Tip
Put yourself in the shoes of the recipient and check that your invite answers the questions: Why are we having that meeting? and What is expected of me?
Details
We need good information to make good decisions. That applies to recipients of meeting invitations just as well. Too often, invitations only include the when, where, and duration of the meeting. These details alone are insufficient for making informed decisions. Crucially missing are answers to the what and why: What will be discussed? What is expected of me? What are the desired outcomes? Why am I being invited? Why is this meeting necessary? Without this context, attendees enter meetings unprepared and uncertain, which slows progress and wastes valuable time establishing a shared understanding of the meeting’s purpose.
For meetings to be effective, it is essential to include the purpose (the Why), the agenda, and the expectations from attendees (the What) in every invitation.
Here is an example:
Intent: Review the deployment problem last night and identify improvements for future risk mitigation
Agenda:
- timeline of events presented – me
- collecting factors that contributed to the problem – all attendees
- isolating factors we have control over and identifying improvement options – all attendees
Expectation:
- reflect on your role during last nights deployment before the meeting and be able to contribute to the conversations
It is also a good idea to use an invitation template as reminder to include intent and agenda and for consistency.