A Meeting Timeline: An Effective, Efficient, Essential Planning Tool

Does a Timeline matter when planning a meeting or special event?

In a word: YES!

A Meeting Timeline is an effective, efficient and essential planning tool to keep you and your team on task and on time. A Meeting Timeline is date sensitive; the tasks are many. And, follow up is fundamental to making sure your meeting or event goes off without a hitch.

Developing a “timeline” or “task list” and ensuring that people assigned to each task are held accountable is tantamount to ensuring the successful execution of a meeting or special event.

Once you have defined your meeting/event goals and objectives and identified your key audience (as in your Overall Meeting Action Plan), selected a core group of experts (your Design or Planning Team) to assist in implementing your PLAN, and communicated levels of authority for how the team is expected to function, the development of a Meeting Timeline is your next order of business.

It should be noted that you will undoubtedly find a direct correlation between tasks identified in a Meeting Timeline and an the Overall Meeting Action Plan; i.e., tasks within the Meeting Timeline would/should also be found in the Action/Actionable Items of your Overall Meeting Action Plan. The key difference here is that in your Overall Plan, tasks are laid out action (or element) item by action (or element) item in the order they should be considered -- with the tasks following each in sequential order. Your Meeting Timeline, as the name infers, is a time-sensitive document used when assigning tasks. The actionable items get co-mingled when they are added to the Meeting Timeline.

Whether you have mere weeks, six months or a year or more to plan a meeting or event, it cannot be executed successfully without first having an agreed upon PLAN, a list of key actionable item -- AND a task list of everything that must be done in proper sequence by when and by whom each task is to be completed.

I really found this to be true when my husband and I were planning our wedding. With just three weeks' lead time (yes, just three weeks), there was no time to spare. Now, I will tell you that it was a small, very private wedding with family only -- the details were still many. But we had our PLAN. We had our task list. We followed up and communicated regularly.

The day flowed like clockwork and the stress just wasn’t there because we took the time to think things through.

Whether you’re planning a corporate or association meeting or your very own wedding, a book launch, building your dream house, planning a major renovation or planning a trip around the world you need to:

• CREATE your PLAN.

• SURROUND yourself with a team of experts.

• DEFINE levels of authority.

• DEVELOP a task list/timeline.

• KEEP everyone accountable.

• MEET regularly, keep good notes and don’t forget or hesitate to follow up on missed assignments.

The rewards are sure to follow. ENJOY!

To receive a complimentary copy of my Meeting Timeline, simply go to my website's Home page and request a copy on my Contact page. The Timeline can easily be tailorable to your own specific meeting needs.

Mary Jo Wiseman, CMP | Author, “The Meeting Planning Process: A Guide to Planning Successful Meetings”