The dreaded Monday meeting approaches. It’s 9:47 a.m., and in 13 minutes, you’ve got to bring energy to a tired office and draw creativity, insight and value from your team. So what’s your plan?

The truth is, many young executives and first time managers can stumble with effectively holding meetings. It require a balance of open discussion, moderation by you, and effective use of time. It’s also an opportunity for you to teach new things to your entire team, as well as gain respect as a leader, an important element in keeping cohesiveness and morale up.

Here are 10 strategies to make the most of your meetings:

1. Don’t psych yourself out: You’ve probably become comfortable with speaking to people one on one or in small groups, but if you only have full team meetings biweekly or once a month, it’s not uncommon to always feel a bit unprepared due to the sense of “newness.” Take a deep breathe, orient yourself, and bring your awareness to the present.
2. Assemble People: Make sure the people that need to be there are there before you start your meeting.
3. Choose a Good Space: Marshall Mcluhan once said the medium is the message. Choose a meeting place that will serve as a good medium. Choose somewhere that places you and the meeting leaders at a focal point, and make sure everyone is able to see, hear, and participate in the meeting.
4. Have a Plan and Bring Assets: Seems obvious, right? Have a specific plan (more expansive than the agenda) with talking note, reminders, and figures that contribute to the conversation or are critical to the meeting conversation.
5. Have an Agenda: Agendas are useful for keeping each team member on track. These can be shorted versions of your personal plan, or something completely unique.  
6. Promote Discussion: Remember that thing you hated in college? Lectures? Don’t do that. Use this time to inform and engage your team. Have them work on something, discuss why a trend occurred the way it did, and prod all departments for their thoughts.
7. Engage the Quiet: If you notice a team member contributing less than others, ask them a question directly in a constructive, inviting way.
8. Encourage Note Taking: I always encourage note taking by all team members, and enforce this by having people contribute to a living Google Doc.  
9. Follow Up: With notes organized, follow up with your team and cover a few broad points you went over in your meeting. If you assigned duties to some team members, include a reminder.   
10. Review and Revise: During the meeting, take notes on the high and low points. Afterwards, take a few moments to reflect on these – how can you improve the sluggish parts and what went right during the high points?