On the subject of effective meeting planning and scheduling, the main thing to keep in mind is actually the planning itself. If you don’t plan it well, it won’t go well. This actually means that… You really shouldn’t over plan it, either. Rather, have an idea in mind, and then just get the meeting over and done with. If you try to plan out every single minute of the meeting, you won’t accomplish much, as breakthroughs don’t happen on a restrictive time frame.

So plan your meetings in a cohesive, tight manner. Simple plans can make for complex, dynamic meetings. In fact, it’s better to go with a simple plan. Think of a thriller movie. A story with a simple premise can twist and turn in numerous ways, while a complicated idea takes so long to explain that there’s no time left to actually throw any plot twists in there! So here are a few tips to take into consideration when you step back to plan a meeting.

Be Reasonable

Again, you won’t solve every problem in the company in a single meeting. Plan to keep your meeting focused on just one subject and keep it focused on that subject. Don’t think you’re going to make your own name on the Fortune 500 after a single meeting. If you get too ambitious, the only thing you’ll succeed is in frustrating your employees and confusing them. You won’t really accomplish anything because unless you’re focused, you can’t accomplish much, so set your sights realistically.

One Target At Any Given Time

Again, if you can’t stay focused, then you won’t accomplish anything. Set your sights on one, single goal, and work towards it. This keeps you and your people from getting confused or overwhelmed. Think of it like.. When you pay your bills, you write out each check or money order one at a time, you don’t try to write the electric with your left hand, the water with your right, and the phone and rent with your feet. Do one thing at a time.

Meet Around Noon

Or whenever the mid-day is for your enterprise. You don’t want to do it in the morning or else you have several grumpy people who really don’t want to be here. After lunch, everyone gets slow and sluggish having just had big meals. Around the mid-day is when your people have had their coffee, they’ve woken up, and they’re ready to actually provide their own recommendations while at the same time listening during the meeting, as opposed to just zoning out looking forward to their first cup of joe.

Before you start an event or corporate meeting, go to The Meeting Planner’s site to see if an experienced corporate meeting planner or any Professional event planning services. can help!

In terms of successful or effective corporate meeting planning, what it really comes down to is planning, but planning loose. If you’ve decided to allot exactly X number of minutes to this subject, and X amount of minutes to that subject, you’re not actually going to get anywhere with the discussion, since you may be just seconds away from a breakthrough only to have to stop discussing it because you’re out of time. Breakthroughs aren’t made on a restrictive time frame.

So plan your meetings around just one or two goals or subjects, know what points you’re hoping to make during the meeting, and just leave it at that. Don’t write an itinerary, don’t try to solve every single problem the company has all at the same time, just keep a clear head on what you need to get done and let the meeting develop at its own pace. Here are a few things to keep in mind when you plan your next meeting.

Get Real

Again, you won’t solve every problem in the company in a single meeting. Plan to keep your meeting focused on just one subject and keep it focused on that subject. Don’t think you’re going to make your own name on the Fortune 500 after a single meeting. If you get too ambitious, the only thing you’ll succeed is in frustrating your employees and confusing them. You won’t really accomplish anything because unless you’re focused, you can’t accomplish much, so set your sights realistically.

Stay Focused

Set one goal, let your people know what that goal is, and achieve it during the meeting. Just one goal. If you give them a dozen things to do, they won’t know where to start, so give them just one goal and they’ll march right towards it over the course of the meeting. Again, it’s all about focus and simplicity. When we over-complicate everything, it tends to show a lack of confidence, as if more planning will make up for a lack of skill or competency. To a true master, everything is made simple.

Host The Meeting Sometime Around Midday

This is the best time to hold a meeting, as your people are all woken up. After lunch, they just want to go home. Before their morning coffee, they wish they were still in bed. Hold the meeting around noon when your people are actually in the mood to help you out and provide a few ideas of their own! Remember, these are human beings, not robots, and catching them when they’re in the perfect mood is actually a major natural part of leadership.

Before you start an event or corporate meeting, go to The Meeting Planner’s site to see if an experienced corporate meeting planner or any Professional event planning services. can help!