The perfect end to a meeting isn’t escaping with no actions to your name, it’s something that feels even better… Here’s how to end a meeting effectively for everyone involved.
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Escaping a meeting without being given any tasks is a glorious feeling. After all, with the ridiculous number of meetings filling your calendar there’s barely enough time left to do any work.
Leaving a meeting with no extra work feels like a personal win, but it’s a hollow victory.
Wouldn’t it be better to leave knowing the value of the time you and everyone else spent in it?
Luckily there are a few simple steps to help end a meeting well. These steps work even if the rest of the meeting was an unstructured mess.
If you are leading a meeting, use the framework below in the final five minutes. There’s a good chance people will leave feeling better about the time they spent with you.
Oh, and if you’re not the person in charge of the meeting, this framework is still helpful. You can step in and collaboratively help create a valuable finish.
How to end a meeting effectively
The follow these six steps show you how to end a meeting effectively.
- Allow Enough Time for the Wrap-Up: Plan for it from the start. Don’t let the discussion take up all the meeting time.
- Summarize the Meeting: Quickly go over the key points discussed.
- Confirm Output Status: Make sure everyone knows if the meeting’s goal was achieved. Did you create the output or not?
- Recap Decisions and Actions: Review any decisions made and actions to be taken. Be specific about who will do what by when.
- State Next Steps: Outline what happens next at a high level, beyond just the individual actions. If the output wasn’t completed, say what will happen next to make sure it is complete.
- Thank the Participants: Acknowledge everyone’s contributions and thank them for their time.
Remember, a wrap-up is a summary, not a detailed review. Use common sense to decide what level of detail is appropriate. If you achieved the meeting’s goal, state that clearly. If you didn’t, explain what still needs to be done.
Example of how to end a meeting effectively
Let’s say you’ve led a meeting to finalize a proposal for an end-of-year event. Five minutes before the end, you start to wrap up. Here’s what you could say:
- Summarize the Meeting: “Let’s quickly recap. We were here to finalize the proposal for the end-of-year celebration, including decisions on the theme and whether to combine it with the annual awards.”
- Confirm Output Status: “Our goal was to finish the proposal, and we did. We now have a document ready to share with the CEO and CFO for approval.”
- Recap Decisions and Actions: “We decided to combine the awards ceremony with the end-of-year celebration in December. Claire will find volunteers to help with planning and setup, and Raj will send me the quotes from the event venue. I’ll finalize the proposal today using the details from the quotes and this discussion. Is there anything I have missed or that needs correcting?”
- State Next Steps: “Great. The next step is that I’ll send the proposal to the CEO and CFO tomorrow and then share their feedback with you all, probably by email. We each have our tasks, and I’ll set up our next meeting for Thursday morning next week. The focus of that meeting will depend on the feedback we get, but I’ll make sure the purpose is clear in the invite.”
- Thank the Participants: “Thanks for your efforts today. We accomplished a lot and stayed on track, avoiding the need for a second meeting this week. Great job, everyone!”
Delivering this wrap-up should take about two to three minutes. In a more complex meeting, it could take five minutes but try not to let it go over that.
A proper wrap-up ensures everyone leaves the meeting with clarity and a sense of accomplishment. That’s an effective way to end a meeting. So, always save those last few minutes to bring everything together and end on a high note.