How to set your meetings up for success

How to Set Your Meetings Up for Success | Make Every Meeting Count

Download the free Meeting Prep Toolkit with a Checklist, Agenda Template, and more: https://jonathanhankin.com/?msopen=/content-library/node/the-meeting-prep-toolkit

Tired of unproductive meetings that waste time and drain energy? In this episode, executive coach Jonathan Hankin walks you through exactly how to set up your meetings for success—before they even begin.

Whether you’re leading one-on-ones, team syncs, or strategy sessions, what happens before the meeting is just as important as what happens during it. This video gives you the tools to lead with clarity, reduce meeting fatigue, and drive results.

You’ll learn:

✔ How to clarify your meeting’s purpose

✔ What to include in an agenda that actually works

✔ Who to invite (and who to leave out)

✔ The 24-hour rule for prepping your team

✔ Logistics, mindset, and energy tips that shape strong meetings

✔ How to reflect and improve with every meeting

▶️    Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/JaUy7gFoQL8

▶️    Work with me 1-on1: https://jonathanhankin.com/contact

▶️   Chapters:

00:00 Introduction: Setting Up Successful Meetings

00:23 Clarify the Purpose of Your Meeting

01:23 Set the Agenda and Desired Outcomes

03:44 Invite the Right People

05:22 Prepare Your Participants

06:24 Mindset and Logistics for Effective Meetings

08:00 Bonus Tips: Reducing Meeting Bloat and Building Reflection

10:33 Conclusion and Actionable Steps

#LeadershipDevelopment #MeetingTips #LeadWithClarity #ProductiveMeetings #ManagerSkills #ExecutiveCoach #TeamLeadership #TimeManagement #ChangeAgentLeadership #JonathanHankin #CommunicationSkills #MeetingPrep #ProfessionalGrowth

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Download Free Leadership Toolkits → https://www.jonathanhankin.com/leadership-toolkit-library

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Transcript

  Today we're talking about something that has the power to either waste everyone's time or drive real results, and that's how to set your meetings up for success before they even start.  If you're leading a weekly check-in project reviews or strategic planning meetings, this video will  give you everything you need to make your meetings efficient.

Focused and dare I say, worth attending. So let's jump in.

 So number one is clarify the purpose. Before you send that calendar invite, ask yourself, why are we meeting? What do I want people to walk away with in, what's the consequence if this meeting doesn't happen?  You wanna really go through those three things in your mind and be able to answer them before you actually set up the meeting.

If you can't write the meeting's purpose in a single sentence. You're probably not ready to meet because people are gonna be confused 'cause you're confused. Here's the difference between a generic and a clear purpose. Generic would be, we're gonna touch base on Q3. That's a generic, um, title there.

Another better way to do that is align on Q3 goals finalized priorities. And assign key owners to key initiatives,   why this matters. People will show up distracted if they don't know why they're there. Purpose creates focus. Focus really does drive the outcome.

Number two, set the agenda and the outcome.

So for every meeting, there needs to be a clear plan, even if it's a short meeting.  So here's how to build one,  one bullet. The key discussion points. Two, assign rough time estimates to keep things moving. And three, identify the desired outcomes. For each section. In other words, what's the discussion gonna happen?

Brainstorm, update. So what's happening? Identify the outcome for each section so people know what's going on.  We're gonna keep the theme here, , going through with the touch base on Q3 to finalize priorities.

 So the agenda for that could be one Q3 goal review and in parentheses of five minutes. Number two, finalize marketing budget. And in parentheses there you could have 15 minutes decision. Again, you wanna highlight what's happening. So the first one, Q3, goal review. Everybody knows that should be a five minute discussion.

The second one, finalized marketing budget. It's a 15 minute discussion and then a decision is going to happen. It's not just a discussion, so people know. Number three, identify risk for product launch. So that would be 10 minutes dash discussion. So. Everyone knows that is not a decision's not going to be finalized.

In this meeting, we're just identifying the risks for the product launch, and then number four, action items plus owners, and that's five minutes. Again, this is what are the action items that are coming out of this meeting and who's going to own them. Another, it's, uh, you and I have both gone to meetings where there's action items possibly, but no one is assigned, so you want people assigned to that.

  This keeps the meeting on track and helps participants mentally prepare to contribute meaningfully. It just really does set the tone and what people know what's going to happen.

I would just put a comment here, so if I do my math that is, uh, 35 minutes on this agenda, . you know, going over five minutes is one thing, but if this is a 35 minute agenda, or if you have 45, it doesn't really matter, but whatever your timeframe is, so for this case, 35 and your, all your meetings end up being an hour and a half, something's wrong.

Either you're not leading well in the meeting. Or the agenda screwed up, or a combination of both.

 Number three, invite the right people. This should be out highlighted, flashing lights around it. I don't know, whatever you wanna do, but this is a big one for me. Meanings are not for everyone.

 Invite only the people who need to make a decision will contribute Key insights. And are directly responsible for follow up actions.  So many times people get invited to meetings and it's like, why? Why are you here? Uh, I don't, I have said that out loud, but you don't need to say that. It's just , like, they're not adding value, they're just, they invited themselves.

 So avoid curiosity invites is what I call them. They crowd the room, reduce engagement and cause people to multitask or zone out. So they're just not adding value.  So they don't do those three things. The question is, why are they there? Again, ask Who needs to be here for this meeting to accomplish this goal?

Be very specific. The least amount of people, the quicker your meeting is likely going to be. If someone only needs to be informed, then send them the notes afterwards. Now, I know I've heard this from many people that I coach. Well, those people that I send the meeting notes afterwards now wanna recap of the entire meeting.

Well, they might want it, but they don't need it. So if they're not in leadership or they're not involved in the decision making process, they're just doing a task, they don't need to have the backstory. They actually need to just have their task and their rules and move forward. If they impose themselves and like, no, I need to know this, then that's a different discussion.

That's a leadership discussion with them because they're not in the room and they don't need to be in the room. They actually just need to do the task.  

 Number four, prep your people once you've got your agenda. Uh, an invite list. Send out the materials at least 24 hours in advance.   Include the agenda, relevant documents such as the decks or pre-reads, anything like that.

And then also three pre-work. Or reflection questions. You wanna send this out ahead of time.   it's no fun for anybody. When you show up to a meeting and you're given a 30 page document that someone is presenting and they've expect you in three minutes to read that document, process it, comment. And actively participate in a discussion.

It's just not gonna happen. So consider adding, that beforehand and what the expectations are during that time. So consider adding a simple note to your invite. Here's what we'll cover, and here's what I need from you. When people show up prepared, you spend less time explaining and more time solving.

 Number five, mindset and logistics. The best meetings are not about structure. Actually, they are about structure, but not just about structure. They're also about energy and clarity.   Ask yourself, am I prepared to lead this meeting? Do I need visuals, hands outs, or a whiteboard? Is the tech such as zoom slides or room setup, tested and ready?

And number four, do I have a confident opening To kick things off,  I'm gonna circle back to the third one is the tech zoom slides room set up, test it, and ready. I know people love, just walk into a room and assume everything's gonna go well. I have yet to have that happen. Uh, maybe once or twice. I. But really does that happen?. I think 90% of the time Zoom has an update. If you're having Zoom, there are other software updates that just happen. It just delays your meeting, makes you look less professional. So,, just a free si free advice. You don't have to enjoy my pain that I've gone through. You can do that yourself.

  So first impressions do matter if you open the meeting with energy, clarity, and confidence. People will match your tone. If you fumble continuously, they're gonna kind of turn you tune out.  Why you're not prepared. Why am I here? Right? And the question is, why are you here? If the person leading the meeting has no clue what's going on, I.

They haven't prepped well, it, it's gonna be a long meeting and it's gonna be painful for everybody. Start with a quick rounding question or recap of the purpose. Thanks for joining today. We are here to finalize our Q3 plan so we can move forward with clarity and confidence. And then jump in. So you wanna have something going on there.

And then just a bonus tip here,  tip here for number six, reduce Meeting bloat. What do I mean by that? Ask, does this need to be a meeting  or can it be a Slack thread? A loom video? I. An email. Can we shorten the meeting from 60 to 30?   Consider replacing reoccurring status quo meetings with tools, asynchronous tools.

So what do I mean by that? Tools like a, a Loom, a video. For quick updates, Google Docs for collaborative input. Asana. Asana, or monday.com for task tracking.  I, I've used all of these. I'm not saying any one's better than the other. But what do you need that would save you a meeting, having all those people in a meeting.

Maybe you can reduce it from a weekly to a biweekly or something like that.   Every meeting you cut short, every meeting you cut or shorten gives your team back. Mental energy. And margin. Everybody wants team time back. I do.   last one, number seven. This is also just kind of a bonus tip.

Build in reflection. A lot of people don't do this anymore. I don't know why.  I think it's just, we're so busy. Actually, that's probably why we're all so busy. So building reflection. I say this and I actually put it in my notes at the end. 'cause otherwise they won't do it.

  After each meeting you lead, take two minutes to reflect two, did we accomplish the purpose? Was the right people in the room? What would make the next meeting better? And then invite some feedback. I mean, you don't have to  do this to everybody 'cause you're just adding a workload. But what's one or two people?

You could just quickly pull what worked well in today's meeting and what would you change next time? Again, I always premise this with. I think the meeting went well, or I think it could have gone better. I'm not looking for you to pat me on the back and say, oh, awesome job. I'm really looking for some feedback like what went well and what could make it better.

Just two simple questions over time. This does build a culture of continuous improvement. It also, you're mentoring those people to become better leaders themselves, and it raises the bar for meetings across your team and dare I say, the whole organization. Good things rub off. Bad things rub off too, but good things rub off on other leaders.

Don't be surprised when other leaders ask you what you're doing differently. Why are you meeting shorter? Why do people seem engaged? So, um really there are some positive outcomes of these seven steps. I do use them. This isn't just something I'm throwing out that I've made up. I use these, uh, weekly. Uh, personally.

 So here's three things you can do this week. Use a pre-meeting checklist before your next session. There's a link in the show notes to download a toolkit with a checklist. Number two, block 10 minutes before each meeting to clarify your tone, visuals, and the message. And then number three, audit your reoccurring meetings.

Which ones need a reset and which ones can be. Cut or shortened.   So try this quick challenge this week before your next team meeting. Try to do a five minute audit. One. What's the real purpose of this meeting? Two, who absolutely needs to be here? And three, have I sent prep materials and set expectations?

 Test this approach. See what needs to shift. See what does shift and then adjust. So just an optional resource. Do you need to help with this or a plug and play tool? I have included a meeting prep checklist and agenda template that you can customize. Uh, it's in the show show notes. It's just a tool note tools that you can download that will help you lead focused, engaging, and productive meetings starting today.

So if it's helpful, download it. In summary, meetings don't happen. Good meetings don't happen by accident. They happen by design. When you lead with clarity, include only the right people and prepare well you, you build a team culture that respects time, fosters collaboration and drives outcomes. This isn't about perfection.

It really is about being intentional. That really people do recognize that. So I hope this was helpful. If this video did help you or added value to your day, hit like and subscribe, drop a comment. All of this helps me as I grow this channel for you. I'd love to hear from you in the comment section, like, what's another tip that you use?

Or have you tried this and it was helpful. Love to hear for you. If you're looking for a coach, if I can be of help to you, click on the link in the show notes.

Until next time, I'm Jonathan Hankin, your leadership coach. Keep questioning, keep growing, and keep leading change.