Start a meeting as the chair
Learn the five most important things to do before you start any meeting.
The five most important things to do before you start a meeting are:
1. Is everyone who should be here present?
If someone is missing you need to discuss it with everyone present and find out where they are, or if anyone has had apologies either for lateness or for absence.
2. Are you on time?
Starting a meeting on time is very important, if you’re not on time then why should anyone else be.
3. Does everyone know the agenda?
Printed copies of the agenda should be available for all participants. If you don’t have printed copies then write up the agenda on the whiteboard or on a flipchart. Failing that write the agenda items on a piece of paper and place it in the middle of the table so everyone can refer to it.
4. Call everyone to order.
It’s your job to call everyone to order. This is the signal everyone is waiting for that the meeting has formally started. You might use a line like “right, shall we get started” or “ok, item number one on the agenda…” or “ok, is everyone here?”
5. Smile and welcome
Welcome everyone to the meeting and thank everyone for their attendance, set out the overall meeting goal as briefly as possible. ’Thanks for coming everyone, today we’re looking at Crime Prevention for the Bay area’
