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.
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:
Without one, meetings become updates, debates, or venting sessions. With one, they’re a tool for collaboration and progress.
Every meeting needs a clear outcome. Ask yourself:
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:
Why This Matters:
Clarity about the goal does two things:
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:
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:
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.
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:
Example:
For a brainstorming meeting about improving onboarding, your workspace might have:
Seeding the space gives people a clear jumping-off point, reducing awkward silences and getting everyone contributing faster.
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:
Think of this as preventative facilitation: anticipate roadblocks and have tools ready to guide the group back on track.
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
10-20 min: Brainstorm
20-30 min: Discuss and narrow
30-40 min: Decide and assign next steps
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:
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:
For now, focus on having a plan.
Good meetings don’t happen by accident—they’re designed.
Start with a plan:
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.