will happen in a meeting, usually in sequential order. In
addition, you need to determine objectives. What
decisions should be made by the end of the meeting?
What outcomes will occur? When you’re invited to a
meeting with a new contact, it’s perfectly reasonable to
ask, “What do you hope to get out of this meeting?”
You might not need the agenda and objectives to be
explicit. For example, the purpose of a check-in meeting
is always the same: to check in, review progress, and
raise concerns. You likely won’t need an explicit agenda.
And sometimes the objectives are implicit in the subject
line: for example, “Set lineup for August issue of
magazine.” The objective is to complete that task in a
working meeting.
'H¿QHWKH0HHWLQJ/HDGHU Every meeting needs
a leader or co-leaders. In most cases, the leader is the
person who called the meeting—but not always. It’s
essential to be clear.
The worst meeting I ever attended had no leader. It was
directionless, and no one knew how to get us on track.
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