There are many reasons to have a meeting, but if you are getting off topic and not getting anything accomplished, it can be easy for you and your employees to begin to hate them. These reasons and more are why it’s important to lead effective meetings. No matter what kind of meeting you’re leading, the tips in this post can help you make sure you’re getting the most out of your deliberation.

When you send out your meeting invite, you want to make sure you have a clear message that states what the objective of the meeting is. No one likes a surprise meeting where they don’t know what’s going on. Your goal should also already be started, whether that’s brainstorming, making a group decision, making plans, status updates, or a combination of these things. It will not be a productive meeting if half of the attendees think they’re supposed to be deciding on something while the other half is trying to give you a status update on a new project.

You want to get feedback from your attendees so you can properly talk about your meeting topics. Do this before the whole agenda is made, not after. This gives you attendees time to get their thoughts and ideas together, and they can bring up any issues that may have occurred in different departments, teams, or daily operations.

Once you get your feedback from your attendees, put the feedback into groups. One group will be the “structured” portion of the meeting that comes first, and the second with the “flexible” portion. In the structured portion, you or your attendees may get off on a tangent. This is okay for the most part but keep an eye on these tangents, so you know when to direct everyone back to the main topics. Once the flexible portion comes around, then you can go back to longer discussions about specific things.

No matter where you work, other people will always have different priorities and opinions compared to you. Even if you don’t agree with someone else’s opinions, everyone should have a chance to speak their minds. Your meetings should be judgment-free and have your attendees feel comfortable sharing their thoughts. Everyone may not have the same time to voice their opinions, but you are the leader. You’re not supposed to please everyone. Some attendees may want to grab all the attention, so make sure you set proper boundaries for your meetings before they’re held.