Looking assemble or organize a group of people at work or school?

Wondering what it takes to gather everyone together and run things smoothly?

In this post, you’ll find several tips to make the process of organizing a group of people as seamless as possible.

Make detailed plans ahead of time.

You wouldn’t send out party invitations to your friends without telling them the date, time, and location of a party?

Why, of course not!

Before you gather people for a meeting, it’s important to figure out all the relevant details ahead of time.

Why are you asking everyone to meet or gather? Do you have a specific meeting location in mind?

What do you want people to do once they arrive?

Carefully plan out all the details, from the schedule, down to the people you wish to invite.

You should also consider the goals of your gathering as well as any materials you’ll need.   

Take numbers of people into account.

It takes time for a group of people to physically move from one location to another.

Do you have enough time in your schedule for people to meet and move to another location?

Another item to think about is the size of the room, location or area in which you will be meeting.

Is there enough room for everyone? You don’t want to crowd people.

Everyone should be able to sit or stand comfortably.

It might be worth doing a bit of scouting ahead of time to ensure there’s enough room for all.

Give clear and simple instructions.

The easiest way to organize people is to give clear and simple instructions.

People shouldn’t have to think about where they are going, how to get there, or what they are doing.

That’s your job!

All your instructions should be simple phrases or tasks.

Examples include, “Meet by the center atrium,” or “Pick up an information pack and complete out the survey.”

Make it as easy as possible for people to understand and follow instructions.

Make definitive decisions.

Whenever you are gathering a bunch of people together to do something, it is imperative you make definitive decisions.

Making one decision, changing your mind, and then changing your mind again is a recipe for chaos.

You don’t want to move 50 people to one conference room in a hotel only to realize they need to be in an entirely different conference room.

Of course, you can’t always avoid the changes that must be made in different situations.

What you can do, however, is take the time to come to a clear and well-thought decision.

Think carefully, and then think again before you make a final decision for the group.

I have a time management guide that could help you manage your time with other people. Click here to find out more.

If you want to respect your valuable time and that of others, let’s talk. Click here to schedule a strategy session with me.

How about you? What do you find to be the most challenging part of organizing a group of people. Join the conversation and leave a comment below!