At the start of the meeting
You want everyone at the meeting to feel comfortable about speaking and putting their point of view. For a meeting to work well, everyone needs to feel welcome, included and informed.
Here are a few tips:
- organise someone to welcome people as they arrive. Never let a new person sit ignored while everyone else chats
- make sure everyone has the agenda and any papers - put them on chairs or give them to people at the door
- introduce yourself and other speakers at the start of the meeting
- if it is a small meeting, ask everyone to introduce themselves. Sometimes it works well to get people to say a bit more about themselves as part of the introductions
- tell people what the meeting is about. Don't assume everyone knows as much as you do.