If you’re running today with back to back meetings, chances are you’ve experienced some disorganized and unproductive meetings (you may have even led some of those). Where on Earth do you find the time to prepare though? In between meetings, finishing up tasks, and eating, it’s a pretty stressful day!

Here are 3 easy tips to quickly prepare for any meeting.

1. Prepare a written agenda

There’s something about writing it down that clears the mind. Psychologists have researched the benefits to writing things down and how it can lead to higher level thinking which every meeting organizer needs.

Writing an agenda takes just a few minutes and allows one to visualize the meeting in advance. If you are unsure on how to develop an agenda, we wrote an article that explains a simple structure. I made preparing agendas a daily part of my life because it’s transformed the way I stay organized. When I was working at a financial tech startup, I had 8-9 projects I ran simultaneously with 70% of my week in meetings. It felt like I was in a perpetual state of reactivity versus staying in control and being proactive. That’s where good agendas come in. Drafting an agenda forces the needed time to prepare for meetings in advance.

2. Focus on the important stuff

Sometimes when you walk out of a meeting, you feel like your workload doubled. On top of that, it doesn’t feel like the project move forward at all. Team members will make suggestions and press a case for doing more than required. Learn to say no to those suggestions unless it will really move the needle. Ask for data or any work on their end to support their case. Stay focused on getting to the finish line of the project.

3. Know the answers in advance

This one takes time to master. It sort of goes hand in hand with writing the agenda. When you sit down and think through what the meeting might look like, you’ll begin to anticipate the types of questions you might get from the different people. Chances are you already know the type of questions they ask having worked with them before. So make sure you have answers to those questions. It’ll help you stand out and build trust with your team.

Conclusion

Preparing for meetings has a high ROI since it takes little effort with great upside. The time it takes you to prepare might be a bit longer at first, but with practice, it should take 5-10 minutes per meeting. By preparing for meetings, you’ll stand out amongst your clients/partners/peers, feel more confident, and bring effectiveness to your busy schedule.

If you’re interested in reading how to take good meeting notes, make sure you check out what we have to say about that. Drop a comment if you have any other tips for how to prepare for a meeting.