How should a meeting end?

How should a meeting end?

• A. When all attendees agree
• B. As originally scheduled
• C. When the chair decides
• D. When the topic list is exhausted

Answer: (B)

Managing a meeting around a set time is a key aspect of professional discipline and respect for attendees’ schedules. The best practice is to end the meeting at the time it was scheduled to finish, preserving the planned duration even if not every item is fully resolved. This keeps calendars predictable, prevents overruns that push into other commitments, and signals that participants’ time is valued. If the essential goals and decisions have been reached early, you can wrap up, but the default expectation is to conclude when the scheduled end arrives. Ending for other reasons—waiting for everyone to agree, waiting for the chair to decide, or only stopping when the agenda is exhausted—tends to undermine efficiency and create ambiguity about when the meeting should truly close.

Managing a meeting around a set time is a key aspect of professional discipline and respect for attendees’ schedules. The best practice is to end the meeting at the time it was scheduled to finish, preserving the planned duration even if not every item is fully resolved. This keeps calendars predictable, prevents overruns that push into other commitments, and signals that participants’ time is valued. If the essential goals and decisions have been reached early, you can wrap up, but the default expectation is to conclude when the scheduled end arrives. Ending for other reasons—waiting for everyone to agree, waiting for the chair to decide, or only stopping when the agenda is exhausted—tends to undermine efficiency and create ambiguity about when the meeting should truly close.