Communication Guide

Are your meetings ineffective? Are you finding that you run out of time without completing the agenda? Do attendees seem dissatisfied or bored? Trainer Chris Croft outlines the top 10 meeting problems and explains how to manage each one. He covers meetings that aren't necessary; noises and other distractions that throw meetings off track; attendees showing up late; disruptive behavior; lack of focus; meetings that take too long; lack of progress; and lack of participation. Plus, get tips for eliminating some of the most common technology issues that occur during virtual meetings.

Agendas are the most important thing for an effective meeting, and yet they aren't paid much attention. People aren't trained on creating agendas; they just sort of happen, and often they are done really badly. In this short course, management trainer Chris Croft shows how to build your own agenda and circulate it for ideas and distribution. He explains when to send it, who to send it to, and what factors should be considered in any worthwhile agenda.

Depending on how it is run, a meeting can stall productivity or foster the creation of imaginative solutions. In this course, learn how to make your meetings count. Follow Chris Croft as he provides a practical, step-by-step guide to setting up and facilitating meetings, diving into a variety of topics ranging from choosing your meeting format—online or in-person—to using visual aids. He also explains how to grapple with common meeting problems, such as dealing with latecomers and managing conflicts, and helps you create ground rules to prevent problems from occurring. Chris wraps up the course by addressing the specifics of virtual meetings. As remote work continues to become more common, learn how to get the most out of the technology at your disposal and encourage full participation when all of your attendees aren't in the same room.

While the point of a meeting is usually to help a team connect and push their projects forward, poorly managed meetings can actually have the opposite effect. If a company has too many meetings, or the meetings themselves are unproductive, they can end up squandering both time and money. One of the keys to boosting the effectiveness of your meetings is adopting a meeting facilitator—someone who can structure and guide your meetings to be more efficient and effective. This course was designed to help facilitators make the most out of a meeting, so participants can walk away feeling like it was a good use of their time. Learn tips for remaining neutral in a discussion, providing structure without stifling creativity, creating scalable processes, and more.