How To Run A Creative Meeting
We’ve all been there. A client or a department requests a “creative” meeting and you get an invite because you have the label, title, or reputation of being creative. You walk in and begin the game of how long you can sit through this unorganized, unproductive marathon before you walk out or say something you shouldn’t. You just wish someone knew how to run a creative meeting.
If there’s anything creatives hate more than meetings, it’s a meeting that’s a giant waste of time. Here are a few things to help you take the reigns of a successful session.
An agenda sent the day before. Take some time leading up to the meeting to ensure its success before it ever begins with a simple, planned-out agenda. This can just be bullet points of all the needs to be discussed and in order of priority. Once you have that written down, send that to everyone involved in the meeting at least 24 hours before the scheduled meeting time. This ensures that everyone comes prepared to discuss the topics at hand and has had some time to think it over before the meeting begins.
Time limit. Set a time limit and let everyone know that you’ll do everything in your power to stick with it. This will require some buy-in from others in the meeting, as well as a bit of circus-wrangling from you to get things back on track when they derail. When it comes to timing your meetings, always plan for more time than you think. If you end the meeting early, you’ll be an even bigger hero.
Clear objectives. Going back to the agenda for a second look, make sure you have a clear objective for this meeting. Is it a brainstorm? Are we leaving with concrete plans? Is this a logistics or distribution meeting? Be as clear and precise as possible with these expectations and state them at the beginning of the meeting. Like the time limit, assign someone in the room to be the topic police: if it’s not on the agenda and a part of the objective, it gets shelved for a different meeting.
Next steps with due dates and people assigned. A meeting without next steps is just a social gathering. Do not end the meeting without naming the next steps for those involved. This lack of clarity drives creative people crazy. It’s great that you ended on time or early, and that everyone knew the agenda with end-objectives, but what do we do next with all of this information? Make sure expectations are verbally communicated, written down for accountability, and spoken back to you by those assigned to ensure the meeting is a success.
Take charge with grace, set the tone, and run a creative meeting the way a creative meeting should be run. Others will thank you when it’s over.