How to nail the 5 most common types of business meetings
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Sofia BogunovicBrand Content Manager at TravelPerk
Arguably, no two meetings are the same. They all vary depending on the meeting participants, the goals you set, when they take place, and more. However, there are 5 overarching “concepts” for business meetings that take place most frequently.
Possibly the most exciting meetings, brainstorming sessions are all about getting creative with the team. Whether you’re looking for ways to solve a problem or coming up with new ideas for a strategy, product, or campaign, brainstorming sessions really help people think outside the box by bouncing ideas off each other.
We all know that business communications can sometimes be tricky. From a key email ending up in spam to missing a Slack message, or what have you, it can be pretty easy to fall behind on what your colleagues are doing.
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As the name suggests, these are meetings where you get together with just one person. They’re an opportunity for two people to meet for a specific purpose. For example, you might have a weekly one-to-one meeting with your manager where you recap what you’ve been working on the last week; or have a peer review session.
Problem-solving meetings often require a great deal of teamwork to come up with solutions to a particular challenge. These are intensely purpose-driven meetings where a clear outcome is needed.
Typically focused on business leaders, when we refer to decision-making meetings we tend to mean meetings where key company decisions are made. Top-level decisions are often discussed - a board meeting is a great example of the kind of professional gathering where major decisions are made.
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The most surefire way of avoiding the pitfalls of setting meetings that could have been emails is to be organized. Making the purpose of the meeting known to all attendants in advance is key - it gives everyone time to reflect on what’s going to be discussed and prepare anything if needed.
Avoid the “sure, Ben might know about this stuff, add him to the call” attitude. Think about whether “Ben” really needs to be in the meeting - is he going to be a facilitator of conversation or just a silent participant? Is “Ben” going to get anything out of it? Will he contribute anything valuable?
We can’t expect everyone to be a notetaker, but taking note of key discussion points is the best way to remember the details. It’s always good to take your own notes, however, some teams and meetings might benefit from designating one of the attendees to write the “meeting minutes”.
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This one might be a little obvious but it still needs to be said! Let people finish their thoughts during a meeting before stepping in to offer yours. Manners matter, no matter what kind of meeting you’re in.
You always need to be weary of time from the moment your meeting starts. It can be very easy to go off on a tangent and waste valuable meeting time talking about something that isn’t really that important.
Make sure that when your meeting is over, everyone is clear about what they’re supposed to do. Taking 5 minutes at the end of the call to summarise what was discussed and confirm action items is really important as it guarantees that everyone will be on the same page at the end.
Sofia BogunovicBrand Content Manager at TravelPerk
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