The other day, I was in a meeting with my colleagues. It was our Monday all-staff call that I really look forward to each week. But on this day, I noticed I was a little distracted and anxious. At first, I wasn’t sure what was going on with me. Then, toward the end of the call, I realized that we had strayed from our agenda. Even though the conversation had been quite rich and relevant, I found myself stressed that we were not accomplishing our intended goal.

What I realized during that experience, is that our clients are dealing with this all the time. Unclear or missing agendas, agendas that get derailed, and meetings that ramble into unintended territory are very common and may even be the norm in many organizations. We generally do this really well in our organization so I forget what it is like out there.

Having satisfying, productive meetings that move the dial forward on your projects is critical! According to management consulting firm Bain and Co., senior executives spend an average of 28 hours in meetings each week, while middle managers spend 21 hours per week in meetings. That’s over 50 days of meetings per year!

We’ve found that developing and implementing some best practices goes a long way in elevating the meeting experience for everyone involved.

Today, we’re sharing our checklist of best practices with you: TGN Consulting Meeting Practices.