Meetings are different in purpose, audience, form, size, etc. Nonetheless there are some best practices in terms of what to do to prepare for a meeting, run a meeting, and follow-up on a meeting. So we have put together a checklist for a successful meeting to help you remember what one should not forget.

Before the meeting

• Define the purpose of the meeting
• Draft an agenda
• Select possible participants and invite them
• Decide the basics of the meeting (in person or remote, start/end date and time, venue for the meeting)
• Finalize and distribute agenda with roles assigned for each slot like speakers, moderators, scribes, etc.
• Collect and share as needed supporting material and presentation material
• Secure and verify presentation equipment and meeting logistics

During the meeting

• State the purpose of the meeting
• Display agenda updated as needed
• Stick to the agenda, stay on-time
• Have a place to track decisions, agreed upon next steps, parking lot for new topics, etc.
• At the end of the meeting run through decisions and next steps and schedule follow-up meeting if needed

Follow-up to the meeting

• Distribute followup minutes (decisions, next steps and invite for follow-up meeting)
• File minutes and documents in a place where you can easily find them
• Track delivery of next steps