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Holding Effective Business Meetings in 2026

Holding an effective business meeting in 2026
Introduction

Meetings remain essential for collaboration, decision‑making and organisational alignment. Yet many professionals view them as time‑wasters. The key to productive meetings is intentional planning, focused agendas and strategic use of technology. Research on meeting management best practices emphasises clear purpose, the right participants, disciplined time management and effective follow‑up. Here’s how to hold meetings that respect everyone’s time and yield tangible results.

1. Define the objective and create a purposeful agenda

Never convene a meeting without a clear goal. A structured agenda outlines the “why” and “how” of the meeting, allocating time for each topic and setting expectations. Use action‑oriented language (e.g., “Decide on final Q3 marketing budget allocation”) and share the agenda in advance so participants come prepared. Include a “parking lot” section for off‑topic ideas to keep the conversation on track.

2. Invite only essential participants

Applying the “right people, right size” principle ensures meetings are nimble and productive. Invite individuals who can contribute, make decisions or are directly impacted. Use frameworks such as the RACI matrix to determine who must attend and who can simply receive a summary. Limiting attendee numbers fosters engagement and accountability, while those not in attendance can still review meeting outputs.

3. Use time boxing and respect schedules

Allocate fixed time blocks for each agenda item and designate a timekeeper. Start and end meetings on time, and consider shorter default durations (e.g., 25 or 50 minutes) with buffer periods. Visible timers and strict adherence to time encourage brevity and maintain focus. Organisations like Atlassian and TED use time‑boxed formats to distil ideas and drive efficient discussions.

4. Document action items and follow up

Meetings should produce outcomes. Assign action items to specific individuals during the meeting, clarifying deliverables and deadlines. Use a centralised platform like Asana or Trello to track tasks and ensure accountability. Send a concise summary within 24 hours, listing decisions made and next steps. Begin your next meeting with a quick review of outstanding actions to reinforce responsibility and continuity.

5. Leverage technology intelligently

Virtual and hybrid meetings demand reliable technology. Choose tools that support collaboration—digital whiteboards for brainstorming, polling apps for decision‑making and shared documents for note‑taking. Conduct tech checks beforehand and limit the number of platforms used to reduce cognitive load. Provide clear instructions for attendees unfamiliar with specific features. In 2026, AI‑powered tools can transcribe, summarise and analyse meetings in real time, saving time and improving accuracy.

6. Encourage inclusive participation

Effective meetings tap the collective intelligence of all attendees. Establish ground rules against interruptions and use structured brainstorming techniques to ensure every voice is heard. Invite quieter participants to share their views and use anonymous polls for sensitive topics. Fostering psychological safety improves idea quality and decision buy‑in.

7. Adopt flexible formats and spaces

Routine meetings benefit from variety. Consider walking meetings for brainstorming, stand‑ups for quick updates or off‑site sessions for strategic planning. Hybrid formats allow remote team members to participate fully with equal access to audio, video and collaboration tools. If holding a large board meeting or AGM, an off‑site venue with professional AV support can elevate the experience and encourage creativity. AVPartners’ Event Technology team can customise lighting, sound and staging for any meeting format.

Conclusion

Productive meetings don’t happen by accident. By defining objectives, inviting only essential attendees, managing time effectively, using technology wisely and fostering inclusive participation, you can transform meetings into drivers of progress. Follow up on action items and continuously refine your meeting practices to keep your organisation aligned and efficient. For larger meetings or hybrid setups, consult AVPartners to ensure a seamless experience.

What to do when things don’t go as planned at your event

Planning an event can be really fun and exciting, but it’s not without its challenges.

Giving guests an experience to remember, something that will leave a positive and lasting impression, is a great outcome to aim for. However, you need to plan accordingly in case things don’t quite go as you had envisioned on the day.

The best way to do this is to prepare your contingency plan well ahead of time. A general rule of event planning is that it’s a good idea to checklist everything and double check items at different intervals leading up to your event. Give agendas and timelines out to everyone that could benefit from it. On the day of the event, arrive early. This will give you extra time should something happen and need immediate attention. Remember, there’s no such thing as being over prepared when it comes to event planning!

Even with all your forward planning, things might still pop up that you weren’t expecting, or that you can’t really control. Here are some of the common mishaps we see at events and how to address them:

Schedule overlap

Giving your event’s schedule some wiggle room will do wonders for the little overlaps that tend to occur. Leaving a little room before and after scheduled items will mean that if something needs to push a little, it won’t make the entire event run late.

Weather issues

It is important to have a contingency plan for the weather as it can be really unpredictable. Depending on your event type, this could be as simple as organising umbrellas for some light rain, or it could mean moving your entire event indoors, away from bad weather.

Vendor issues

You may have a vendor cancel unexpectedly, or they may have resourcing issues. While this is a bit out of your control, what you can do is make sure you are in direct contact with them regularly in the lead up to, and during, the event. Arrive early on the day and ensure they have everything they need for their work to run smoothly. Also, have a list of backup vendors ready in case the unexpected happens.

Technical problems

Technical problems can happen at the most inconvenient times, such as when someone is about to speak on stage. Always make sure you are using a professional and reputable AV provider. This will minimise the chance of technical problems and ensure you can address any issues that do arise. Make sure your AV technicians offer onsite support throughout your event, and that they have their own contingency plans in place too. This way, you will always feel secure knowing the show can go on.

Medical emergencies

Medical emergencies require fast reaction times and leadership. At a minimum you need to be aware of where the emergency exits, medical emergency kits, and fire extinguishers are located in your chosen venue ahead of your event. It’s also not uncommon to have or request that a venue representative conduct a safety and housekeeping speech at the start of the presentation, informing guests of what the fire alarm alerts sound like and where the muster points locations are located.

When (or hopefully, if) unexpected things happen at your event, try to remain calm but react as quickly and effectively as possible. Guests will remember how well the issue was handled, or may not even realise there was a problem in the first place.

We’re always prepared for the unexpected here at AVPartners. Contact us today to work together on your next event.

Why the value of face-to-face meetings shouldn’t be ignored

Now more than ever before, businesses are relying on the use of long distance communication to run their operations. With remote and virtual workers on the rise, technology is making it easier to stay connected with your colleagues or clients in different offices, states or countries. But does this mean that face-to-face meetings and events are on the decline? Not in the slightest!

Four in five people surveyed by Meetings Mean Business believe they have attended an in-person meeting, conference or event that would have been less successful if conducted remotely. As Meetings Mean Business like to say, “great things happen when people come together!”

The benefits of face-to-face meetings include:

Relationships and Engagement

Being face-to-face is one of the most effective forms of communicating and building relationships. It affords you the opportunity to nurture your relationships and engage those around you in a way that simply can’t be emulated online. Face-to-face meetings are where relationships are built upon, deals are struck, and brainstorming is at it finest.

Connection and Trust

While certainly worthwhile, digital communication doesn’t always allow you to build as solid a level of trust between people. In person, you can physically shake the hand of the person you’re connecting with, you might share a laugh and even go to get a coffee together. All of these things build up strong, personal communication which is at the centre of all positive outcomes.

Clarity and Efficiency

Sometimes what we say can get a little lost in translation across online or digital communication methods. People may misinterpret a tone, meaning or message, and go forth with a completely wrong idea. Face-to-face meetings diffuse many misunderstandings straight away, therefore rendering them a more efficient way to get your point across.

Ultimately, the key to getting the most out of your events is to consider all avenues. With so many options available to us, we can choose the best way for us to communicate and build lasting relationships with our colleagues, clients or stakeholders. This may mean holding your event in-person, online or a hybrid of both. Contact us today to discuss your next meeting or event.

4 great benefits of holding an offsite meeting

Considering going offsite for your next business meeting? An offsite meeting is where you bring your team together in a different location to your usual office to hold a meeting, coordinate a strategy day, or deliver training.

Here are 4 great benefits of holding an offsite meeting:

Your team will be focussed

Being offsite means your team won’t be as easily distracted as they may be in their usual work surroundings. This will lead to improved productivity and better meeting outcomes.

Your team will network and bond

There’s no substitute for meeting in person, so an offsite meeting should include time for ‘team building’ – which could be as simple as a nice break with catered lunches, or a little more involved such as morning yoga to start the day. Giving your team a chance to chat and loosen up will allow them to relax and engage in the day’s activities.

Your meeting can be tech-savvy

Holding your offsite meeting at a venue that offers state of the art audiovisual (AV) technology means that you can get creative and leverage this in your meeting. From live streaming through to enhanced projection capability, creative audiovisual can grab your team’s attention and hold it.

You encourage creativity

Whether you are holding your meeting for brainstorming, forward planning, or strategy, chances are being in a new environment will inspire creativity in your team, and encourage new ideas in a way that can’t be replicated in-house.

Talk to us today to plan your next offsite meeting!

How to impress with a business dinner

Business dinners are a great way to combine relaxed fun and entertainment with professionalism and networking. They offer guests a chance to mingle, catch up, and learn more about each other in a more casual environment than the office or board meeting scene.  

A business dinner might be planned to celebrate milestones; to thank and recognise clients, customers or staff; to introduce new products, services, or ideas; or simply to continue with long-standing traditions. They offer guests a chance to let their hair down while also cementing your brand identity in their minds.

Some things to keep in mind when planning a business dinner to impress include:

Venue

First things first – a great venue will delight your guests as soon as they arrive. Perhaps the venue is in a gorgeous location, is modern, sleek or awe-inspiring. Ensure your guests enter your business dinner with a smile on their face.

Entertainment

For a business dinner, an engaging or classy choice of entertainment is best, such as a presentation by a motivational speaker, or a smooth and slow band to set the mood.

Catering

Impressive food doesn’t need to be oysters or caviar. Your chosen venue may offer dining specialties that can give your dinner a point of difference. Often, the most impressive options involve presenting tried and true favourites in new ways.

AV and styling

Advances in audiovisual technology mean there are endless ways to inspire guests at a business dinner. From lighting up the tables in your brand colours, to projecting your logo onto the walls – there are no shortage of ways to thrill. Add this to themed styling and decor, and your guests will be talking about this dinner for weeks to come!

Contact us today to start planning your next business dinner!

How to hold an experiential event

All events need an element of interaction to really give them a wow factor. An experiential event is one that offers guests a unique experience that leaves a lasting impression.

This could mean anything from 3D elements to product demonstrations, from physical activities to virtual reality experiences. Instead of just pushing a message out to your audience, an experiential event provides an immersive and interactive experience, enabling people to engage with your brand in person.

Here are our top ideas for planning your next experiential event:

Explore creativity

People come alive when given the opportunity to be creative. It reminds them of a more carefree time. Try something outside of the everyday – such as having a chalk graffiti wall they can draw on, or a photo booth where they can be silly then take home a souvenir.

Get people learning

Giving people an opportunity to learn something new makes a big impact. For example, you could try a cooking demonstration, an origami lesson, or a dance class! Have fun with it and people will be talking about it for months.

Get up close

If your event includes entertainers or dancers, allow them to go outside of the norm and showcase their talent in unconventional areas, such as among the guest’s tables or on the bar. If it’s different, it’s interesting.

Incorporate AV technology

AV technology can create spectacular experiences which resonate with guests. From virtual reality, to creating an immersive look and feel through lighting, AV can make a big difference.

Talk to us about how you can incorporate digital elements, lighting and sound at your event to create a 360 experience.

5 ways to manage your event staff for a successful event

With the many elements that go into the planning, coordination, and delivery of a successful event, it’s little wonder that success is often down to the staff behind the scenes.  

Your event team will be made up of event coordinators, AV technicians, stylists, chefs, hotel staff, food and beverage staff, servers, coat checkers, drivers, parking attendants, ticket-takers and many more – they are the backbone of any good event. The type and size of your event will determine the number and type of staff required, but big or small, all events rely on their staff to run smoothly.

When working with event teams, it’s important to keep your event outcome in mind and consider what each person can bring to the team.

With that in mind, we’ve got a few tips to help you manage your extended event team and ensure you’re all contributing to a seamless and successful event:

Meet them, brief them and designate tasks

Get to know your extended event team. Make sure they know their role, the event message and desired outcome, and what is expected of them.

Offer and accept feedback

Have an open policy for feedback, for you and them. Encourage them to provide suggestions or alert you to problems quickly, and offer them feedback on their tasks. It’s better to know about potential issues sooner rather than later!

Form processes

Create processes for tasks. This will make it so much easier to train or brief someone in that task, and enable them to complete it again and again successfully.

Encourage them to have fun

Events are fun, and just because they can also be a lot of hard work, doesn’t mean your team can’t enjoy themselves in the process. The higher their energy, the more the event atmosphere will benefit, creating a pleasant experience for event guests.

Enjoy yourself!

It is amazing the improved response you will receive if the event team get along with you and enjoy working with you. They will naturally be more inclined to go the extra mile. Which is a win-win for everyone.

At AVPartners, we know how valuable an experienced and reputable event team is to the success of your event. To find out how we can become a critical part of your extended event team, contact us.

3 things to consider when planning a conference

Conferences are great for bringing a large group of people together to discuss and learn about certain topics. They are sometimes held over a few days, or even just within a few hours. Either way, there’s always plenty to think about when planning one.

Here are our top three things to consider when planning a conference:

Venue

Conferences tend to be larger scale events, so it’s a good idea to research venues that will cater to your needs in terms of size, amenities and style. You might need separate rooms or sections for break out sessions, or just one big hall to present in. Make sure the venue is appropriate for your conference, that it speaks to the style and theme you want to present, and that it is convenient enough for guests to get to by car or public transport.

Sponsors

Having sponsors who pay to feature at your conference can really help with costs. You might have a few different sponsorship options and levels available, or just one or two main ones, and sponsors may be granted exclusivity or a chance to present at the conference. It’s entirely up to you and the needs of your conference when determining how deep the sponsorship relationship goes, but don’t be too shy when seeking sponsorship income as sponsors can be a huge support during this time.

Audiovisual support

A great conference relies on great AV support. Work out what you need in terms of AV – such as microphones, lighting, staging, monitors, teleconferencing capabilities, or video access for virtual attendees. Many venues have an in-house AV team, such as AVPartners, and are able to make your conference AV needs for sound, lighting and audio smooth and professional!

If you’d like some more information on planning your next conference, contact us today!

Event trends you need to know about

Are you planning to hold an event next year? If so, you’re probably hoping that it’s an interesting and engaging one, and that everyone has a great time. One thing to consider when it comes to planning interesting events is what is ‘on trend’ at the time.

There are so many unique ways to impress your guests and give them a talking point during and after your event.

Here are our favourite event trends for 2017:

Creative catering

Unique catering is a great way to stand out and impress, and you can also use it to brand your event. Elements such as signature cocktails using your brand’s colours, or desserts with edible rice paper logos or messages on top, are interesting ways to get creative with catering.

The extreme dessert trend is likely to continue into 2017, with dessert walls (think donuts and Nutella) becoming part of the decor!

Personalisation

People want more than the standard cookie-cutter event, so they’re looking for more personalised options when they scout their venues and plan their events. The possibilities for personalisation are endless, with more simple things such as personalised email or app communications to guests through to more complex data driven elements such as tailoring events to the individual based on their reactions on social media.

According to a study by Eventsforce, personalisation is a key priority for 82% of event planners, with 97% saying they believe that event personalisation can change a guests perception of your brand or event.

Audiovisual technology also plays a huge part in personalisation of events. Lighting effects, colours and staging options can all contribute to a more tailored event. At AVPartners we pride ourselves on fully understanding our client’s event and design briefs so that we can deliver on a completely unique and successful event.

Digital interaction

More and more we are seeing that event planners are embracing digital channels to reduce costs, to be more environmentally conscious and to better engage guests. There are so many interesting ways to deliver information at your event digitally rather than expecting guests to take notes constantly or handing out paper. Examples include leveraging an event app, providing a digital handout via files made available on a USB or having notes delivered by email.

Video content

We all keep hearing that video is the future, and in 2017 we will see a greater role for video at events. One example of where video is being used effectively is through the live-streaming of events. This is where an event is filmed and delivered to online viewers in real time, so that they don’t miss out and can be part of the action as it unfolds. Usually this footage can then be packaged up and shared on a business’ website or social media, or used in-house.

It’s important to note that you don’t need to go overboard with event elements to create an impact. Choosing just one or two ideas and exploring how they can meet your business and event needs will be enough to impress.

Talk to us to start planning your 2017 events!

The benefits of a team building event and how to plan one

Team building is vital to the success of your organisation. When you have a team that appreciates and respects each other, they will likely be more productive, efficient and happy. What’s not to love? A team building event is a great way to deliver on your team building goals and enhance the overall performance of your team.

The benefits

Team building events give employees the chance to test out their teamwork skills and have fun by engaging in activities or challenges together. Each person starts the day on the same level as everyone else, despite where they may sit in the organisation, with a task at hand and a novel approach to it. Everyone has the chance to be heard, have fun, and draw on skills they may not have had an opportunity to showcase within their workplace role. These events are also a great way for your team to form better relationships with each other, and truly bond over common ground.

The objective

When planning a team building event or activity, it’s best to determine a goal or objective before you begin. Knowing what direction you would like your team to go in, and what you want everyone to get out of the day, will assist you in choosing appropriate activities and venues.

Usually, team building events or activities aim to provide fun and boost morale, or they aim to solve a problem or a communication breakdown within the workplace. This is achieved by getting everyone out of the work environment and allowing them to relax and get to know each other better in a new setting. This can help people to open up to new experiences and can lead to a better understanding of each other. Additionally, tackling a workplace problem outside of the usual domain can reveal a new perspective on the issue, and potentially, how it can be solved.

Things to consider

Ensure that the activity chosen is appropriate for your team and workplace. A wine and cheese tasting or a trivia night are great options for fun casual events where the goal is to relax and socialise. If you want to take things up a notch, you could arrange a CSI night, where your team works to solve a ‘murder’, or a casino or games night where everyone can let their hair down and mingle with their colleagues. If the aim is to create greater team cohesion, activities such as ‘escape rooms’ or interactive matrix style mazes really test people and require them to pool their strengths to get out of the game.

More ideas for your next team building event include cooking workshops, live drawing, community service, bowling, and outdoor sporting activities such as bootcamp, rock climbing or rowing. These can all be fun activities, but you might find that some are better suited to your team than others.

At AVPartners we love supporting team building events to bring your team closer together! It’s important to think about what technology will be required to make your event a success – from getting the lighting and sound right, through to ensuring you have the right projection screens, or even considering what app technology you can leverage to strengthen communication and engagement – technology can often make or break an event.

When dividing your team into groups, keep the group sizes to a maximum of 10. This will mean that each group member can be fully engaged and it’s far more manageable than larger groups, where people tend to detach themselves.

Keep the momentum rolling after the event by setting action plans at the end of the day for everyone to take back to work with them. This could include making sure employees say hi to a new friend made that day, or keeping tabs on the progress of solved problems. These actions can ensure the team building event has a lasting and meaningful effect.

Keen to bond your team together with a team building event? Contact us today and we’ll show you how!