An Overlooked Moment in Most Meetings

Meetings take up a lot of time. Therefore, it’s important to make them as effective as possible. To prepare, folks spend time crafting agendas, putting together slide decks, and coming up with discussion points. People have to be intentional in order to maximize each meeting’s potential. However, there is one moment in a meeting that often gets overlooked — the end.

People usually conclude their meetings by saying: 
Well, it looks like we are out of time.
I know that was a lot of information.
So ya… guess that’s it.

Then, that phrase becomes the last thing people hear and the message they replay in their head. A team shouldn’t be thinking about how that was “a lot of information” or how everyone ran “out of time”. Instead, it’s important to think about how to make that last moment count.

For example a meeting could end with:
I appreciate your time and I look forward to checking in next week.
I’m excited to hear about the project updates on our next call.
Thank you all for all the work you do. 

The end of a conversation matters. So before a call ends or folks walk out of a conference room, be intentional about the last phrase people hear.

Author: Bri McWhorter