Being responsible for a meeting at work can be an intimidating prospect, especially if you have never run a meeting before. However, when that event is going to involve a large number of people than normal, the challenges you will face can become overwhelming.
The best thing that you can do is to start planning for your big meeting sooner rather than later. By getting all of your ducks in a row early on, you will give yourself the best chances of being able to organize and run a successful meeting for a bigger group of your co-workers and superiors.
If you have recently been given the task of running a big meeting at work, here are a few of the more important things that you should remember to factor into your plans so that you can give yourself the best chances of success.
Choose the Right Venue
As you are conducting your search for a venue at which to hold your meeting, you are likely going to be focusing on the big-ticket items such as size and location. While these things are important and should help you to narrow down your search quite a bit, there are other factors that should come into play when you are trying to find the right venue.
For instance, the meeting venue space that you choose should be able to accommodate and technological needs that you might have. From a strong internet connection to any audio and visual equipment that you might need, the right venue will be able to provide you with everything that you need.
Get to Know Your Guest List
Once you have your venue picked out and secured, you will then want to turn your attention to the guestlist for your meeting. Aside from ensuring that everyone who needs to be in attendance has been given a fair warning about the time and place of the event, you should also take a bit of time to get to know some key points about the people who will be there.
By having a better understanding of who is going to be at your meeting, you can plan a better overall event for them. While it isn’t necessary to go into too much detail, you should research them on LinkedIn or look at any information that is available regarding their employment at your company.
Have a Detailed Agenda
When running a meeting of any kind, it can be easy for things to get off-track due to a large number of questions or by going off on a tangent during your presentation. The possibility of this happening during a bigger meeting, however, can be greater in some instances.
The best thing that you can do is create a detailed agenda for yourself and your attendees. This way, you can ensure that everyone is on the same page in regard to the schedule and reduce the likelihood that things will get off track throughout the course of the event.
