Nervous about planning your first big meeting? It makes sense. Professionals cite meetings as the main barrier to productivity, lamenting that meetings are usually ineffective and over-scheduled. Despite near-universal meeting fatigue, they remain a fact of life.
Meetings have a bad reputation because they’re often poorly planned or badly run, but they don’t all need to be that way. This guide provides a comprehensive toolkit of good meeting practices, from planning to follow-up, with suggestions on using Loom to streamline your processes. With these strategies, you can eliminate wasted meetings and spend more time being productive.
6 steps to prepare for a meeting
Transform your meetings into powerful action plans with thorough preparation. Here’s how.
1. Understand the meeting’s purpose
A well-defined meeting objective is a powerful starting point. In fact, 72% of professionals see clear objectives as the key to an effective meeting. So what does this mean for you?
Your purpose is the foundation of your decision-making:
Who should be there?
Should you meet remotely or face-to-face?
What actions or answers do you want the meeting to provide?
Do you even need a meeting to achieve your goals?
Use your objective to unlock these answers.
If you don’t need a live meeting, your team can use a screen recorder like Loom to collaborate and tackle their goals asynchronously. Record yourself and your screen to share significant information in minutes. Check out this example of replacing a status update meeting with a one-minute video.
Tide Cleaners switched to asynchronous video and cut 80% of in-person meetings using Loom. Its teams kept the same level of communication as meeting live, thanks to features like time-coded comments.
Once the purpose of your meeting is clear, think carefully about who to invite. Focus on those whose expertise or decision-making authority is essential for meeting your goals. Extraneous participants can derail your meeting, much like the “too many cooks in the kitchen” scenario.
Plus, if guests feel the meeting is irrelevant, they’ll be frustrated that you wasted their time. In a cross-departmental meeting, for example, it’s unlikely that entire teams need to attend. Invite the most crucial team members and ask them to communicate essential information to their teams afterward.
2. Create a detailed agenda
Your agenda is the blueprint for your meeting. It guides participants, ensures efficiency, and drives results.
Use your meeting agenda to communicate what you want to cover during your meeting. For each topic, give a concise description, estimated time allocation, and anticipated outcomes. If a topic needs supporting documents or a different leader, note that. Don’t forget to add basics like meeting time and location, and include the meeting room or Zoom link, depending on the meeting’s format.
Build in time for breaks for long or intensive meetings to keep everyone focused. Remember to schedule time for action items and next steps so participants know what to do after the meeting ends.
To shine in your meeting management, consider sending a video agenda. You’ll pack in more detail and context than you could in a traditional agenda outline. Since video is more effective than text for engagement and retention, participants are more likely to arrive informed and ready. Check out this Loom example for inspiration.
3. Anticipate participant dynamics
When you planned your objective, you identified key players to invite. Now, think about the personalities involved. Will some people dominate and forcefully voice their opinions? Will others shrink back? Lay out a plan for engaging those people, especially if they’re the critical voices that should give input. For multilevel meetings, foster an environment of collaboration and respect so colleagues at every level feel empowered to share their thoughts.
Use a fun icebreaker like Two Truths and a Lie to warm everyone up. Attendees can connect and participate in a low-stakes scenario, preparing them to contribute when it counts. Use smaller breakout groups during large or multilevel meetings to allow everyone to engage.
Unfortunately, rocky meetings happen. Some topics are challenging, some personalities clash, or someone has a rough day. Whatever the cause, preparing for possible issues keeps the meeting from running off the rails. Be clear about your role as the meeting facilitator in case conflict arises. Employ a simple framework like the LEARN approach to reduce tension if it occurs. While unlikely, don’t hesitate to redirect or suspend the meeting if the conflict exceeds what you can manage.
4. Distribute pre-meeting materials
In addition to your agenda, send stakeholders other pre-meeting materials they’ll need. These may include supporting docs, meeting activities, or forms to complete. For extra impact, share a pre-meeting video. They’re an excellent tool for communicating essential meeting details. Prepare attendees by recording your screen as you walk them through meeting documents. Here’s a Loom example of an overview of what to expect in an upcoming meeting.
Viewers interact with your pre-meeting video directly by reacting with emojis and asking questions. They can replay the video whenever they need a refresher or think of something else to share before the meeting.
Share documents in advance to empower your participants. This proactive approach removes uncertainty and fosters informed discussion, creative thinking, and productive outcomes.
5. Confirm meeting attendance
Send calendar invites early. Waiting too long could cause people to decline your meeting. Tools like Calendly make it easy for attendees to share their availability and confirm attendance.
Loom’s Calendly integration lets you send your meeting invite with your pre-meeting video. Loom Business and Enterprise customers with the AI add-on can include their Calendly link as the video’s CTA. As the date for your meeting approaches, send reminders and updates to keep it on everyone's radar.
6. Prepare the meeting space
Meeting in person? Ensure you have enough room for everyone, including chairs and table space. Go the extra mile by providing simple refreshments like bottled water and small snacks. Participants will be more engaged if they’re comfortable.
Whether meeting virtually or in person, find a quiet room with good lighting where you won’t be interrupted. Check your tech setup to ensure clear sound and video. Test the internet connection to ensure it’s reliable and all participants have access.
Finally, make your meeting accessible. Ask attendees whether they need accommodations to join you. Consider parking, elevators, or space for guests with mobility concerns for in-person sessions. Participants with trouble hearing might need live captions in a virtual team meeting.
Mistakes to avoid when preparing for a meeting
As you prepare, consider these tips to avoid awkward moments and inefficiencies in your meetings:
Winging it: Impromptu meetings happen, but if you have time to prepare for one, you should make the most of it. Your meeting will be more productive, you’ll be ready for contingencies, and you’ll be more likely to achieve your goals.
Flying solo: Meetings are collaborative. Involve attendees in every step of the process. Ask them to contribute to the agenda items before, participate during, and provide feedback after the meeting.
Letting participants fend for themselves: Your attendees are professionals, but they’re also busy. Thorough preparation, communication, and follow-up from you will leave them impressed and grateful. This is especially crucial if attendees include external partners like clients or vendors. Anticipate the documents you’ll need to support the conversation. Depending on the meeting type, print copies or share links so attendees have materials handy. Don’t assume people will do this prep themselves—make their lives easier and do it for them.
During the meeting
You have paved the way for a collaborative, effective meeting. Use your preparation to guide the meeting toward your goal. Your most important job is your role as a facilitator. Ask teammates to help with timekeeping, following the agenda, and passing out materials. This frees you to focus on steering the conversation.
Thorough meeting notes are critical for effective post-meeting follow-up, but assigning someone to take minutes often pulls them out of active participation. A better bet is to use Loom to record the meeting. Loom will automatically generate a full meeting transcript, eliminating the need to take notes. Loom AI will even identify and create a list of action items so attendees are crystal clear on their next steps. You’ll also have a recording to reference later and share with absent colleagues.
Post-meeting follow-up
The meeting is over, but it’s not time to take your final bow. Your meeting will only be as effective as your follow-up. Complete the following steps to continue the momentum you generated during the meeting.
Recap the meeting
Thank your attendees and send a recap within 24 hours. It should include the meeting minutes and an outline of all action items, including due dates and assignees. If any issues remain unresolved, note that with a timeline for resolution.
Sharing the minutes will be a breeze if you record your meeting with Loom—your video will be shareable immediately after you finish recording. Since Loom stores your recordings in your library, simply copy the link from the video and send it to the meeting’s participants. Use Loom's Gmail or Slack integrations to make sharing seamless. The Loom AI add-on instantly generates supporting documents, like summaries and action items, to send post-meeting. It will even write a message to go with your video.
Follow up on action items
As with your meeting prep, you should be proactive with your meeting follow-up. Send colleagues reminders about upcoming action items so nothing falls through the cracks. Keep each other updated on progress and address roadblocks as they arise.
Use Loom to keep your team updated without scheduling extra meetings. Send a quick update video like the one below to communicate progress and show what you’re working on. Recipients can comment and react, keeping communication in one place. They can also view the video when convenient, boosting productivity.
Evaluate meeting effectiveness
Ideally, your first big meeting won’t be your last, so encourage attendees to share feedback. Ask what they appreciated and how you can improve for future meetings. Don’t look at this as criticism but as a way to continue building skills. A straightforward evaluation framework is Treasure, Trash, Change: Participants list things to keep as they are, things to drop, and things to improve.
Does the thought of evaluation cause you to tense up? Encourage colleagues to share their feedback with a Loom video. You’ll benefit from their tone, gesture, and facial expression—nuances missing from text-based communication. Loom AI will automatically remove silences and filler words so the message comes through clearly. This Loom video shows you how video evaluation works.
Have better meetings with Loom
Follow the steps in this guide, and you’re bound to impress. Be thorough and thoughtful in your preparation, anticipate issues, and follow up diligently. Use Loom to send clear, comprehensive communication quickly, from your agenda to meeting minutes to post-meeting updates. If you do, your first big meeting will only be one of many opportunities.
Ready to say goodbye to unproductive meetings? Use Loom for better team alignment. Get started today!
