Do you know how well you facilitate your meetings? You should! Your ability to effectively facilitate meetings enables for more productive, effective and efficient meetings that meet the stated goals and objectives.
To improve upon your meetings, evaluate the next meeting you have through a self-evaluation and through asking participants to evaluate the meeting.
- Do a self-evaluation: Did you stay on topic? Did you stay within time allocated for the meeting? Did you accomplish the goals you set out to accomplish by having the meeting? Was there active participation/were the attendees prepared for the meeting? Was the location conducive to the meeting (audiovisual worked properly, room setup allowed for conversation)? Make a list of what went well and what did not (in your opinion) and delineate what you would do differently next time (and how you will do it differently.)
- Participant evaluation: Ask the participants to evaluate the meeting. You might do this immediately after the meeting (spend 10 minutes at the end asking how the meeting went overall and whether objectives were accomplished); but I’d also recommend doing an evaluation via a survey to send out to participants immediately after the meeting ends. Ask the following questions:
- Where the objectives accomplished (why or why not)?
- Was the time set aside for the meeting sufficient, too much, or too little?
- Do you feel you have ample time and support to participate during the meeting (was your voice heard)?
- What would you have done to make the meeting more effective in order to accomplish the objectives?
- Were you satisfied with the meeting location, room setup, and audiovisuals used?
- Were there issues during the meeting that you felt could have been better addressed during the meeting (such as people talking too much, going off topic, etc.)
- Overall, were you satisfied with the meeting?
Once you have received the feedback from the meeting, compare it to your self-evaluation of the meeting. Did you see what the participants’ saw? Or is your impression of the meeting dramatically different from their impressions?
Share the summarized feedback with the participants, thanking them for their input. Next meeting – be sure to apply the feedback you received!
On a regular basis, ask participants for feedback on meetings you facilitate. A survey is not necessary each time; a few minutes at the end during wrap-up to get their thoughts on the meeting will be of value.
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