This is the best way to end a meeting

Ever left a meeting not sure why you were invited to attend it in the first place? What about walking out unclear about what happens next? Most of us would answer those questions with a resounding “yes.” The frustration people have with meetings isn’t because they take time; it’s that there often isn’t a clear reason that the time they spent was worth it.

To make sure people leave a meeting feeling glad they attended, pay attention to the ending, says Mo Bunnell, author of Give To Grow: Invest in Relationships to Build Your Business and Your Career.

“To end a meeting perfectly, you have to start a meeting perfectly,” he says.

An effective beginning and middle

At the beginning of a meeting, frame it by saying, “We’re all here to accomplish X, Y and Z. That’s the goal. Does that sound good?” says Bunnell.

“If somebody tweaks that, great,” he says. “Now you know you’re aligned.”

The middle of the meeting also informs the ending by giving you space to acknowledge progress you make on your meeting goals.

“Harvard University researcher Teresa Amabile wrote a book called The Progress Principle after studying thousands of professionals,” says Bunnell. “She found that the most productive people and the happiest people are people that celebrate incremental progress.”

By acknowledging tasks that are completed or insights that are shared that can unlock decisions, you easily address next steps at the end of the meeting.

The beginning and middle of the meeting also offer opportunities to connect with the meeting participants on a more human level. Research by the late Nobel Prize-winning psychologist Daniel Kahneman found that people tend to remember the peak emotional element of an experience and the ending. It’s called the “peak-end rule.”

“We remember the peak emotional part of an experience because that was the height of emotion,” says Bunnell. “The very ending is important just because it was the last thing. That gets into the idea of the recency effect, where people remember endings a little more disproportionately than random things in the middle.”

Now you’re ready to end the meeting

If you set things up in the beginning, celebrate incremental progress along the way, and connect over a few laughs, you’re ready to end the meeting with two parts: a practical close and an emotional close.

“The practical close, most people do reasonably well,” says Bunnell. “It’s where you go back and recap the next steps.”

The progress you’ve celebrated along the way often provides fodder for the practical close. For example, you might need to follow up with more information via email, call a client, loop in another department, or submit a hiring request.

“A practical close is important, especially if there were multiple things decided in the middle,” says Bunnell. “List out those next steps. But if you end there, it’s a little boring.”

Read the room

The second step is to recap the emotional peak of the meeting. While it can be about business, such as hitting a difficult milestone or setting a record, it’s often something personal mentioned during the meeting, such as someone who’s leaving for vacation.

“Listen and watch for it,” says Bunnell. “Maybe the person is going on an African Safari, and they haven’t gone on a vacation in five years. That person shared how important that time is going to be.”

Before everyone leaves, connect to the emotional peak. For example, you can say, “Have fun on the Safari. I can’t wait to see photos. I’ll be thinking of you next week. Have a great time with your family.”

“That brings the person back to that height of the emotion,” says Bunnell. “That’s going to linger in their mind, and they’re going to remember it. They’ll think, ‘This person cares about me. They’re enjoyable to be around. They’re listening, and they see me.’ An emotional close takes a meeting from being transactional and makes it more human.”

Bunnell says most people rehearse the beginning of a meeting and know to close with a recap of steps, but you can’t practice the emotional close. Reading the room helps you stay in the moment.

“If you get the ending right, what happens after the ending has a higher chance of success,” says Bunnell. “And that’s the whole point of a meeting.”