10 Types Of Business Meetings And How To Get Them Right In Your Organization

Meetings are fundamental and, dare I say, unavoidable in any industry. The WFH employment model has increased the number of meetings taking place during everyday operations by a significant percentage. However, as the pandemic has ceded to the normal life we knew before, the number of daily meetings working professionals have to attend is yet to reduce. 

Here’s the thing. Whether you are working from home or at the office—meetings are useless and a colossal waste of time for any organization, but only if they DON’T serve their purpose. The unanimous attitude towards most meetings is to “just get it over with.” 

But if done right, meetings can be a meaningful intersection of innovative ideas and lead to professionals from different departments aligning their objectives and streamlining their processes. This, in turn, can increase productivity, a decline in squandering financial resources and help key stakeholders make informed decisions. When combined, it can optimize the growth of your business.      

So, how do you ensure that the meetings at your company don’t impede the workflows of your employees? The key is to get specific. Project managers or C-level executives hosting meetings must first analyze which contributes to value creation. In this blog, I will discuss what a business meeting is, ten types of meetings essential for any organization to function at its optimized potential, and best practices to get each of them just right!

Let’s get started!   

What is a business meeting?

A business meeting is a formal (or sometimes informal) convention of two or more working professionals in an organization, either from the same or different departments, with set objectives and a stipulated timeframe. Meetings may involve:

• discussing operations; 
• addressing changes; 
• making decisions; 
• setting future goals;
• fostering stronger relationships; or,
• celebrating the company's achievements.

A variety of individuals can gather for meetings, including department heads and their teams, company representatives and clients, or company executives and employees. Although many businesses and teams frequently meet physically at offices, virtual meetings are very popular these days, owing to video conferencing technology and online software services like Zoom. Virtual meetings have enabled companies to hire remote talent since you can meet with anybody anywhere in the world.

10 types of business meetings and how to get them right in your organization

So what kind of meetings are essential? For starters, ones that ensure proper communication, optimized workflows, and company development. I will list 10 types of meetings serving these same purposes down below. Ready to take it down? 

Let’s begin!

1. Problem-solving Meetings

If you want to lie in a bed of roses, you must brave the thorns. Troubleshooting problems need you to connect team members who have solutions to those who can put them into practice—and that is what a problem-solving meeting does.

Each participant is expected to participate in the discussion, providing appropriate support and responding to inquiries. When people with extensive knowledge and expertise are involved, the process runs better and more efficiently.

Best Practices:

• Have a clear objective for the meeting and adequate knowledge about the issue(s) that need to be resolved;
  
• Prepare potential responses;
  
• Create a comfortable environment for everyone to participate fully in the conversation, ask and respond to questions, and combine brilliant ideas;

• Give a project owner the last say.

Examples include strategic resolution of internal issues, troubleshooting customer service requests, etc.

2. Decision-making Meetings

This follows a problem-solving meeting where a common solution has been produced where the key stakeholder(s) come to a unanimous decision about implementing the same. Participants need to be aware of the decision-making process in advance for a meeting to be time-saving and effective. 

Information collecting is also a crucial component of decision-making sessions. The decision-makers must confirm that they have all the data required to make the best choice.

Best Practices:

• Prepare a presentation explaining why the agreed-upon solution is the best;
  
• Invite everyone involved in the matter to the meeting so they may all voice their final opinions; and,
  
• Before selecting a choice, consider the advantages and disadvantages without bias.

Examples include hiring a new employee, choosing a product feature, approving press releases, board approval, etc.

3. Governance Cadence Meetings

More of an all-hands-on-deck gathering, these are mainly conducted by a senior executive (like the company CEO) to talk about the company's plans, issues, and employee productivity as well as its present and future growth. They expect no significant results—just updating pre-existing strategies using newly-gained knowledge and ensuring everyone is on the same page.

Best Practices:

• Invite all employees and key stakeholders well ahead of time with a pre-decided agenda;
  
• Conduct a brief check-in to account for who is attending and include the meeting’s estimated duration;
  
• Discuss each item on the meeting agenda using a decision-making procedure; and,
  
• Summarize the meeting and keep a window for answering questions

Examples include shift change meetings, quarterly reviews, board meetings, etc.

4. One-on-One Meetings

These generally include two or three people, and the nature of the discussion depends on the participants and their relationships within the company. The conversation topics usually center on specific information that is best shared privately rather than in front of a group. 

Best Practices:

• Give the opposite participant time to prepare themselves regarding the topics of discussion;
  
• Keep it honest and be open to hearing concerns on either side;
  
• Utilize every chance to establish rapport and trust.

Examples include mentorship sessions, performance reviews, client check-ins, HR meetings, etc.

5. Team Building Meetings

These aim to foster strong interpersonal relationships between co-workers that imbue trust and increase employee satisfaction and productivity. The approach is to help team members co-exist as peas in a pod. These gatherings can be fun and creative and, usually, very engaging.

Virtual team-building meetings are crucial in this digital-first era to help remote employees build meaningful relationships and feel part of the company culture.

Best Practices:

• Put several activities to a vote and get your team members to come to choose a common exercise;
  
• Create a safe and interactive environment so that everyone feels like participating;
  
• Introduce a standard reward for participants to entice them to join in; and,
  
• Avoid mention of any work-related topics in conversation. 

Examples include team challenges, virtual gaming, team outings, networking lunches, etc.

6. Workshops

These are unique events designed to enable group learning and implementation or the creation of shared work products. It might incorporate components from other meetings, such as brainstorming, team building, and problem-solving.

Such business encounters often take place outside of the usual office setting. 

Best Practices:

• Launch a new idea or activity that may benefit the team, both professionally and personally;
  
• Account for a learning experience, with continued implementation; and,
  
• Unveil design or operational changes and guide how the changes are supposed to permeate as part of the organization’s process.

Examples include design workshops, product launches, team chartering, and project management initiatives.

7. Brainstorming Meetings

Unless you are a solopreneur, you need to gather together to bounce ideas off each other to decide which might be the best. That is the primary purpose of this kind of meeting. Idea generation needs creativity and space, which indicates that these meetings should be loosely-structured, allowing the participants to explore their thoughts and pitting their strategies sans judgment.

Best Practices:

• Include diverse perspectives from employees belonging to different departments;
  
• Provide a safe space and ample time, maybe some refreshments;
  
• Welcome, all suggestions, irrespective of employee status in the company, and,
  
• Select a few to analyze further in the decision-making process.

Examples include ad campaign ideas, product design discussions, etc.

8. Planning Meetings

Your organization frequently needs this gathering to enable expansion and rally individuals to support and carry out development strategies. They mainly entail an established team and a small number of experts who can be brought on board to offer particular expertise or insights.
There are no specific rules to be followed here; the only objective is to formulate a proper plan, usually at the beginning of a project.

Best Practices:

• Begin by outlining to the attendees the primary purposes of the meeting;
  
• Create the planning specifics by analyzing the available insights; and,
  
• Scrutinize the plan's details before implementation, and verify their development during the course.

9. Feedback Meetings (or Progress Check-ins):

These are necessary to keep work on track and sort out any issues between workers and the management. These gatherings involve discussion on the specific project and debriefing the people involved on what they can expect their responsibilities to look like in the future.  
Project or account managers need to conduct these within reasonable time intervals.

Best Practices:

• Share project development and updates;
  
• Verify that everyone is fulfilling their obligations;
  
• Obtain employee opinions;
  
• Discuss any issues, achievements, or suggestions; and,
  
• Determine the following course of action.

Examples include profit reviews, appraisal discussions, etc.

10. Training Session Meetings

These gatherings are aimed at information and expertise sharing, involving an outside knowledge coach. They may include members of a single team, or those on multiple teams, participating as a whole.

Different training formats may be implemented. Members may either participate in an open discussion after a straightforward lecture or interact with the instructor during the training, making for more engaging learning.

Best Practices:

• The meeting structure is pre-decided by the trainer to best benefit all attendees;
  
• Keep a window for answering questions from participants; and,
  
• Include real-time exercises that utilize the knowledge gained for a more engaging learning experience. 

Examples include seminars, peer presentations, safety training, onboarding modules, etc.

The growth of any organization largely depends on the success of the various types of business meetings that take place day to day. These foster the development of close-knit teams of dedicated employees that can ultimately generate innovative ideas, collaborate on product improvements, grow strong interpersonal bonds, reach decisions unanimously as a group, and address workplace problems to find optimized solutions. 

Book instant meetings automatically—with RevenueHero!

Each meeting, whether a formal purpose gathering or an informal team huddle, adds something unique to the success of the team and the business. The secret to reducing time-consuming, meaningless meetings is to understand the significance of each one and how to conduct it effectively. 

While the list above may help you turn the tables, the next step is to make the meeting booking process quick and straightforward. That is where RevenueHero can be a game-changer for your company.

So what does it do? This sales automation tool offers many features, one of which is scheduling instant meetings with your customers that ensure swift and proactive communication. It can make your clients feel heard and cared for while also making sure that they are informed at every stage of the sales process. The outcome can include faster decision-making that ultimately shortens the sales cycle and satisfies the customer, leading to better retention and increased loyalty. 

With a straightforward scheduling interface that enables your ideal prospects to schedule meetings with your sales reps instantly (increasing the ratio of your demo requests to booked meetings percentages), intelligent lead routing based on the availability of your most experienced sales reps, and an integrated sync with your CRM (allowing you to never miss out on deals), RevenueHero can help you book more meetings, attract more clients, and close more deals.

Other features of this SaaS platform include lead qualification and prioritization based on high-value offers (that guarantee more revenue for your organization). It also offers an efficient lead scoring system and simple integration with every GTM stack product you might own—all at cost-effective pricing. Want to know more? Check out their instant scheduling tool now!