We’ve all had them: the business meetings nobody can stand. The meetings where nobody pays attention. The meeting where nothing gets accomplished.

Meetings can be an important to time to brain storm, collaborate and make important decisions. It’s important that you plan them out properly, though, so that you stay away from the dreaded useless meeting.

Plan Ahead

You wouldn’t hold a conference without preparation. The same principle applies to meetings: you shouldn’t assume you can wing it. Figure out a purpose for your meeting ahead of time; can you get it down to a few key points? Plan each set of items that need to be discussed. Determine who really needs to attend. Does the sales team really need to hear about the latest visual design choices?

Schedule a Meeting Room and Necessary Equipment

Don’t let your meeting suffer from a last-minute migration to the lunch room. Schedule the room ahead of time to ensure you have somewhere to meet. If your company shares meeting spaces among its departments, using a conference room booking system can prevent meetings from overlapping.

Desk Flex, Inc. is a leading provider of room scheduling and conference room booking system. Through DeskFlex, you’ll be able to get the most out of each meeting room and provide quick, organized service to your visitors, employees,  or customers.

Start the Meeting on Time and End on Time

Everyone dreads endless meetings. Keep meetings a reasonable length and stick to the plan. Make sure employees are aware of the starting and end times beforehand so that they can plan accordingly. Nobody likes a meeting that eats into work they feel is more important.

Follow Up

After a meeting, you’ll likely need to set a timeline or due date to address whatever issues were discussed. Make sure you follow up afterwards, or the entire meeting may end up meaningless.

A well-planned, purposefully called meeting can be the difference between half-asleep employees and genuine engagement. Above all, make sure you don’t take your meetings for granted.