Bitesize training courses → Personal effectiveness → Making the most of meetings
Training course: Making the most of meetings
The average UK employee spends around a third of their working week in meetings. A significant chunk of that time, by most people's honest assessment, is not particularly well spent. Meetings that lack clear purpose, drag on longer than they should or consistently end without agreed actions cause a measurable drain on productivity, morale and the collective energy of a team.
This practical session helps participants get more from every meeting they attend, whether they’re presenting, contributing, or facilitating. They’ll leave with a clear understanding of the value they bring to meetings, the habits that make them a better participant and the tools to help keep any meeting focused, inclusive and worth everyone's time.
Two hours • In-person or remote • 4-15 participants
Rated 4.4 out of 5 ★★★★★ from 33 recent reviews
About this bitesize training course
Meetings go wrong for predictable reasons - poor preparation, unclear purpose, a few dominant voices, no real decisions and a vague set of actions that nobody feels accountable for. Most people recognise this pattern, however few know what they personally can do about it!
On this course your team will build practical skills across the full meeting cycle: preparing effectively before a meeting so they arrive with something to contribute, participating in a way that adds real value and helps the group stay on track, and following through on actions with the kind of accountability that makes future meetings more efficient.
Participants will leave with specific techniques for setting themselves up for success in both in-person and virtual meetings, including how to communicate with impact when body language cues are reduced and attention is harder to sustain.
The session is deliberately designed for meeting participants, rather than meeting hosts.
If your team also needs support with agenda-setting, facilitation and managing participation, our Running Meetings course covers those skills and pairs well with this one.
Key details
this bitesize training course is two hours long and packed with powerful ideas
designed for groups of 4 – 15
delivered by an expert trainer at your workplace, or virtually
interactive, with plenty of exercises that get people talking
customisable, to connect with your organisation’s values
Download the full course outline
Who this course is for
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Professionals who attend a lot of meetings and want to contribute with more confidence and impact
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Team members who feel their voice doesn’t always land as effectively as they’d like
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Anyone who has ever sat through a meeting thinking “this could’ve been an email"
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Employees who want to make better decisions about which meetings to attend and which to decline
“Maximal learning in a short, but intense, session. This is definitely the way forward for management training, as far as I am concerned.”
Professor Niamh Moran, Royal College of Surgeons Ireland ★★★★★
What participants will learn
By the end of this BiteSize training course, participants will be able to:
Prepare effectively for meetings
Understand the value they can contribute and arrive ready to deliver it
Contribute with confidence and impact, even in meetings where dynamics are challenging
Encourage collaboration and inclusion throughout the meeting
Help keep discussions focused and on track without overstepping
Use positive body language to build rapport and credibility in the room
Deliver on agreed actions and create the accountability loop that makes meetings more effective over time
💡This is a practical, interactive session designed to create lightbulb moments that participants can take back to the workplace immediately.
Core topics covered
Challenges and opportunities
A look at how meetings go wrong and what a genuinely good meeting looks and feels like. Participants identify the specific challenges they face most often, which grounds the rest of the session in real, relevant experience rather than generic theory.
Foundations
Not every meeting deserves a place in the diary. Participants learn how to assess the likely value of a meeting before attending, how to make sure every meeting they convene has a clear reason to exist and how to decline meetings that are not a good fit, confidently and professionally.
Contribution
How to make the most effective contribution in any meeting. Participants explore how to listen actively, build on others' ideas, manage dominant voices constructively and make sure quieter participants have space to contribute. Includes specific tools for getting the most from virtual meetings.
Planning and structure
A four-part model for maximising meeting success, covering how to prepare effectively, how to ensure the right people are involved and how to structure thinking before the meeting starts so the time itself is used well. Includes practical techniques for managing time and keeping discussions on track.
Course Delivery
Our personal effectiveness training courses are designed to be short, powerful, and easy to fit into busy schedules.
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2 hours, packed with high-impact learning
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Delivered in-person anywhere in the world, or virtually for remote teams
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Best for 4–15 participants to maximise engagement
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Live, interactive, discussion-based with no long lectures or death by powerpoint
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All our courses can be tailored to your organisation’s values, culture, and goals
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Individual contributors and professionals
Team members at any level who attend regular meetings
Managers who want to model better meeting behaviour
HR and L&D professionals tackling meeting culture organisation-wide
Pair this with
Running meetings
For employees who convene and host meetings, this session extends the skills covered here into agenda-setting, facilitation and managing group participation effectively.
Time management
Combine better meeting habits with broader tools for protecting focus time, managing priorities and taking control of a calendar that has started to manage you instead of the other way around.
Assertive communication
Give participants the confidence to contribute their views clearly, challenge ideas respectfully and decline meeting invitations without feeling guilty about it.
Provide making the most of meetings training for your team.
Outcomes you can expect
Organisations choose this course to help teams:
Reduce the time spent in unproductive, unfocused meetings
Improve the quality of contribution and decision-making in group settings
Build a shared culture of meeting accountability, where actions are clear and followed through
Give employees more confidence to participate, push back and add genuine value
Make virtual meetings as productive and engaging as in-person ones
💡Ask about a connected programme that’s built around your needs. We’ll help you shape a high-impact sequence that fits your calendar.
Ready to Get Started?
Empower your team to make the most of meetings and deliver results.
Frequently asked questions
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Making the Most of Meetings is designed for participants, focusing on how to prepare, contribute and follow through effectively regardless of whether you are in the chair. Running Meetings is aimed at people who regularly convene and host meetings, with a greater emphasis on agenda-setting, facilitation and managing group dynamics. The two courses complement each other well and are often booked together when an organisation wants to shift its meeting culture more broadly.
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Yes. We give specific attention to the virtual meeting context, including how to communicate with impact when non-verbal cues are reduced, how to stay engaged and how to set yourself up for success on screen. The fundamentals of good meeting behaviour apply in both settings, but the techniques for applying them differ enough to warrant dedicated focus.
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Yes, and this is one of the most practical things participants take away. We cover how to assess the likely value of a meeting before attending, and how to decline invitations professionally and without damaging relationships. For many people, this alone makes a meaningful difference to how their week feels.
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Yes, though it is worth noting that this course focuses on what individual participants can do, rather than the host's responsibilities. If the people running your meetings also need support, our Running Meetings course addresses facilitation and structure side directly. Booking both together tends to produce the most significant shift in meeting culture.
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Yes. The habits covered in this session are valuable at every level, and senior leaders often have the most to gain from reflecting on their meeting behaviour since their presence and contribution tend to set the tone for everyone else in the room. Mixed-level groups can be particularly effective for this course, since the shared language it creates helps the whole team recalibrate together.
