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Meeting Preparation Checklist for Effective Meetings

Plan and prepare for effective meetings with this checklist.
Shiva Prabhakaran
Writer at Routine
Published on
October 7, 2023

Meetings are critical to any organization that is serious about forming synergies and solving problems as a group. So if you are interested or happen to be invited to host a meeting, it might sound a bit overwhelming.

Yes, it is quite a responsibility.

But some resources can make things easier for you.

In this blog post, we aim to create one such resource - a comprehensive checklist for you to plan and execute on your meeting.

Checklist for preparing and conducting a meeting

Before you use the list, it is essential to understand that we have made an effort to make this as exhaustive as possible.

However, there might be specifics that we might have missed that apply to your organization's or team's meetings.

So, feel free to add them when necessary.

And with that out of the way, here is a checklist for hosting that perfect meeting in chronological order.

  1. Determine the main topic to be addressed in the meeting.
  2. Ensure that the topic can only be optimally addressed via asynchronous means and needs a meeting.
  3. Review past meetings that provide additional context to this meeting.
  4. Develop a list of sub-topics for the meeting and develop goals for the meeting.
  5. Decide on decisions that must be made during the meeting.
  6. Develop a preliminary agenda for the meeting.
  7. Build a list of attendees for the meeting accordingly.
  8. Review the attendees' list for relevance and availability.
  9. Once confirmed, delegate functions like note-taking and time-keeping to appropriate attendees.
  10. Decide the time and venue for the meeting.
  11. Book and confirm the time and venue.
  12. Send out an invite to all potential attendees along with the meeting agenda.
  13. Send a follow-up email reminding people to review the agenda and preparation assets (if any).
  14. Ensure that you start the meeting on time.
  15. Follow the agenda and avoid diversions.
  16. Give everyone space to voice their thoughts on each sub-topic.
  17. Ensure that POCs, including the timekeeper, notes taker, etc., perform their duties.
  18. Conclude the meeting with a summary.
  19. Post the summary, share an action plan.
  20. Send the minutes of the meeting.
  21. Follow up with the action plan.
  22. Share the outcomes of the follow-up.

Conclusion

And that's it. A simple yet effective checklist that can help you prepare, conduct, and follow up on a meeting. Did we miss anything? Let us know on Twitter @RoutineHQ.

Thanks for reading.

About the author
Shiva Prabhakaran

Shiva is a subject matter expert in communication, marketing, productivity, and learning systems. He has previously contributed to many blogs and newsletters, including Validated, Mental Models, HackerNoon, and several brands. You can find Shiva onĀ LinkedInĀ or email him at shiva(at)routine.co.

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