{"id":1246,"date":"2012-12-27T04:08:09","date_gmt":"2012-12-27T09:08:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/facilitativeleadership.wordpress.com\/?p=1246"},"modified":"2026-05-01T15:22:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T19:22:11","slug":"meeting-wrap-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/meeting-wrap-up\/","title":{"rendered":"Use a Professional Meeting Wrap-up Because Most Meetings Don’t End, They Stop"},"content":{"rendered":"

Daniel Pink’s book When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing<\/em><\/a><\/span> stresses the importance of the meeting wrap-up. He calls it “ending on a high note.” Others refer to the power of the recency effect<\/a>. Below find four critical activities needed to facilitate clear and actionable results during your meeting wrap-up. The result from many productive meetings<\/a> can be summed up with four words: “WHO DOES WHAT & WHEN.<\/a>“<\/span><\/h2>\n

#1-Review<\/span>, #2-Next Steps<\/span>, #3-Communications<\/span>, and #4-Assessment<\/span>. <\/span><\/h2>\n

Do not skip any of these four activities but expand and contract your treatment of them based on your situation and constraints.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Four<\/a>

For an Effective Meeting Wrap-up, End Your Meetings – Don’t Let Them Stop<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

Meeting Wrap-up #1 – Review<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

Do not relive the session, but do review the outputs, decisions, assignments, and so on. Focus on the results and deliverables from each Agenda Step<\/em><\/a>, not on how you got there. Participants do not need a transcript. They need to be reminded about significant takeaways and offered the opportunity to ask for additional information or clarification before the session ends. Be prepared to use the Definition Tool<\/em><\/a> to address uncertainties or disagreements about the meaning of something.<\/span><\/p>\n

If possible and practical, use the documentation generated during the session to structure a quick walk-through. During the walk-through, include real-life examples for participants to see how well the deliverable performs. Next, assign responsibility to “Parking Lot” items (i.e., Open Issues) that remain valid and unresolved.<\/span><\/p>\n

Meeting Wrap-up #<\/strong>2 – Next Steps<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
\"How<\/a>

Click here to see a brief video demonstration of the Meeting Parking Lot method.<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

Two types of action items are developed during meetings: items within the scope and required to complete the deliverable and items out of scope but too important or opportunistic to disregard.<\/span><\/p>\n

Assignments Within the Scope of the Deliverable<\/span><\/em><\/h4>\n

During the meeting, record open issues as they arise. Various terms describe open issues\u00a0that develop during meetings, most frequently called a meeting parking lot.<\/span><\/p>\n

Have your group list the action items that they have already agreed to or will undertake\u2014starting tomorrow. List the items, clarify them, and have someone take responsibility. Assign a deadline (month, day, year) for a status update.<\/span><\/p>\n

Consider applying the RASI<\/em> tool (Transform Your Responsibility Matrix Into a GANTT\u00a0Chart)<\/a> to convert your action items into a project plan. Remember, absence or silence is unacceptable during assignments. Therefore, do not permit making assignments to someone who is not attending the meeting, either live or virtually.<\/span><\/p>\n

Assignments Out of Scope\u00a0of the Deliverable<\/span><\/em><\/h4>\n

Facilitate your meeting parking lot activity after you have completed closed issues and assigned other action items that are within the scope of the deliverable. Then, review each open issue. Make sure the open issue remains valid. Over the course of meetings, some open issues are no longer \u201copen\u201d. If so, delete them or mark them accordingly (e.g., OBE = Overcome by Event, or taken care of).<\/span><\/p>\n

Standard Activities for Managing a Meeting Parking Lot<\/span><\/em><\/h4>\n
Append each open issue using the following sequence:<\/span><\/h5>\n