M4 061: How To Prepare For This Year's Meetings

One Meeting Minute Thought for Your Week

Now is the time to prepare for this year's meetings. Because a new year is here and, just like last year, most of your working hours will be spent in meetings.

So make the most of them, starting with the meetings you own!

And I recommend you act now before any more of the new year slips away.

Here's why.

Why now is the time to prepare for this year's meetings

If you're like me, it's hard to believe a new year has already started but it's true.

Last year is gone and for many of us the extended time we had away from the office during the holidays is over.

It's back to the real world of work!

And, if you started your end-of-year vacation time without taking time to plan your meetings for the new year (again like me!), you might have missed some rare opportunities that could disappear quickly in January.

But it's not too late because the month of January is still young!

Take these 5 simple steps to prepare for this year's meetings (while you still can).

Grab open calendar time
Cancel and decline meetings
Scrub your invitee lists
Check meeting series end dates
Learn from last year’s meetings

Let's take a deeper look at each of these.

5 simple steps to prepare for this year's meetings

1. Grab open calendar time

This tip is first because it's the most important.

Most people don't do what you're doing. They wait until later to schedule meetings even though they already know certain meetings must occur.

For instance, think about your one-one-one meetings with your direct reports, monthly project reviews, and other recurring meetings.

You know those are going to be on your calendar for the upcoming year. And, you also know the Purpose of the meetings and the People you need to invite.

But as others start to schedule their meetings with these same coworkers, their availability is going to be reduced.

That means you have a limited window to grab open time for the people you need to meet with regularly.

So don't wait.

If you start scheduling your meetings later in January, you'll be one of countless coworkers watching open calendars fill up and your chances to meet with critical partners disappear.

2. Cancel and decline meetings

You lead effective, productive meetings - meetings people actually WANT to attend.

And, in Step 1 you added a bunch of outstanding meetings to your coworkers' calendars.

But, no one wants too many meetings. Even excellent meetings!

You need time to do individual deep work and your teammates do too.

The start of the new year provides the perfect opportunity to control what you can control.

You control the meetings you schedule and your RSVP to the meetings you've been invited to attend.

So take these two actions:

Cancel your meetings that no longer add value to your business.
Decline any meetings you've been asked to attend but aren't a good investment of your time.

Exercise the power you have to prepare for this year's meetings.

3. Scrub your invitee lists

Step 2 put you in the mindset to evaluate your own meeting participation. Now apply that thinking to those you've invited to participate in the meetings you own.

The second P of the 3Ps for productive, effective meetings is People (click here to get the free 3Ps worksheet).

Purpose – Why is this meeting being held?

People – Who needs to be in this meeting to accomplish the Purpose?

Preparation – What work needs to be done prior to the meeting to enable the People to accomplish the Purpose?

As you prepare for this year's meetings, invest time evaluating who the right people are to participate in the meetings you've scheduled.

4. Check meeting series end dates

Has this ever happened to you?

The new year has started and you're looking forward to your weekly meeting with your project team.

You've met together every Thursday morning from 10:00 to 10:50 for months and you're excited to keep the momentum going in January.

It's Monday morning and you're getting ready for your first Thursday morning meeting of the year.

Then you realize there is no Thursday morning meeting on your calendar this week. Or any week of the new year!

Your recurring meeting series ended on the last Thursday of last year.

So you hit your knees praying no one has applied Step 1 and taken your spot on your team members' calendars.

If they have, your routine is shot and your momentum is gone.

Don't let this happen to you (like it's happened to me)!

Review your recurring meetings, including those on last year's calendar, to make sure the end dates of the meeting series are set to what you want them to be.

5. Learn from last year's meetings

The start of a new year is a good time to look back and assess your meetings from the previous year.

You've likely led and attended more meetings during the year than you can remember.

And the number of lessons to be learned exceeds the numbers of meetings you've been in. In other words, there's a lot you can learn and apply to this year's meetings.

But those lessons will slip away as vanishing, useless memories if you don't take time to reflect and document how to improve.

Take time to do a simple Lessons Learned activity for your meetings from last year.

More Resources to Help You Build Your Career and Your Business

For a much deeper dive on how to make the most of the opportunities you have as December ends and January starts, check out my previous article:

🔷 How To Prepare For Next Year’s Meetings – 5 Simple Steps

I cover what's worked for me when doing Lessons Learned Meetings and share a free Lessons Learned worksheet I created.

There's also a list of 10 questions to use to capture meaningful information you can use to make this year's meetings even better than those you led last year.

Click here to see if this resource will help you improve your meetings in the coming year.

This article from parabol.co has several helpful tips on facilitating a productive, effective Lessons Learned Meeting too:

🔷 Lessons Learned Meetings: An Easy 6-Step Process For Facilitators

And Now a Word from Our Sponsors

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That's All for this Issue

Thank you so much for reading and wrapping up another year with me!

I'm excited about the many opportunities you and I have to transform our businesses and people's lives in the new year by leading productive, effective meetings.

If you have ideas for topics you'd like me to cover in upcoming issues of M4 - the Monday Morning Meeting Minute, please send me an email with your recommendations!

In this and every year let's lead our people and our meetings with kindness and confidence!

Greg

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