What is meeting preparation?
Definition: Meeting preparation is the process of organizing the necessary information and logistics for a meeting to ensure it runs smoothly and achieves its desired goals.
This involves identifying the purpose of the meeting, creating an agenda, and organizing the necessary materials or documents needed for the meeting.
Individuals and teams can ensure that their meetings are efficient, productive, and focused on achieving their goals by preparing for a meeting.
Meeting preparation for organizers/hosts
When preparing for a meeting, an organizer will define the purpose of the meeting by asking themselves what are the objective of the meeting: to solve a problem, make a decision, present a project, and more The purpose must be clear to the attendees.
For the meeting to achieve its goals, the organizer needs to list the people attending it and know what they want to take away from the meeting. Knowing who the meeting is for gives the organizer an idea of how they should structure the agenda and what questions the attendees may have.
After defining the purpose and attendees, the organizer will create an agenda reflecting the progression of the topic the meeting will cover. The best agendas will give attendees time to grasp and discuss the topic.
Lastly, the organizer will create a presentation that gives the attendees a visual representation of the topic.
After everything is prepared, the organizer will schedule the meeting making sure that all the attendees can be present and know what topics they will cover.
Meeting preparation checklist:
- Identify the purpose of the meeting.
- Create a “goals of the meeting” checklist.
- List the meeting attendees.
- Create the meeting agenda.
- Create the meeting presentation.
- Organize necessary materials or documents.
- Schedule the meeting.
- Invite the attendees and inform them about the agenda.
- Double-check if everything is ready for the meeting.
Meeting preparation for attendees
Attendees will review the agenda before the meeting and write down what the meeting needs to clarify for them to leave it satisfied without the need for unnecessary follow-up meetings.
To keep the meeting productive, attendees should send their questions and documents to the host for review before the meeting. The host will then know how to structure the agenda around the attendee and give them adequate space during the meeting.
Meeting preparation checklist:
- Review the meeting invitation and agenda.
- Prepare necessary materials or documents.
- Confirm your availability for the meeting.
- Think about questions and points you want to bring up at the meeting.
- Contribute to the discussion.
- Prepare your note-taking tool.
How can Mindmesh help you prepare for a meeting?
Use the Mindmesh calendar to set up the meeting date and time by selecting the three dots on your meeting tasks, clicking “Block time in calendar”, and selecting when do you want the meeting to take place.
After this, you can add meeting preparation notes in the event description. This is where you can create the outlines of your agenda and work on it.
Adding notes to the meeting task in Mindmesh
You can also create action items in your meeting notes and use them as a meeting preparation checklist.
This is done by converting text in your notes into an action item.
Mindmesh also allows you to link all supporting documentation and items to your meeting, keeping everything in one place and organized.
This is done by clicking the “Link Card” button and linking your documents to the meeting in the calendar.
After creating and preparing it, your meeting will be synced to your Google Calendar, from which you can invite your participants.
Invite participants by selecting the meeting task and clicking the three dots from which an invite tab will pop up.
If the participants are a part of your Mindmesh workspace, you can invite them with the “Select a user” drop-down, but if they aren’t, click “Share to web” and send the meeting invite link to them.
After they accept the meeting, their calendar will be time blocked for the meeting, and they will have access to all the notes and tasks for the meeting.
How can technology be used to support meeting preparation?
Here are four ways technology can help you prepare for meetings:
- Tools like Google Docs can help you collaborate with your co-host and let you edit the content of the meeting together.
- You can break up the meeting preparation into smaller tasks and track them or share them with tools like Mindmesh.
- Google Slides and Powerpoint allow you to create good-looking presentations with various templates.
- Tools like Miro can make your meetings interactive, letting the attendees contribute to the topic at hand.
