Meeting success – the who, the why, and the how
Meetings can be either the worst waste of time for participants or they can leave completely fired up and ready to tackle anything. Adriana Girdler’s book, Good Meetings = Great Results, identifies what’s needed to have a great meeting result: have the right people in attendance (those involved with the issue at hand, decision-makers, and doers). As well, know why to call a meeting – to make a decision, resolve an issue, brainstorm, plan or train.
Having established the who and the what, Adriana also points out it’s time to re-examine the concept of what a meeting is and to stop looking at it as one point in time. Start thinking of your meetings as a three-point cycle.
Quick Answers: Successful Meetings
What is a successful meeting?
A successful meeting is one that produces a clear outcome—such as a decision, alignment, or action plan—within a defined time, with the right people, and with clear next steps.
What is the best approach for running successful meetings?
A practical approach is to treat meetings as a repeating cycle: pre-meeting preparation, the meeting itself, and post-meeting follow-through.
Who should be invited to a meeting?
Only invite people who are required to make decisions, provide critical input, or own actions—having the right people in the room for the right reasons improves outcomes.
What should happen after a meeting ends?
Send a recap of decisions, action items, owners, and due dates, then follow up—those action items should feed into the next agenda.
The 3-Step Process for Successful Meetings
- Prepare: confirm purpose, outcomes, and attendees
- Run: keep discussion aligned to outcomes and decisions
- Follow up: send actions/owners/dates and track progress
The Three-Phase Cycle for Successful Meetings
Think of a product launch – is it one point in time, do you just launch the product? Of course not. There are a host of pre-launch activities to prepare for your entry. The launch occurs, then follow up, post-launch activities to sustain the launch and propel sales forward.
The same type of thinking can be applied to the meeting scenario.
Phase one: Pre-meeting preparation
In this phase, develop the meeting objective and agenda. Presenters prepare materials, contact participants with any pre-work that needs to be done. Establish all logistics related to rooms, food, audio/visual requirements.
Related: Tired of Unproductive Meetings? Try This Agenda!
Phase two: During the meeting
This is actually where decisions are made, or problems are resolved, or the planning or training takes place. In this phase you cover off the items on your agenda, and you capture action steps to reach the objective of the meeting. A final element of this phase is a recap of what was agreed upon and the course of action to take. This sets the team up for the third phase.
Related: Key Facilitation Skills You Need for Effective Meetings
Phase three: Post-meeting follow up
In this phase the meeting documentation – send the action steps and tasks, responsibilities and due dates to attendees. As well, follow up on action step progress – why? Because this follow up will be the start of the next meeting agenda, as the cycle of phases repeats itself.
How to Choose the Right Attendees
If you want your meetings to deliver results and be successful, ensure you have the right people in the room for the right reasons. As well, and of equal importance, make sure you look at the meeting as a three point cycle – pre-meeting, meeting, and post-meeting activities.
Key Takeaways for Successful Meetings
- Invite the right people for the right reasons
- Treat meetings as a cycle: pre-meeting → meeting → post-meeting
- End every meeting with decisions + action items + owners + due dates
- Follow up on action items—this becomes the next agenda
How do you make your meeting have result in something positive? Thanks for reading don’t forget to share/tweet/like our blog just underneath this paragraph. And don’t forget, we’re always here to help with your business efficiency needs.
Frequently Asked Questions About Successful Meetings
Effective meetings follow a three-phase cycle: pre-meeting planning, running the meeting, and post-meeting follow-up to ensure results stick.
A meeting is necessary when you need a decision, alignment across people, or rapid collaboration that can’t be achieved faster via email, chat, or a short 1:1.
clear list of decisions needed or outputs expected.
Use a timeboxed agenda, assign a facilitator (even informally), park off-topic items, and end with explicit decisions and action items.
Send action items with owners and due dates, then follow up on progress—this follow-up becomes the starting point for the next meeting cycle.
