As a venue finding company who deal with a wide range of meeting venue requests, from meeting rooms in Warrington to meeting rooms in London, we know that meetings serve a variety of functions. They could be for an annual company-wide gathering, the launch of a new initiative or just to wrap-up the end of year. Whatever the reason, the meeting organiser usually has one objective at stake - make the meeting both fun and productive.

A recent study by Meeting Magic found that 46% of people surveyed said that they found meetings to be unproductive, with many also saying that only 10% of decisions taken in meetings actually resulted in post-meeting action. Ouch! Many people actually dread attending meetings as they believe they will be boring and a bit of a waste of time. Your choice of venue, such as the Aston conference centre, can have a large impact on how well the meeting goes, but there are other things you should keep in mind to make your meeting as successful as possible:

It is important to have an agenda for your meeting prepared beforehand so that you can ensure you cover all of the necessary points in the meeting. Make sure you draft a meeting agenda in plenty of time before the meeting, and share it with attendees so they are aware of what is expected and can suggest changes or additions as need be.

If the meeting is scheduled to go on for a long time, or even all day, then it is vital that you schedule in some break time as well. You can't expect attendees to focus on presentations and PowerPoint's and taking notes all day, they need time to reflect on and digest what they have heard. If you really want to make the meeting fun, you could choose a venue that includes some fun activities, such as ping-pong tables, pool tables or even karaoke.

If you are planning on announcing some changes to your company, then people are going to want to be able to ask questions, so make sure you carve out some time in the agenda for people to voice their opinions. This not only helps the attendees to feel that their voices are being heard, but also gives the presenter more time to think about their answers rather than having to quickly think on their feet in between slides.

We've all experienced that post lunch slump when you are so full and sleepy that you just cannot concentrate on what is going on. The best way to avoid this in your next meeting is to make sure the catering is light and fresh in order to keep attendees at peak concentration. Beverages such as juices and smoothies are also a good option.

If you follow our tips then your next meeting should not only be more fun but more productive too, but don't lose that momentum. Make sure you send a follow-up email after the meeting to recap on everything that was discussed and include follow-up points and named actions as well. This is also a great opportunity to remind attendees that they have been listened to by acknowledging their questions and concerns. You could add a survey link to the end of your email which asks for improvements or suggestions for the next meeting as a way of helping to improve company morale.

These are just some ideas we have for helping to make your next meeting more fun and productive, but we are sure there are many more. Here at Conferences UK we are experts at finding the best venues whatever the occasion, from conference venues in London to conference venues in Edinburgh - and everywhere in between. To take advantage of our free venue finding service, please call FREE on 0800 078 9585.