HOW TO RUN MEETINGS

Some people talk in order to think, and others think before they talk. The first group likes to try out their ideas by speaking them out loud—they find it easier to say something, listen to their own words, and then decide if they agree or not. If you’ve ever explained news to someone or talked to your cat, dog, or even the mirror, you probably talk to think. On the other hand, if you think through your ideas and practice what you’ll say in your head—you’re in the second group: you think before you speak. I’m the second type, too.

I’m Julia Sotnikova—marketer, auditor, meaning seeker, and someone who really doesn’t like meetings, especially when they are too complicated. I do everything I can to make meetings shorter and more effective. Let’s do it together.

What we will talk about

• But what if you don’t have a meeting?
• Steps for running meetings
• 10-point meeting checklist
• Reasons for your failed meetings

So, when these two types of people meet, there’s thunder and lightning—some don’t understand why they need to talk when there’s so much work, and others can’t solve problems unless they talk it through with someone. That’s why it often feels like people book meetings just to talk. But it’s simply their way of solving problems.

First tip: People come and go—you need a system that will last. So, build a system. And it starts with a clear message.

But what if you don’t have a meeting?

First, ask yourself what will happen if you skip the meeting. Is it really necessary to have a meeting, or can you just send a link to the new policy in a group chat?

If you need to announce news and you don’t need feedback from your team, write a message in chat or by email. If you need feedback, still write your questions in advance and let everyone know that you’ll need ideas or input. As I said before, some people need extra time to come up with ideas—if you give them a heads up, you’ll get great ideas, not just confused faces.

If you need to present an idea—write it in chat or email instead of calling a meeting. If you need to solve a problem—you probably have to hold a meeting.

The Sun reports a shocking statistic—office workers spend an average of 213 hours per year in meetings—that’s equal to 27 full workdays. This is a big reason why people end up working late or on weekends.

To save time, make a system—create a calendar event and add your coworkers’ work emails. Send the invitation at least a day in advance so your team has time to think. Write a clear message.

Steps for running meetings

Clear message

Include the topic, main points, a list of questions, links to all important documents, and the main task in your task manager—this makes things easier for your coworkers. See the example below.

Next—share ideas before, not after, the meeting.

Ask your team to send their ideas before the meeting. This is important. If someone doesn’t send even a short message but asks for a meeting, believe me—they will waste your time and energy. These people either sit quietly or are very active but not productive. Have you ever seen super active coworkers with zero productivity? That’s what I mean. Surround yourself with productive people, not just active ones. If someone doesn’t send even two sentences—don’t invite them to the meeting. The only exception is your manager or department head—if they have 10+ years of experience, they need less time to understand the topic. Let people say no—if they can send their ideas but can’t join the meeting, that’s okay. Don’t make every meeting mandatory. The only exception is regular weekly or daily meetings if your company requires them.

Google Ads Strategy for site.com

Hello, a week ago a client—site.com—contacted us. We did an audit and were waiting for them to finish all the fixes. Now it’s time to create a strategic plan to grow and optimize their ad account.

Please send me your ideas before the meeting.

Questions to discuss:

• We have already set up a campaign for product category A, but there are not many clicks. I suggest making another campaign that combines products from categories A and C. But it’s not easy to add quickly because the client has a special product feed—I need your ideas.
• There is a product category B that got stuck in review in Merchant Center—we need ideas on how to speed this up.
• We need to launch a new display campaign for the client—please share creative ideas.
• The client wants a detailed competitor analysis, including their ad budgets. We can’t track this information directly, so we need ideas for alternative ways to analyze competitors.
• Google Ads blocked some products because of their descriptions—we need to discuss how to rewrite them so they don’t get blocked again.
• The client wants to triple their sales, but is only ready to increase the budget by 50%. We’ll need ideas for optimization and the best strategy.

Main task in the task manager: [link]
Zoom or Google Meet link: [link]
Date and time.

Clear timing

Plan your meeting ahead of time. If something doesn’t go as planned, it’s better to have a plan than not. Here’s a tip to save time—if you schedule a meeting for 1 hour, actually set the timer for 45 minutes. This will help keep people on track. The meeting might still take a full hour, but not more, like often happens. See the example below.

Example schedule:

• 30 minutes—sharing ideas
• 15 minutes—challenging ideas
• 15 minutes—approving ideas
  Everyone should bring 2 or 3 ideas.

Meeting leader

Every meeting needs a leader—this is usually the person who started the meeting. The leader is responsible for writing the meeting notes, or asking someone else to do it, and for being the moderator if the conversation gets stuck, slows down, or overheats.

Methodology

Choose a method that works for your team. For example, brainstorming—everyone shares their ideas with no criticism or limits—works well for creative teams. This method is good for shy coworkers. Brainstorming means: everyone shares all their ideas, even if some seem silly at first, and then you discuss and pick the best ones. There’s also the “5 Whys” method: ask “why?” five times about each idea to find its strong or weak points. Or you can use a simple round-table discussion. It depends on your team, your goals, and the project goals.

Meeting notes

Write a short summary. Use this format: Name—suggestion or question. Also, make a task list with deadlines—write down who will do what for the project.

Positive ending

All meetings should end on a positive note—even if there were tough debates. Thank everyone for their ideas and mention the good moments.

Video participation

Having your camera on is a sign of respect. Sometimes you can’t turn it on—just let people know if that’s the case. It’s hard to talk to avatars when you can’t see people’s faces. It’s okay to turn off your camera for a few minutes, for example, if you need to take care of your cat or answer an urgent work call—but that should be the exception, not the rule.

Checklist for the 10-point meeting

Now let’s quickly make a 10-point meeting checklist:

1. Review the work after the deadline—but this is not part of the meeting, it’s a separate process.
2. Schedule meetings in your calendar and connect Google Meet or Zoom. This way, you’ll know who confirmed their attendance. The calendar will also send an automatic email reminder.
3. Remind anyone who hasn’t confirmed—maybe their email went to spam.
4. Write the topic and questions, add participants’ emails, and the video link. Attach all materials so everyone can access them easily.
5. Collect everyone’s suggestions.
6. Invite only those who sent ideas.
7. Use brainstorming, the “why” technique, or other discussion methods.
8. Take meeting notes—write a summary plus all questions and ideas that came up.
9. Turn ideas and suggestions into action items.
10. Make a task list and assign responsible people. Set deadlines for every task.

Reasons for your failed meetings

With this checklist, your chances of a bad meeting will go down to 1–10%, but not zero. Here’s why some meetings still fail and how to avoid it:

1. No clear meeting plan. For example, just saying “let’s meet to discuss the Google Ads strategy for site.com” without details is not enough.
2. Bad timing. If meetings run too long, it creates tension.
3. No real discussion. If everyone sits quietly, they’re either not ready or not interested. The worst is when coworkers scroll social media or make jokes during the meeting.
4. No one is responsible. Nobody writes notes, assigns tasks, or sets deadlines.
5. The meeting ends with no real result—no task list, no deadlines, no conclusions.

Thank you for your attention! These tips may seem hard for beginners, but believe me—everything takes practice. Behind every good meeting, there are a few bad ones. The main idea is this—only have meetings when you really need them, know the difference between being active and being productive, and always make notes, tasks, and deadlines.

Do you have any questions? Write to me and we’ll figure them out together.