Meeting Organizer Blunders to Avoid

There are two distinct parts to a great meeting. One is a practical, professional physical meeting space and the other is the ability of the meeting planner/presenter. On its own, a great space in a central location does not guarantee a successful meeting. Similarly, a talented meeting presenter will not do well if their space falls short. For example, if it’s too small and uncomfortable, or there’s a lot of external disruption going on. Hard to find locations and difficulty parking are also things that make for a bad start. Office Evolution in Hackensack can certainly help with professional meeting spaces in our centrally located New Jersey coworking center. We have ample parking too, right next to the building.

A Meeting Presenter’s Responsibility

The meeting presenter is responsible for how they conduct their meetings. We can provide all the tools, but the presenter is ultimately responsible for putting on a successful event.

Typical meeting organizer blunders are:

Ill-prepared
Boring, uninspiring meetings
Bad timekeeping (late start, late finish)

Unless you’re a natural, you will need to prepare for your meetings, and the more you prepare, the better you’ll fare. Good meeting organizers find that the best approach is to write things down and go through their list in a methodical manner. In short, they make it a box-ticking exercise. Most people wouldn’t go to the supermarket without a checklist. Having a to-do list for anything that requires structure makes perfect sense—especially planning for business meetings.

Make the Meetings Fun

There’s something of a misconception that meetings, especially work-related, formal type meetings, have to be flat and uninteresting. They don’t. As the presenter, you are responsible for keeping everyone focused, interested and content. That doesn’t mean you have to put on an invisible clown’s outfit and have your gathering split their sides with laughter. But if you can achieve some chuckles or at least a few smiles every now and again, you know you have a captive audience. A good meeting presenter is able to make an enjoyable, interactive meeting out of an otherwise boring topic.

Different meetings follow different formats. Despite this, there are still certain things you can do to inject more interest into any kind of meeting, formal or otherwise:

Ways to make meetings more fun include (in no particular order):

Greet each person as they walk in (first impressions really do matter)
Set a time limit—let everyone know—and stick to it
Don’t allow cross-talk, set some ground rules from the start
Gamify the meeting if it’s appropriate
Include some hands-on activities, if the format allows it
Offer solutions, or potential solutions, to problems discussed
Make the meeting interactive, engage your audience. Let them share if appropriate
Take a break(s)
Make sure there are beverages on hand and maybe a few snacks
Use icebreakers, or have some ready to use should the meeting start to wane

These are just some of many suggestions that you could add to your meeting plan. Nothing is set in stone, but play around with things that feel natural to you.

Timing Does Matter

It’s not always possible to have everyone arrive on time for a meeting. There are all kinds of reasons why some of the attendees may be late, or absent even. What matters is that you don’t keep everyone else waiting for people who may not even show up or turn up very late. You could perhaps allow for a few minutes, but no more. Meetings should have a fixed start and end time, and attendees appreciate it when organizer adheres to this. Good timekeeping is also professional and reflects on you as the meeting leader. If you start too late you can expect to see people become restless, irritable and discontent with the whole setup. That’s not a good precedent for making an important first impression.

End on Time

Make sure you finish on time too, or as near as you can make it. Too many meetings go on for too long, and when they do, it’s down to poor organization and control. There has even been research into this. It suggests that concentration in a business-type meeting begins to wane by a considerable amount after 30 minutes. And the longer the meeting goes on for, the more the attention level drops. It’s probably fair to suggest that after just one hour you’ve lost 50% of the attendee’s attention.

Renting a meeting room for a fixed duration can help you to zoom-in and prepare the meeting better. When you don’t have the room for an indefinite period, you have no choice but to make sure your meetings begin and end on time. At Office Evolution in Hackensack, you can always rent a little more time than you need, just to be sure. But even then, you will still be mindful of the clock when renting a professional space for a set time. That’s a good thing.

Personal Timekeeping

And finally, make sure you, as the meeting leader, are not late. You can’t control your attendees but you can take control of your own timekeeping. Remember, first impressions count. Rent a space with us and you’ve got half of everything you need to impress your audience. The rest is up to you.

Our coworking and virtual office space in Hackensack has a range of affordable, fully-equipped meeting rooms and conference rooms to choose from, see here. The Office Evolution Business Center Manager will be there to greet your visitors as they arrive. They can also show them to your modern, comfortable meeting room if you request it. This allows you to remain in the room and network with earlier arrivals.

Call us today to find out how our meeting space solutions can help you deliver your next successful meeting. To learn more, contact us here.

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At Office Evolution Hackensack, we provide virtual office, coworking, and private office solutions. We offer meeting rooms, offices, a coworking lounge, a shared reception, a business address, and virtual receptionist services. We have many options and price points, and all terms are flexible. Plus, you become part of a community of like-minded professionals.

Whether you live in Teaneck, Bergenfield, Maywood, Teterboro, Hasbrouck Heights, Moonachie, Little Ferry, Rochelle Park, Dumont, Bogota, River Edge, New Milford, Hackensack, Englewood, Paramus, Tenafly and other communities nearby in Bergen and Essex counties, choosing Office Evolution Hackensack in New Jersey will help you be more professional, productive, and profitable.