Strategic planning meetings are a necessary evil in large corporations. CEOs need to inform their staff of new things happening within their companies, as well as discuss changes that may occur. These meetings generally drag on for several hours, leaving many employees exhausted, bored and disinterested. In order to get the most out of strategic planning meetings, CEOs should consider keeping the sessions shorter than an hour. Here are some other tips CEOs can use when getting ready for their strategic planning meetings.

Meet with the necessary staff members 
When a large group of employees congregates in the meeting room, conversations can often shift away from the intended purpose of the meeting. Not only is this wasting a lot of time for top level executives, it also makes it difficult for strategic planning. The fewer people involved in the meeting, the better results large corporations will get from their strategic planning meetings. Those who aren't involved in the meetings will still be able to understand the most important topics that were covered. If the focus of the rendezvous was accounting practices, employees can get caught up by looking at budgeting planning tool purchased by the company.  

Create a detailed, well-thought-out plan
Before sitting down for strategic planning meetings, whoever within the company is setting it up should create an agenda for everyone to follow. The plan should be complete with important bullet points that need to be covered and should be approved by everyone attending the meeting. By setting an agenda, those who are attending will know exactly what is being covered, which will lead to greater time efficiency. Whoever is running the meeting should delegate someone to log what is discussed for each bullet point. These practices will make it easier for large corporations to continuously strategically plan.

Tie it up at the end
Meetings that cover several topics and end abruptly will leave attendees confused as to what they are supposed to be taking away from it. At the conclusion of each meeting, staff should be asked three questions: What is the biggest takeaway? What should be covered in the next meeting? How do they feel about the meeting? Tying everything up at the end of the meeting will make it easier for staff members to know the most important aspects, as well as help them brainstorm for the next gatherings.

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