No matter how productive a meeting seems, the only way you know your meeting was
actually effective is if your defined action items actually get done. You can
take steps such as effectively planning your meeting and properly conducting a
visual meeting, but following through may be the most important step in the
three part meeting cycle that I outlined earlier this week.
When you conduct a visual meeting, you already having a living breathing version of
the meeting that documents all the goals, decisions, and action items produced
from your meeting. Meeting follow-ups should address the following:
In communicating the above items, you ensure everyone will continue to benefit
from all the hard work you put in to have this meeting in the first place
actually pays off. In summary, by following up after a meeting you achieve the
following goals:
Sending out your mind map that you created during the meeting accomplishes all of these
goals. For many of our meetings at SmartDraw, we utilize SmartDraw’s
integration with SharePoint. We have document libraries with folders for
specific projects. We then post all of our visuals related to that project in
the appropriate folder. This way, you eliminate the excuse of losing an email
in your inbox.
How to Share Visuals on SharePoint
You have two options in sharing your visuals using SharePoint:
- Use SharePoint document upload interface
- Take advantage of SmartDraw's integration with SharePoint
How to use SharePoint upload interface
- Open your web browser
- Navigate to your SharePoint site
- Find your SharePoint document library
- Create a new folder or navigate to the project folder already created
- Along the top of the document library, find and click Upload.
- Click the Choose File button and find the visual document on your computer
- Click OK.
- Enter any version comments you desire (optional) and click OK.
- Your visual is now uploaded to SharePoint where others can view it.
How to use SmartDraw and SharePoint integration
As a disclaimer, you will need to connect to your SharePoint server by entering the SharePoint URL. For more information see this page.
- In the upper left corner, click the SmartDraw logo and find the SharePoint menu item.
- Click Upload New File.
- When the dialog box opens, choose where your file should be uploaded.
- Click Upload.
- Your visual is now uploaded to SharePoint where others can view it.
In using SmartDraw, more specifically visuals like mind maps, for your meetings,
you avoid most of the reasons meetings go awry, you achieve more efficient
planning, you are able to reduce meeting times, more easily achieve consensus,
and eliminate the time usually taken in follow-up meetings to clarify project
goals. In visual meetings everyone can contribute and stay engaged.
To ensure your meetings are always productive, be sure to review these previous
posts about visual meetings:
Visual Meetings: Why Your Meetings Are Not Productive
Visual Meetings: Planning an Effective Meeting
Visual Meetings: Conducting an Effective Meeting
