Getting Started with Meetings

In this article:

• Finding a meeting
• Meeting screen overview
• Basics of the meeting editor
• Participating in a meeting
  • Adding agenda items from anywhere in the system
  • Sections and moving items
  • Follow-up actions
  • Mentions
  • Previous Meetings
• Running a meeting
  • Tracking attendees
  • Completing agenda items
  • Closing the meeting and scheduling the next
  • Meeting recap
  • Sharing a meeting
• Create a new meeting
  • Basic meeting settings
  • First meeting
• Meeting template/template blocks
• Connect a LeadFirst meeting to a meeting in your calendar

Finding a meeting

To find a meeting, open the main menu > hover over My Meetings > select your meeting.

If you don't see the meeting you are looking for, click on My Meetings in the main menu to open the meetings screen. This list is filtered to meetings you are a participant in. To see all meetings, open the filter option > Meetings > select All Meetings.

Search is also a great way to find a meeting. Go to the search bar in the upper-right > click on the magnifying glass to open advanced search > change the search scope to only look for Meetings > change the filter to include All Meetings.

Meeting screen overview

Below is an overview of the main meeting screen. Click on the image to enlarge. If you would like to print this off to keep it handy, here is a Meeting Cheat Sheet PDF.

Tip: If you want to keep things simple without diving into the details of this article, the meeting cheat sheet above and the basics of the meeting editor below should be enough to get you started. Then, if you have questions, you can return to this article for more help.

Basics of the meeting editor

Before we jump into specific features, here are the basics of how the editor works.

• You can customize your meeting agenda using three primary items:
  • Sections - use sections to organize your agenda. Sections remain in your agenda from meeting to meeting. You can add a new section from the blue-plus in the upper right.
  • Agenda Items - use agenda items to identify what your team will cover. Each agenda item has an owner. They can also have their own notes.
  • Paragraphs - paragraphs can be used however you like; to list follow-up actions or take minutes.
• Each section, paragraph, or agenda item is its own entity and can be moved to a new place in the agenda or removed entirely.
• After adding a new agenda item, pressing enter will add a new agenda item below. The same applies to paragraphs. Pressing enter after a section header creates a new agenda item below it.
• Convert agenda items to paragraphs and vice versa from the row's three-dot menu. You can also convert section headers to an agenda item or paragraph.
• Typing @ opens the quick add menu from where you can mention a team member, create new project/MOR, and link to an existing item (project, MOR, dashboard, etc.),
• Bold items are standing items and persist from meeting to meeting. Use a row's three-dot menu to have it persist or not.

Participating in a meeting

Beyond the cheat sheet and the basics mentioned above, here are a few things you should know when participating in a meeting.

Adding agenda items from anywhere in the system

From anywhere in the system, you can add MORs, projects, dashboards, or plans to a meeting agenda. There are two ways to do so: from a row's three-dot menu or the item screen's three-dot menu.

Sections and moving items

To move items, use the drag handle that appears on hover.

Sections can have items nestled inside them so they are easily collapsible or moved as a group. To do so, move the item below the section and use the row three-dot menu to Move Right. Once a section has items inside, dragging other items into the list will include them in the section. To move an item out of a section, use the row three-dot menu to Move Left or drag it to another section of the agenda.

Mentions

You can mention any team member, not just participants, by typing @ > and selecting Mention Team Member. When you do, the team member will receive a LeadFirst message with a link to the agenda they were mentioned in.

Previous Meetings

When you open a meeting, you are always taken to the newest meeting. You can view the Previous Meeting by opening the option at the bottom of the agenda. When viewing a past meeting, you can add any item to your current meeting. Open the row three-dot menu and select Add To Meeting.

You can continue to use the Previous Meeting button to open other past meetings.

You can also navigate to specific past meeting dates from the calendar icon in the upper-right.

Running a meeting

Tracking attendees

To track attendees for each meeting, click the attendees icon in the upper right. Select who is present and click OK.

To add new participants to the meeting, open the meeting screen's three-dot menu in the upper-right > opens Settings > add/remove participants > Save.

Completing agenda items

As you work down through your meeting agenda, mark items complete as you go. Any agenda item not marked complete will appear in the next meeting's agenda with the "Not Completed" icon.

Closing the meeting and scheduling the next

When your team has finished walking through the meeting agenda, you can close the meeting by clicking the Conclude Meeting? button at the top.

The next screen allows you to include any template blocks you may want to include in the next meeting. Verify the date of the meeting > select which template blocks you want to include > and click Create.

Meeting recap

If the meeting owner enables the option, you'll get an email with the meeting agenda link and a PDF report with follow-up actions after the meeting ends.

To turn on/off the meeting recap, go to the meeting > open the meeting screen's three-dot menu in the upper-right > open Settings > and select Email Meeting Recap.

Sharing a meeting

You can share a link to your LeadFirst meeting to include in a meeting invitation. To do so, open your meeting > go to the meeting screen's three-dot menu in the upper-right > click Share > copy the meeting link > and paste it into your meeting invitation in Outlook or Gmail, or whichever email management app you use.

Create a new meeting

To create a new meeting, open the main menu > click on My Meetings > in the My Meetings screen, click the blue plus.

Basic meeting settings

1. Name the meeting
2. Add participants
3. Choose who is Responsible for the meeting
4. Select what type of meeting this is. Here are the options:
   1. Team - for regularly scheduled team meetings, both functional teams and cross-functional process teams
   2. 1:1 - for standing one-on-one meetings between managers and team members
   3. One-Time - for a single meeting with a basic agenda
   4. Project - for project standing meetings 
   5. Other - for standing meetings with basic agenda
5. Add a Description for others to know the purpose of the meeting.
6. If you want this meeting to only be visible to the participants, select Private.
7. The system will Email a Meeting Recap report after each meeting. If you do not want participants to receive this email, deselect this option.
8. Click Next

First meeting

1. Select the Date of the Next Meeting
2. Based on your meeting type, the system will choose the best meeting Template. You can adjust this. See below to learn what is included in each template.
3. When finished, click Next

Scheduled meeting template blocks

Scheduled meeting template blocks allow you to automatically include agenda items on a specific schedule. For example, you can schedule the Annual Planning template block to appear in your meeting on the second Monday of January each year. Or the Quarterly planning meeting to be inserted each quarter.

To add a template block, click the blue plus > for the template you wish to schedule, click that row's three-dot menu > click Add.

Once in your list, you can adjust a schedule by clicking on the clock icon.

Use the scheduler to determine which block should appear in your agenda.

You can also turn the schedule off using No Schedule.

Or you can remove a scheduled template block using the row three-dot menu.

When finished, click Complete and you will be taken to the first meeting's agenda.

Meeting template/template blocks

Below are the meeting templates shipped with the system.

Team meeting template

1:1 meeting template

Project meeting template

Other/one-time

Annual planning

Quarterly planning

Insert micro-learning agenda item

Scheduling this templated block gives you the opportunity to regularly include learning elements in your meeting to upskill your team members. On whatever schedule you set, the system will add the agenda item seen below,

When you click on the agenda item you are taken to the learning library. Find and then insert the microlearning into your agenda by clicking on that course's three-dot menu > click Insert.

Connect a LeadFirst meeting to a meeting in your calendar