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7 Tips To Organize The Perfect Business Meeting

Dan Borlan

December 22, 2006

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As most of you already know, organizing successful business meetings is all down to a good logistics and planning. Don’t give special attention to this and your meeting could become a total failure. Here we have jotted down seven of the most important tip’s we think guarantee a successful business meeting:

1. First things first, where will your attendees be coming from? It is of course always important that the arrival time must be in a reasonable relation to the actual duration of the meeting (you will not expect someone to travel 24 hours for a half day meeting).

2. The type of location or venue you choose for the business meeting will depend on the subject and what it is you wish to deal with at the meeting. E.g. If you are inviting your sales force for a motivational meeting, the ambiance of your location or venue should be suitable (i.e. not a boring training hotel atmosphere).

3. The actual logistics’ and timing of the invitations is essential. On the one hand you need to distinguish what type of people you are inviting to your business meeting , the methods for various groups will be different. If you are inviting your own employees who you basically expect to come, make sure that they have the possibility to pencil in the dates well in advance, and then follow up with the actual invitation not to have unpleasant surprises in the last minutes. However if you are inviting a group of people where you are by no means sure that they will come you are better off not sending the meeting invitations to early, as they are unlikely to commit well in advanced.

4. Once you have invited your target group, you have the logistics of registrations, as well as the dissemination of information regarding the actual meeting. Nowadays there are some fabulous web based registration systems where the attendants can simply click on a link in an email invitation and register, often covering not only the actual registration to the meeting but also for Hotel accommodation, and sometimes even the travel. This could make your life and your guest’s life much easier and you might even save time and money by using this advanced solution. Who is paying what? Not to be caught out worth financials matters, make sure it is absolutely clear who is paying what. What is included in the fee for the meeting? Don’t leave these questions without answer as you might find yourself in a very unpleasant position which might bring some serious questions about your intentions in your guests mind.

5. Preparation and frame of mind will be crucial for the success of your meeting, make sure you communicate precisely what it is that will be handled at the meeting, if you wish the participants to prepare make this clear. This way you are sure that everybody has the same expectations. Also give special attention when you prepare your goals. These are the results you want to obtain by the end of the meeting. Write down your goals before the meetings. They should be complete, clear and of real importance for the future of your business so don’t focus on issues which make little importance for your business if they are fulfilled or not during the meeting. Also, make sure they can be achieved with available people, resources, and time.

6. When you have dealt with the invitations and pre meeting logistics make sure you plan the time during the business meeting well. You do not want to be left at the end of the meeting with the feeling that you only managed half. Organize a strict time plan! Being appropriately dressed is essential in making good impressions in the business and corporate worlds. Also a polished image is important in business survival and can be an important factor in career advancement. Periodically, it is a good idea to take a look at your business attire and the image you are presenting. Is it the image you want to project?

7. Let’s imagine your business meeting was a success, in most cases attendees like to have the information they receive during a meeting of this kind in either a printed or electronic format.

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