Questions to Ask Yourself Before, During, and After Meetings

This resource is designed to help you approach meetings with intention rather than habit. Instead of defaulting to just putting time on the calendar, it guides you through a simple but powerful framework to clarify purpose, prepare effectively, engage meaningfully, and follow through. The goal is to make every meeting more focused, productive, and worth everyone’s time.

Let’s get started: Click the images below, print the PDFs, cut out the cards, and pin them next to your computer. Answering these questions is a simple but effective way to make your meetings more strategic.

Big Picture Why
Start by grounding yourself in why you are sitting down in the first place. Why is this meeting important? What is the purpose? What outcome are you aiming for? How will you communicate the value of this meeting (or set of meetings) to others so they show up aligned and engaged?

Before
Think through your preparation. What are the goals for this meeting? What needs to be done in advance? What materials, context, or pre-reads are required? How will you set participants up to contribute effectively?

During
Focus on how you show up and facilitate. How will you guide the conversation, create space for participation, and use tools or structures to keep things productive and on track?

After
Be intentional about follow-up. What decisions were made? What are the next steps, owners, and timelines? How will you reinforce accountability and keep momentum going?