Whether you are a corporate employee, an entrepreneur, a student/college graduate, a parent, a teacher or a home maker, you constantly schedule meetings with others. You meet with our colleagues, other business owners, teachers, neighbors, friends and the list goes on. Meetings have become a part of our lives.

For any meeting to be effective, productive and for you to achieve the expected outcome, you will need to ask yourselves the following 5 questions.

Why – why are we meeting? You need to know what the meeting is about and why you are meeting.

I have seen meetings become unproductive and time being wasted when everyone involved are not aware of the “Why”. Clearly communicate the why beforehand so that all parties involved have sufficient time to do their homework and come prepared.

What – what are we trying to achieve? In other words, what is the expected outcome of this meeting? Having a clear understanding of the expectations make meetings purposeful. You will be able to focus your energy towards achieving your outcome.

Here are a few sample answers for the “What” question.

• By end of this meeting, I would like to come up with a plan for Problem A
• By end of this meeting, I want to know how to solve this issue
• By end of this meeting, I want to determine the timelines for my project.

How – Once you know the Why and What, you need to ask – How you are going to accomplish this?

This is the core of your meeting. You will know “Why” before the meeting and you will have an idea about the “What”, but you are meeting to figure out the “How”.

The next two questions are part of the “How” , but you need to be clear and specific about them to make your meeting successful.

Who – Ask Who is doing what? Each actionable item, should be assigned to the appropriate person. You should come out of the meeting knowing who is accountable for getting it done and who is actually doing it. If no one takes accountability, the task never gets done. You also need to know the “Who” to be able to follow up with them.

When – Ask When will it be done? This is a very important aspect of getting things done. If you do not have a due date for your task, it falls off your priority. Always agree up on a date and time on the next steps –

 Always start your meeting with the Why & What and end your meeting with How, Who & When !

How do you plan for your meetings to be successful. What other questions do you ask ?