invigorated rather than drained.

Staying true to a meeting time frame paired with a consistent schedule will make creating agendas and encouraging participation a breeze. Need some additional help creating a routine, consistent meeting schedule? Click here for some tips. Just like kids, we adults secretly love & thrive on structure. It’s predictable, it’s consistent, it’s dependable. Once your team is in the routine, the creative flywheel keeps spinning (what’s a flywheel, you ask? Click here to learn more!). 

Facilitating the Meeting Effectively

Alright, now let's talk about running a meeting like you're the captain of a ship. Meetings are a chance to bring every voice into the conversation, keep the ship steady, and navigate through any stormy waters. So, let’s dive into how to make this happen.

Encouraging Participation

We’ve all seen it—those meetings where only a few voices dominate while others remain silent. Here’s how to encourage participation from those quieter team members who might need a little push:

• Create a Safe Space: Kick things off by making it clear that all ideas are welcome. Setting this tone removes the fear factor.

• Round-Robin Sharing: Give everyone a chance to speak by going around the table. It’s simple: one by one, everyone shares their thoughts. This way, even the shyest participant gets in on the action.

• Ask Direct Questions: Sometimes people need a little prompt to get going. Ask targeted questions like, "Marissa, what do you think about this?"

Staying on Track

We’ve all been in that meeting—a conversation that starts about budget and somehow ends up debating the best coffee brand. To avoid spiraling into tangents, we need strategies to stay on track and on time. Remember, WASTING TIME IS WASTING DOLLARS and ain’t nobody got time for that!

• Use That Agenda: Stick to your agenda that you worked so hard to intentionally create. Remind participants of the agenda at the start, and gently steer them back if the conversation veers.

• Set Time Limits: Assign specific time slots to each topic. If someone starts going on a tangent, you can say, "Great point, let’s park that for later so we stay on schedule."

• Appoint a Timekeeper: Designate someone to keep an eye on the clock. It’s their job to politely remind the group if it’s time to switch gears or you’re running over.

Managing Conflict and Discussion

Conflict isn’t always a bad thing—it can lead to diverse perspectives and innovative solutions. The trick is managing it constructively.

• Acknowledge Differences: Start by recognizing conflicting views.

• Encourage Respectful Dialogue: Set some ground rules for discussions. Encourage everyone to speak using "I" statements and to listen without interrupting.

• Mediate When Necessary: If things get heated, step in and mediate. Offer to table contentious topics for a separate meeting if they can’t be resolved right away, keeping the emotional temperature down.

Having these regular meetings creates a culture that works towards respect and diversity by ensuring everyone has their say and by being respectful of everyone’s time. When everyone feels heard and valued, everyone feels a part of something bigger than themselves. And the really cool thing? This is the perfect opportunity for you to shine as a servant leader by being a brilliant example of how to treat people with love & professionalism. (Need some further tips on leadership? Click here for an endless supply!) Once this is accomplished, the conflict no longer becomes something between two or more team members, but rather the entire team against the problem that needs to be solved. This is SUCH A BEAUTIFUL PLACE TO BE because you really start seeing the emotion of your team being driven by passion to solve the problem, not passion to be the one that’s right. 

Assigning Action Items

Assigning tasks is crucial for turning talk into action. You know those times when you leave a meeting and wonder, "So, who's doing what now?" Let's make sure that never happens again.

Make Action Items Crystal Clear

Here's how to make action items crystal clear:

• Use Direct Language: Avoid ambiguous phrases. If someone needs to prepare a presentation, say, "Prepare a 10-slide presentation on project outcomes" instead of "Look into this project."

• Be Specific: Detail what needs to happen. Instead of "Check the inventory," go for "Audit stock levels of product A by Friday."

The clearer the instructions, the less room there is for miscommunication.

Assign Ownership and Deadlines

Now, let's talk about putting names next to tasks and setting deadlines. This way, nothing falls through the cracks.

• Assign Individual Owners: Be precise about who does what. Use names, not "we" or "the team." It’s like pointing to someone and saying, "You're in charge of this."

• Set Clear Deadlines: Be specific—"Complete the draft by Tuesday afternoon and send it to Kayla." This breeds accountability and ensures timely follow-through.

It doesn’t end with assigning a task. Set up check-ins or status updates to track progress and address any roadblocks. As a team, figure out what “complete” means for each specific action item and make sure you all hold each other accountable. By assigning clear action items with ownership and deadlines, you ensure your meetings are not just discussions but launchpads for success.

This is the path to transforming your small biz meetings into powerhouse sessions. With a clear purpose, the right people, and an intentionally set agenda you can’t fail! You can even turn potential conflicts into springboards for innovation.

Now, it's time to take action. Use these strategies to ignite every meeting with energy and purpose. Let's make the next meeting the one where everyone walks out feeling empowered and confident in clarity, ready to conquer the next big thing.

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