Participants should know why they are meeting and what is supposed to be achieved

What are some ways to ensure effective and productive meetings? 

Start with a clear objective. Every meeting should have a clear and stated purpose or objective. Participants should know why they are meeting and what is supposed to be achieved.

Create and distribute a clear agenda beforehand. This keeps the meeting focused and allows participants to come prepared.

Stick to a schedule that works for everyone.  Punctuality shows respect for others’ time. It’s important to start and end meetings as scheduled. Use automated scheduling tools, such as Google Calendar or Outlook’s scheduling assistant, to find a suitable time for all participants. There are also other tools like Calendly or Doodle that can simplify the process further by allowing participants to pick from available slots. Automate reminders about the meeting, including the agenda and any preparation materials. This can be done using most calendar apps or project management tools like Asana or Trello.

Encourage active participation. Create an atmosphere that ensures that everyone feels comfortable sharing their ideas.

Follow up the meeting with action items. After the meeting, action items should be assigned, and a follow-up report should be sent out summarizing the key points and decisions.

Utilize automated transcriptions tool or AI to generate minute notes. This can save time, improve accuracy, and allow everyone to focus on the discussion instead of notetaking.

—Tuly (Nathan) Weill, CEO, Flow Digital

I work remotely, so I have a lot of online meetings. There are several things to consider before scheduling a meeting:

Do you really need the meeting? I often use a video recording tool like Loom to share thoughts and progress with clients. Using Loom saves me at least ten meetings a month.

Fill everyone in. Create an agenda and email it in advance to all participants so everyone can come prepared with their points and questions.

Keep it moving. Limit the items on your agenda and set a time limit for each discussion point to keep the meeting moving forward.

Use a timer. Using a five-minute sand timer during team meetings to facilitate decision-making cuts out unnecessary small talk and encourages everyone to come to an agreement on how to proceed.

—Eli (Elliott) Stimler, Personal Branding & LinkedIn Ghostwriting @ Your Marketing Guy

Manage time. Have a written agenda with a timeframe for discussing each item. Don’t get sidetracked and don’t let the discussion go off the rails. If you see a topic is going to need more than its allotted time, put it on hold and move on.

Keep it professional. For remote meetings, I find turning on your camera and looking professional and decent is a big plus. Otherwise, it’s more of a conference call than a meeting. Also, don’t try to do partially live, partially online meetings, because those usually don’t work out so well for those participating remotely.

—Neal Granick, Senior Manager at Deloitte Tax

Meetings serve different functions, depending on whether they’re in-house staff meetings or with clients. For new clients, there’s nothing like the connection of a face-to-face meeting. In either case, knowing what you want to achieve at meeting’s end keeps it effective.

Keep your eye on the ball. Have hard start and end times, and share the agenda beforehand. If it’s an internal meeting, appoint someone to remind the team when they go off on a tangent. If it’s a meeting with a new client, on the other hand, enjoy getting to know each other.

Do it live. We are really not fans of remote meetings. If that’s your only option, make sure the connection is good and get rid of any distractions.

—Ricky Blau, GCNY Marketing, Principal

Prepare! Take the time to prepare for a meeting, rather than just winging it. Thirty minutes of preparation can help you get your point across in five minutes, as opposed to preparing for five minutes and speaking for 30.

Keep meetings as short as possible. Participants may become tired and disengaged if the meeting goes on for too long. We always schedule business review meetings for 50 minutes, and company huddles for 30 minutes or less.

Keep an open mind. Listen without prejudice, and be willing to step into the other’s space. When you listen with empathy, people will also listen to you, and there is a greater chance of reaching a consensus.

One person at the mic. Often, multiple “sub-meetings” will form during heated discussions, and participants talk in silos. When this happens, we miss out on important information and nuances. Ensure that the meeting is being conducted cohesively, so everyone listens to everyone as a coherent group.

Take action. Assign someone to take notes and send a follow-up email to all participants with a summary of what was agreed on. The email should list all action items that need to take place by which parties and within which time frames.

—Jacob I. Oberlander, CPA, Team Leader and CEO, Oberlander & Co

What is personal branding, and what can it do for your business?

Personal branding is a marketing strategy that positions you as the go-to expert in your industry as a way of attracting prospects seeking your services.

While traditional marketing strategies position the company as the best in your industry, with personal branding, you are the best in the industry. While the end goal is the same — to get new customers — the approach is different.

For example, a traditional marketing gambit might look like this: AuditMasters are the number one auditors in New York. Get in touch with AuditMasters for your auditing needs.

The personal branding take would vary slightly: Hi, I’m Benjy, the number one  auditor in New York. Need auditing? Call me for a free consultation!

If you needed an audit, would you rather call a faceless company called AuditMasters or an actual human named Benjy?

Personal branding often works better than traditional marketing strategies because people buy from people. You’ll trust a person over an anonymous corporation. Plus, it’s quicker to build credibility for yourself than for an entity.

Personal branding is a great strategy for solopreneurs and freelancers. But it’s also very effective for CEOs and execs of established businesses in real estate, logistics, tech, legal, marketing, recruitment, healthcare, and financial services.

Tips for building your personal brand:

LinkedIn is a great platform to post content and build your personal brand. Personal branding isn’t about sharing every detail of your life, like what you had for lunch or your family vacations. It’s about showcasing your expertise by sharing valuable, educational content and case studies on how you’ve helped your clients.

Writing a regular email newsletter with valuable content is a great way to showcase yourself. You can also publish your insights on an online blog or website.

Host a podcast and interview other experts, or appear as a guest on a relevant podcast.

Try to appear as a panelist or speaker at an industry event or trade show.

Eli (Elliott) Stimler

Personal Branding & LinkedIn
Ghostwriting @ Your Marketing Guy

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 988)