Over the past six posts, we’ve covered everything you need to run meetings that are focused,...
Start With a Plan: How to Run Meetings That Actually Work
Bad meetings often feel chaotic. People ramble, conversations wander, and nothing really happens. Sound familiar?
The reason is simple: most meetings don’t have a plan.
A good meeting plan doesn’t just outline what you’ll talk about—it provides structure, ensures time is well spent, and sets the group up for success. In short, it’s your facilitator roadmap.
And here’s the good news: building a plan doesn’t have to be complicated. It’s about breaking the meeting into purposeful chunks and designing with the outcome in mind.
Why Meetings Need a Plan
If you’ve ever taught a class, you already know this: a strong lesson plan doesn’t restrict creativity—it creates freedom. When you know what’s coming next, you have room to pivot, guide, and adjust while staying on track.
Meetings work the same way. A plan:
- Keeps conversations focused.
- Helps you manage time effectively.
- Prevents the dreaded “what are we even doing here?” moments.
- Gives people confidence that the meeting has a purpose.
Without one, meetings become updates, debates, or venting sessions. With one, they’re a tool for collaboration and progress.
Step 1: Define the Goal—What Are You Here To Do?
Every meeting needs a clear outcome. Ask yourself:
- What question are we trying to answer?
- What decision needs to be made?
- What will success look like by the end of this meeting?
The goal should leave no room for ambiguity. If your team can’t answer what you accomplished by the time the meeting ends, the goal wasn’t clear enough.
Examples of Clear Goals:
- Make a decision: “By the end of this meeting, we will decide on our top 3 Q3 product priorities.”
- Identify key challenges: “We’ll answer the question: What does NOT delight our customers about our current onboarding experience?”
- Generate ideas: “If we had a magic wand, what are the top 3 things we would change about onboarding right now?”
Why This Matters:
Clarity about the goal does two things:
- It keeps the meeting focused on a tangible outcome.
- It sets the expectation for what success looks like, so everyone leaves with the same understanding.
Tip: State the goal out loud at the start of the meeting and include it in your shared workspace so it’s visible the whole time. For example:
- Write at the top of your Google Doc or Miro board: “By the end of this meeting, we’ll decide our top 3 priorities for Q3.”
Step 2: Break the Meeting Into 10-Minute Chunks
Time management can make or break a meeting. Without structure, discussions spiral, and meetings run over. The solution? Plan in 10-minute increments.
Here’s what this looks like:
Time | Focus |
---|---|
0-10 min | Set the stage: What’s the goal? Why does it matter? |
10-20 min | Discuss, brainstorm, or explore options. |
20-30 min | Narrow the focus: What’s actionable? What’s missing? |
30-40 min | Make decisions or assign action items. |
Why 10-Minute Chunks Work:
- Attention spans are short. Dividing time into smaller pieces keeps energy high.
- It helps you adjust on the fly. If a discussion goes long, you’ll know where you need to make up time.
Tip: Use a timer to keep yourself honest. Say something like, “Let’s spend 10 minutes brainstorming ideas, and then we’ll narrow it down.” People appreciate knowing there’s a plan.
Step 3: Seed the Shared Workspace
A shared workspace—like a Google Doc, Miro board, or physical whiteboard—is essential for keeping meetings productive. It’s your group’s information radiator, making ideas visible and actionable in real time.
Seeding the Workspace means setting up the space before the meeting starts so the team isn’t staring at a blank page.
How to Seed the Space:
- Add the meeting goal: “By the end of this meeting, we will…”
- Add prompts or sections to guide contributions. For example:
- “Ideas/Brainstorm”
- “Challenges or Risks”
- “Decisions Made”
- “Action Items—Who + What + When”
Example:
For a brainstorming meeting about improving onboarding, your workspace might have:
- “What’s not working in the current onboarding flow?”
- “What small improvements would make the biggest difference?”
Seeding the space gives people a clear jumping-off point, reducing awkward silences and getting everyone contributing faster.
Step 4: Pre-Mortem—Plan for What Could Go Wrong
Sometimes, you know a meeting could go sideways—contentious topics, tricky group dynamics, or people with strong opinions.
Before the meeting, take a few minutes to think through what could derail it:
- Will someone dominate the conversation? → Plan to use tools like hand-raising or time-boxed input.
- Will the group get stuck debating details? → Ask clarifying questions like, “Is this something we need to decide today?”
- Will quieter voices get lost? → Use the shared workspace to collect input.
Think of this as preventative facilitation: anticipate roadblocks and have tools ready to guide the group back on track.
Pulling It Together: Example Meeting Plan
Imagine you’re leading a 40-minute meeting to prioritize Q3 product goals. Here’s how you’d plan it:
-
0-10 min: Set the stage
- State the goal: “By the end of this meeting, we’ll agree on our top 3 priorities for Q3.”
- Seed the workspace: Add categories like “Ideas,” “Risks,” and “Decisions.”
-
10-20 min: Brainstorm
- Ask: “What do we think should be our priorities and why?”
- Use the shared workspace for everyone to contribute in parallel.
-
20-30 min: Discuss and narrow
- Time-box discussions: “Let’s spend 10 minutes discussing trade-offs and risks.”
- Ask clarifying questions: “Which of these priorities aligns best with our goals?”
-
30-40 min: Decide and assign next steps
- Finalize the top 3 priorities.
- Assign owners for follow-up actions: “Who will draft the plan for each priority?”
This Is a Starting Point
This example gives you the basics to structure a meeting, stay on time, and reach a clear outcome. But even this plan has its beginner pitfalls:
- The discussion phase might still allow dominant voices to take over.
- Brainstorming may drift without additional tools to focus ideas.
- Decisions might lack deeper validation or involve assumptions that go unchecked.
And that’s okay. When you’re starting out, you can’t do everything at once. Learning to plan and facilitate meetings is a journey.
Later in this series—or in a follow-up post—we’ll revisit this example to discuss:
- How to handle dominant voices without creating tension.
- Advanced tools for brainstorming and decision-making.
- How to validate ideas or spot assumptions hiding in decisions.
For now, focus on having a plan.
Plan the Work, Work the Plan
Good meetings don’t happen by accident—they’re designed.
Start with a plan:
- Define your goal: What are you here to do?
- Break the meeting into 10-minute chunks.
- Seed the shared workspace so people can contribute.
- Plan for potential roadblocks with a pre-mortem.
With a clear plan in place, meetings stop being time-wasters and start driving real progress.
In Part 3, I’ll show you how to make shared workspaces your superpower—turning blank pages into collaborative spaces where every voice is heard.
Because meetings that matter start with plans that work.
Want to get better at meeting facilitation?
Let’s work together to build systems that make your meetings clear, collaborative, and actionable.