Take Our Quiz | So, How was the Meeting? (According to Oprah)

For most of us, meetings are a normal—if not always a favorite—part of our day-to-day life at the office. Launching a project? Debriefing after an event? Getting to know your new team? Reflecting on last quarter? Sounds like it’s time for a meeting!

While we’ve all sat through meetings that inspired as well as meetings that left us feeling, well, less-than-inspired, it’s not always completely clear how to celebrate the win (or pick up the piece) and move forward. So we thought, who better to help you process how that meeting really went than Oprah? Let’s go.

Question 1

Prior to the meeting ...

You and your team already had a standard in place for who will have the final say in terms of big decisions, action items, and next steps.

You didn’t know there was going to be a meeting. The appointment appeared on your calendar about 15 minutes before the meeting was scheduled to begin.

You received a detailed agenda along with a brief description of the purpose of the meeting. While this information was useful, it seemed as though way too many different items were to be discussed.

You already had a follow-up meeting (and a follow-up to the follow-up) on the calendar.

Question 2

As the meeting began ...

People continued to show up until well into the meeting.

Most attendees kept working on the emails they had started prior to the scheduled start time.

One person gave a quick overview of how time would be divided among presenters/topics.

You spent about 15 minutes going around the table and sharing detailed introductions, followed by an ice-breaker activity.

Question 3

During the meeting ...

There was a clear leader/moderator who took time to ensure that everyone was encouraged to participate and all voices were heard.

The time was dominated by a small handful of vocal colleagues.

You noticed that those with the most expertise to contribute to the topic didn't really speak up.

A handful of people left midway through the meeting.

You got the feeling that you were missing critical context (or attendees) necessary for making big decisions.

Question 4

After the meeting ...

The note taker shared meeting notes and the leader sent around action items.

You realized that the meeting had gone nearly 45 minutes over.

The leader put another hour and a half-long meeting on your calendar for the following week.

You left with a better understanding of the issue/project at hand, but no concrete actions items.

Alexis Perrotta

Mar 25, 2019 2:00 PM

As the Associate Director of Marketing and Communications at Idealist and a lifelong nonprofit professional, Alexis offers job seekers, game changers, and do gooders actionable tips, career resources, and social-impact advice.

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Take Our Quiz | So, How was the Meeting? (According to Oprah)

Alexis Perrotta

Question 1

Prior to the meeting ...

Question 2

As the meeting began ...

Question 3

During the meeting ...

Question 4

After the meeting ...

Alexis Perrotta

Explore Jobs on Idealist