How many times have you found yourself in a conference room full of people with no purpose and no agenda? I’ll wager that 80% of corporate meetings are conducted this way. This article will give you a solid framework to conduct effective, focused meetings so that you and your teammates will know exactly what to do and expect before, during and after the meeting.

First determine whether or not you really need a meeting. Can the topic be handled via email or 1-1 conversations? If it really is necessary to gather the troops together, the key to effective meetings is effective preparation. You must have a pre-planned agenda. Slapping one together haphazardly before gathering your colleagues is not acceptable. As the project lead, you need to lead, and that means knowing what’s going to happen in your own mind before you get a bunch of people in a room.

To create an effective agenda, define the purpose of the meeting clearly on paper. What do you want to specifically accomplish? What is the desired outcome? As Steven Covey writes in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, “Begin with the end in mind”.

The best presentations follow the three-tiered approach of “Tell ‘em what you’re gonna tell ‘em, tell ‘em, and then tell ‘em what you told ‘em”. Effective meeting agendas should follow this same formula.

Next, identify who should attend and when they are available. People should only attend your meeting if they add value. What is each person’s role in the meeting and how will it help you achieve your desired outcome? Many times you’ll need to include project sponsors, vendors, or even upper management for political reasons. Do you need to have a 1-1 conversation with any of these individuals beforehand to diffuse any potential conflicts? The last thing you want is the heated distraction of conflict in a conference room.

Speaking of conference rooms, are yours easy to book? The best situation in large companies is to have an automated conference room booking system integrated with an email/calendar application such as Microsoft Exchange or Lotus Notes. Ah, the luxury of finding out schedules and available rooms online! However, if you’re one of the few who still have to call Helen the receptionist to get conference room A-27 make sure you call her and reserve the room BEFORE you confirm all the details with your team.

Get on everyone’s calendar at least three days in advance if possible, but no further out than a week. Most people have very short attention spans and will completely forget about your meeting if you book it too far out. If the topic is urgent and you have to gather everyone on short notice, so be it. Chances are you won’t get everyone you need to attend at the last minute. If that happens make sure you give them every opportunity to provide input either before or after the meeting.

Do you need any special equipment? Are people calling in remotely? If so, you’ll need a decent Polycom speakerphone or its equivalent. A regular office phone rarely cuts it in a large group setting. Will you need a projector? Will you need a whiteboard or eisel and markers? Will you need an internet connection or a virtual meeting like GoToWebinar or Webex? Do you need to provide lunch or snacks?

If you’re asking people to show up to an early meeting on or before 9am please budget for coffee and bagels. They might wake up before the end of your meeting. If your meeting goes into the lunch hour provide lunch. And, God forbid, if your meeting is 4pm or later, provide healthy snacks and drinks! This is all just common sense, folks. People need carbohydrates to think clearly.

Ok, you’ve prepared your agenda, you’ve invited people and gotten confirmation on whether or not they can attend, you’ve booked your special equipment, internet access, and you’ve got a meeting room. On the day before your meeting send a reminder to everyone that afternoon. Print out enough copies of your agenda for everyone plus 2-3 extras for surprise attendees. Now you’re ready.

Now it’s time to conduct your meeting. Start your meeting within 10 minutes of your planned start time. If not enough people show up within 15 minutes, leave the room and take the snacks with you. Your time is valuable and people need to know it.

Assuming people show up within 10 minutes pass out copies of the agenda, invite people to get something to eat/drink. When people are settled in make any necessary introductions and get going with your agenda. Sometimes people take advantage of pre-meeting chit-chat, so you may need to sound your own gavel to get everyone’s attention.

Now’s it’s time to tell ‘em what your gonna tell them. Review the agenda and set any ground rules, such has hold all questions until the end or turn off all cell phones & Blackberries.

Now it’s time to tell ‘em. As you step through your agenda make sure everyone has an opportunity to participate. Often there are one or two people who dominate the conversation and one or two people who hold back. Good facilitators recognize these group dynamics and referee the natural give and take during these discussions.

Once all agenda items have been discussed it’s time to recap (yep, tell ‘em what you told ‘em). It doesn’t need to take long and it’s important that everyone reviews the agreements made and next steps together. This minimizes the chances for miscommunication later.

After your recap, close the meeting by saying “that’s it”, or “that’s all I got”, signaling that everyone can leave. Make sure you document and distribute meeting notes that same day.

Follow up with everyone assigned a to-do list to make sure they understand the next actions needed to move the project forward.

Effective meetings take lots of pre-planning and focus to execute properly. Using these tips and tricks will help you become an effective meeting maven.