Note: This guest post is from Heather Yandow at Third Space Studio. She helps organizations with strategic planning, board development, business model design, implementing fundraising strategies, and going from good to great. Thanks, Heather!

How much time do you spend in meetings? If you’re like me, the answer is simple: a lot.

Over time, I’ve realized that good meetings can energize a team, catalyze action, and strengthen relationships. Of course, bad meetings can do the exact opposite, causing confusion, frustration, and loss of morale.

After years of designing, facilitating, and participating in many, many meetings, here’s my list of the five big biggest meeting mistakes – and how to avoid them.

What’s your goal?

Mistake 1: No goal. When planning a meeting, here’s the most important question to answer. Why are you pulling people together? 

Is your goal to make a decision? Brainstorm options? Synthesize information? Create a plan of action? (If your only answer is “share information,” consider skipping the meeting and sharing through other channels.)

Be specific and clear about your meeting goals. Ask yourself “For this meeting, what does success look like?” Your goals will help identify which different tools and structures are best used, which leads to the second mistake…

What’s your design?

Mistake 2: No design. You may have heard the saying, “A goal without a plan is just a wish.” I’d like to add a corollary: A meeting without a plan is just a recipe for frustration.

An agenda is a good start – often it’s just a list of topics and times – but it’s not enough. It’s great to share your agenda with participants, but you need a clear plan for how to use that time – including the activities you’ll use to explore ideas, generate solutions, and make choices.

Who’s in charge?

Mistake 3: Nobody in charge. Someone has to be responsible for guiding participants through the design. Lacking a designated leader/facilitator is a recipe for chaos.

In-depth training is not required, but the facilitator should be able to help the group stay on topic, guide them through the design, and make sure everyone is being heard.

This role can change during the course of the meeting – I’ve designed agendas with different people facilitating different agenda items – or can be shared by more than one person simultaneously, but regardless: every meeting needs a leader.

Do you have the right people in the room?

Mistake 4. The wrong people. Make sure everyone in the meeting actually needs to be there – because they have something to contribute to the conversation or are needed to make a decision.

Organizations sometimes fall into the habit of inviting everyone, or inviting people so they can be ‘up-to-date’ – a horrible use of meeting time. With too many people (or the wrong people), conversations get bogged down and energy can be low.

Having a clear goal and a meeting design will help you figure out who needs to attend – and who else will be invited to review the notes afterward.

Are you using a productive meeting space?

Mistake 5: A bad room. Hosting your meeting in the wrong space can be disastrous. I once facilitated a meeting in a windowless restaurant mezzanine with no wall space, loud air conditioning, and no parking. Yuck!

Making sure your participants are comfortable – and the space works with your design – is critical. For example, if you’ve planned lots of small group conversations, having tables of four to six participants – instead of one large, unmovable, board room table – will be really helpful.

A great meeting space is accessible to all participants and has natural light, wall space for hanging flip chart pages, movable tables, comfortable chairs, good air flow, good acoustics, and plenty of free parking. If your meeting is a half-day or longer, check to be sure that you’re able to bring in refreshments, and inquire about any catering requirements or fees.

Addressing these five items = a great meeting

If you can avoid these five mistakes, you’ll be well on your way to creating productive, fun meetings.

For more information, including in-person trainings, visit our website to learn how you can create better meetings.