Preparations for Meetings & Follow up

Preparations for Meetings:

Do your homework before you attend or participate in any events and meetings.

1. Make sure you are prepared in advance with slide shows, brochures, resources, etc.
2. Send these out by email or dropbox before the meeting.
3. Know the topic of discussion, and have an agenda/ schedule to follow with prepared questions/ topics to discuss.
4. Take few minutes to ensure the prepared questions concise with the topic of discussion. Divide your notes into three columns:
   • Topic
   • Comments and discussions
   • Names of people responsible for achieving the tasks
5. Ensure you stay on topic.
6. Have goals that need to be the next focus, new steps that need to be followed.
7. Accommodate the needs of people, ie: people with English as a second language.
8. Ensure you have both English and French for correspondence in Canada, especially for promotional items such as brochures, flyers, etc.
9. Always have snacks and drinks on the table.
10. Have a basket to hold all cell phones.
11. Taking minutes at a meeting. http://www.businessmanagementdaily.com/glp/44711/Meeting-Minutes.html

Following up:

1. Email the attendees with the minutes asking for everyone’s feedback, if they do not respond, telephone them and leave a message, asking for feedback. Do not use Facebook or text them.
2. Network whenever possible face to face, and exchange business cards with other members. Ask them about what they do and start relevant dialogue.
3. Follow-up with these contacts as soon as the conference is over so that they remember you and keep the conversation going. Keep topics relevant and concise.
4. Following up/ responding to people you contact is in relation to how long they are available. People are busy, and they may be leaving the country within the next few days for instance.
5. http://www.Yahoogroups.com is a free site for sending messages to professional groups.