GROUP COMMUNICATION

MEETING

Introduction

Meetings are part of everyday business life. There are different kinds of meetings, such as
AGM (Annual General Meeting), EGM (Extraordinary General Meeting), committee
meetings, weekly Board meetings, and other meetings for specific regular basis.

Meetings can be broadly categorized as either formal, or informal.

Formal Meeting Informal Meeting

 Has a secretary who records all the 
discussion in the meeting
 Requires an invitation – a memo to 
inform all concerned to attend the
meeting
The discussion is usually not
recorded (and no minutes are kept)
Usually on an ad hoc basis, called
only when the need arises

Skills in conducting a formal meeting is essential as it will contribute to how positively

you will be regarded by your colleagues (and your superior).

Reasons for a Meeting

The reasons of a meeting must be spelt out clearly in advance to all members involved.
This is critical in having a successful and effective meeting. Hence the general reasons for
holding a meeting are as follows:

a. to impart information
b. to address grievances
c. to generate ideas
d. to issue instructions
e. to make implementation
f. to present a proposal
g. to reach a resolution

Code of conduct at meetings

• Attend all meetings and be on time.

• Carry out assignments on schedule.
• Every member is responsible for the team’s progress.
• Everyone is equal during meetings.
• Listen to, and show respect for, the views of the other members.
• Pay attention and avoid disruptive side conversation.
• Be open to others’ ideas.
• Focus on the ideas, not the person.
• Make others feel a part of the team.
• Maintain a friendly attitude.
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 • Decisions made should be based on facts and data.
• Treat the next person as an important customer.

Before the Meeting

There are several preparations to make before a meeting is conducted. Most of these
preparations are the responsibility of the secretary or the personal assistant to the
chairperson. The chairperson may also be involved.

1. Ensure that everyone who needs to attend the meeting has received an invitation, or
“Notice of Meeting”. The notice can be sent by e-mail or by office memo.

2. Ensure that the room or venue is available and has been booked. (It reflects badly
on you if you have to look for a venue just before your meeting).

3. Check that any documents needed for the meeting, such as relevant files, minutes
or previous meetings and letters, have been prepared and are ready.

4. Distribute the minutes of the last meeting.

5. Assist the chairperson to prepare an agenda for the meeting. An agenda contains the
following items:

ITEM EXPLANATION
Date, time and
venue of the
meeting
Apologies for Anyone who has been invited to the meeting but is unable to
absence attend should inform the secretary in advance.
Minutes of the Participants should read these minutes before attending the
previous meeting meeting to make sure that they are a true record of what
happened and do not contain any mistakes (minutes are a legal
document). The minutes must be “confirmed” before they
become official company documents.
Matters arising In this section, participants can check whether decisions made
from the at the last meeting have been acted upon.
previous meeting
Main agenda: This is a list of topics that will be discussed at the meeting. It
Items for is the main business of the meeting.
discussion
(listed)
Other matters In this section, participants can raise items or issues that are
not related to those on the agenda or already discussed in the
meeting.
Date, time and
venue of next
meeting

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 6. The agenda can be incorporated into the notice of meeting, as shown in Example 1.

Example 1: Sample Notice of Meeting, with an Agenda.

OneMALAYSIA Airline Company name and Title of

OPERATIONAL REVIEW MEETING 05/18 the meeting

Notice of Meeting (before the meeting) Heading of Notice of Meeting

A meeting of the Operational Review Meeting will be held Notice states place, day, date
in the Conference Room II on Monday 9 July 2018 – at and time of meeting
1430.

Agenda (Before and during the meeting) Use the heading AGENDA

1. Chairman’s opening remarks 1,2,3,4,5 - ordinary business

are included on every agenda
2. Apologies for absence
3. Adoption of agenda
4. Minutes 04/18 confirmation
5. Matters arising
6, 7 - Special business is
6. Electronic lab
listed separately (any official
7. DCA Workshop reports come first)
8, 9 - Finish all agendas with
8. Other matters
these final two items
9. Adjournment of meeting

Signature, Name and

SuzyYen
Position
Miss Suzy Yen bt Mohamad
Secretary

15 June 2018
Date

DURING THE MEETING

During the meeting, the main function of the secretary is to take notes of what happens at
the meeting. This includes:

 The names of all those present

 The time the meeting began and ended
 All motions carried
 Names of proposers and seconders of motions
 All decisions for further action
 Names of people who are responsible for carrying out the action

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The chairperson is responsible for most of what occurs during the meeting. However, to
ensure a meeting to be successful and effective, the chairperson and those attending the
meeting must play their role well. Below is the summary of the techniques a chairperson
and those attending a meeting can employ to ensure an effective meeting.

Chairperson Participants
 Plan the agenda  Follow the agenda
 Outline what area to cover and time  Participate in the meeting
allocation for each topic  Avoid domineering the meeting
 Draw on members’ relevant  Cooperate with other members
experience  Be courteous
 Follow the agenda – item by item
 Move the discussion along
 Show respect for ideas even though
you disagree
 Ask simple, short questions
 Control those who speak too much
 Encourage members to participate
 Summarise and conclude the
discussions

MEETING ETIQUETTE

A. PRELIMINERIES

1. Chairman’s opening remarks

When everyone has assembled and the meeting is about to start, the first thing that the
chairperson should do is to greet and welcome the participants to the meeting:

“Good afternoon everyone, and welcome. I’m glad you all could make it.”

If there is someone senior in the organisation attending the meeting, it is customary to greet
that person first, before greeting the rest of the participants.

For example, assume you are the president of the Interact Club and you are chairing a
meeting to discuss the Aerocarnival Project. The Dean of your college, Mr. Muhan, is
present at the meeting. You could greet the participants like this

“Good evening Mr. Muhan and fellow members”

“Good evening, everyone. Before we begin, I’d like to welcome our CEO, Mr.
Muhan.”

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Here are some other expressions that you can use to open a meeting:

Thanks for coming, everyone. We’ve got a lot to cover, so let’s begin the meeting,
shall we?
Good morning. It’s good to see you all here. Shall we begin?
Good morning, ladies and gentleman. Thank you for your attendance I would now
like to call the meeting to order. (Formal)

2. Ask for Apologies

After greeting the participants, the chairperson may ask if there are any apologies for
absence, or may give the names of those who have notified the chairperson or the secretary
before the meeting that they will be unable to attend.

Confirm the Minutes of the Previous Meeting

The chairperson then invites the participants to read through the minutes of the previous
meeting (which have been distributed to them prior to the meeting). When everyone has
finished, the chairperson asks someone from the group to propose the minutes be
confirmed.

The chairperson could ask:

“Can I have someone to propose that the minutes be confirmed?”

In a more formal situation, the chairperson could ask:

“May I have someone to propose that the minutes be confirmed?”

In a meeting where everyone knows everyone else’s name, simply saying “yes”, “I will” or
raising one’s hand is sufficient. However, in a large meeting, it is advisable that the
proposer should introduce him/herself:

“I, _________ (state your name), propose/move that the minutes be confirmed.”

After that, a second person is needed to “second” the proposal/motion. The chairperson
could just ask “Any seconder?” or “May I have someone to second the proposal?”

The response to the question is similar to that for proposing the minutes be confirmed; that
is by one of the following:

Raising one’s hand

Saying “I second it”
Saying “I, _______ (state your name) second the motion that the minutes be
confirmed.”

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B. CONTROL THE DISCUSSION

Encourage Participation

It is the chairperson’s responsibility to ensure that everyone has a chance to participate.

During the meeting, the chairperson should encourage the participants to express their
opinions by using expressions such as:

What is your opinion about / on that?

What do you think of that idea?
Should we…?
Why do you think we should…?
Can we have some more comments / suggestions?

If you are a participant, you can give your opinion using any of the following expressions:

I think… I think it is better for the project to be postponed because

we have not received any funds from our sponsors.

I don’t think it is a good idea because we are losing money

every minute.

It seems to me… It seems to me that the website is drawing a lot of attention.

In my opinion… In my opinion, shutting the website will create a lot of

dissatisfaction among our customers.

The way I see it / As I The way I see it, websites are popular with the younger
see it… generation.

I believe… I believe we should maintain the website.

Personally… Personally, I am for the current form of advertising than for

the traditional ways.

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 DEALING WITH DIFFERENT TYPES OF MEMBERS

• Who? This person who argues in order to try and oppose the leader.
• He is likely to quibble over trivial matters.
• Leader must be calm and not lose temper, ask questions to draw out the individual
and win him over.
• Keep members from getting personal. Get opinion of the majority.

• He has no interest in change and does not believe in new ideas.

• Bring the discussion to a close by calling for vote on the question.
• Identify his likes and dislikes. Try to win his friendship.

• He who carries a personal grudge.

• Avoid discussion on his grudge. Explain problems discussed only for good of the
members.
• If the grudge is between two individuals in the group, schedule one of them to join
a different discussion group.

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 • Individual who wants to do all the talking.
• Be very tactful and ask others to comment. Do not look at him when presenting
question.
• Rule, no-one should speak too long on any subject until everyone has had a chance
to speak.

• Ask questions directly affecting his work, his opinion on some points of the
meeting.
• Quote tactfully a statement he had previously made (to you) outside the conference.
Carefully introduce topics which you know he is interested in.

• Call him by name and get his opinion. Ask easy questions that he is sure to answer
well and then compliment him.
• Find something for him to do which can help you in the discussion e.g. to hand out
charts, assist in a demonstration and perhaps make a report.

Other situations

It is the chairperson’s responsibility to control the flow of the meeting. Make sure the
discussion keeps on track. Do not allow participants to go astray or to spend an
unnecessarily long time on any topic. (This is important to ensure the meeting ends on time
and does not drag on without any productive discussion)

During the meeting, it may be necessary to interrupt someone or ask someone to clarify
something he or she has said.

Interrupting
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When you feel that it is necessary to interrupt, some possible phrases that you can use
include:

May I interrupt for a moment?

Sorry to interrupt, but I wonder…
I don’t want to interrupt, but…
If I may just interrupt you for a moment, I would like to (give my opinion about /
touch on that matter / explain why / add something)

Clarifying

When you do not understand what someone has said, you should ask that person to clarify
or explain. Here are some phrases:

I’m sorry I didn’t quite follow what you said. Could you explain that, please?
I’m afraid I am not quite sure what you mean.
Are you saying that…?
Do you mean that…?
I’m sorry, I didn’t catch that. Could you repeat what you just said?

Agreeing and Disagreeing

During the course of a meeting, participants may agree or disagree with comments or
suggestions related to issues that are being discussed.

To agree, you can use the following phrases:

I completely / totally / entirely agree (with you).

I’m in total agreement.
I agree.
I think you are right.
That’s very true.

To state your disagreement, here are some phrases you can use:

Although I agree with most of what you said, I disagree with your point about…
You have a good point here, but perhaps we should also consider…

Expressing disagreement is a very sensitive matter. The impact of disagreeing is softened

by using expressions such as “I’m sorry…”, “I’m afraid…”; or by acknowledging the
speaker’s point, before disagreeing with it.

I’m afraid I have to disagree with you…

I feel I must disagree with you on that point…
I’m sorry, but I cannot agree with you.
I can see your point of view but…
I see your point, but have you considered…

Recommending / Suggesting / Proposing

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During a meeting, participants may recommend, suggest or propose an idea or a plan.
Some phrases that can be used are as follows:

I (strongly) suggest / recommend that…

I propose that…
I would like to propose that…
I wonder if I might suggest that…
I’d like to suggest that…

C. CLOSE THE MEETING

At the end of the meeting, the chairperson may review the main decisions once again. He
or she may also go around the table, asking each participant if he or she has anything to
add.

To close the meeting, the chairperson can say:

I think we’ve covered everything. Thank you all for your contributions. We’ll meet
again in two weeks time, same time, and same place.

Well, that seems to be everything. I think we’ve had a very productive meeting.
Thanks, everyone. The next meeting will be on Monday, 16 February. You’ll be
informed of the details later.

Since there is no further business, I declare the meeting closed. Thank you,
everyone. The next meeting is scheduled for Monday, 16 February. The secretary
will confirm the time and venue.

Exercise 1

In a group of four or five, role-play the following situations:

1. Your manager suggests that the staff should be given fewer holidays in a year, since
they are highly paid.

2. Your manager suggests that in return for a five-day work week, employees should
work longer working hours.

3. Your colleague suggests that each worker in the office should contribute RM10 for
the annual office party.

4. Your colleague suggests a well-known Indian restaurant to hold the annual office
dinner.

AFTER THE MEETING

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After the meeting, the secretary should do the following:

 Complete writing out the minutes. Ensure that all important details are included.
Once they are completed, show the minutes to the Chairperson who will then sign
them. The Chairperson’s signature is placed at the end of the minutes.

 Make photocopies of the minutes and distribute them to all participants of the
meeting, including absentees.

 Assist the manager or the chairperson in ensuring that all the issues that have been
discussed in the meeting are followed up or carried out by the respective people.
The secretary may need to send e-mails or call up on the tasks assigned to them.

The Minutes of a Meeting

The minutes of a meeting are taken by the secretary. If there is no permanent secretary, the
position can be rotated among the participants of the meeting. A secretary will be
appointed at the beginning of each meeting. The secretary takes notes during the meeting
and prepares the full minutes later. The minutes should be completed as soon as possible
after the meeting and distributed to the participants before the next meeting is held.

Structure of minutes

Minutes need to be structured so that they are easy for participants to follow. The structure
is determined to some extent by the agenda of the meeting, as minutes will follow the
discussion of its items. However, there are some sections to be added to the framework that
the agenda provides. The following are the list of minutes:

 Date, time and place of the meeting.

 Purpose or title of the meeting, for example, ‘Committee Meeting’.
 Who was there and their position / status at the meeting – a record of the attendees
at a meeting is extremely important for accountability reasons. Participants who
are not present may disagree with a decision taken in their absence, and need to be
able to state in future that they were not present.
 Who was absent – a list of absentees is generally given under the first agenda
item. ‘Apologies for absence’. This is again a vital piece of information to show
that the person was not party to information given out at the meeting or to votes
taken on a proposal.
 Minutes of the last meeting and signing – the minutes of the last meeting are
considered for factual.
SAMPLE OF MINUTES
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 OneMalaysia Airline

OPERATIONAL REVIEW MEETING 02/18

Date : 15/2/2018
Time : 1430 – 1730
Venue : Conference Room II, 1st Floor, Administration Block, OneMalaysia
Airline, Sepang

Present:
Hj. Mohyideen b. Sultan - Chairman
Mr. Abd Wahub b. Labu
Mdm. Rihannah bt. Musa
Mr. Shazirul b. Ahmad Shah
Mr. Mohd Abdul b. Junus
Mr. Hudin Hyde b. Mohd Shukor
Miss Suzy Yen bt Mohamad - Secretary

Absent with apology:

Mr. Mustapha Maarof b. Hijamudin

Open Open/
No Item Action by
Since Close
1. Chairman’s Opening Remarks
The chairman welcomed all members to the
third meeting of the year.

2. Apologies for Absence

Mr. Mustapha was unable to attend.

3. Adoption of Agenda
The proposed agenda was accepted without
amendments. Agenda of meeting was as
follows:

1. Chairman’s opening remark

2. Apologies for Absence
3. Adoption of agenda
4. Minutes 01/18 confirmation
5. Matters arising
6. Electronic lab
7. DCA workshop
8. Other matters
9. Adjournment of meeting

4. Minutes 01/18 confirmation

The Chairman asked members to correct an
error in item 5.2 where the number of ISO
135000: 2018 should read as ISO 13500:
2018. After this correction the minutes were
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 approved and signed by the Chairman as a
correct record.

5. Matters arising
5.1: Representatives from electronic
manufacturers
Madam Rihannah expressed that ADMIN &
OneMalaysia has a compiled list of the 15/1/18 OPEN FINANCE
manufacturers and she will email to secretary
this list for onward actions.

5.2: MS 866 – Specification for ISO 13500:

2010
Secretary reported that ‘ISO 13500: 2018
Petroleum and natural gas industries –
Drilling fluids materials – Specifications and
tests’ has been forwarded to ISC H on 15/1/18 OPEN ICT
Petroleum and Gas. Member will be informed
of the ISC H decision as soon as they had
their next meeting.

5.3: Staff Internet Facility

Mr. Shazirul reported that IT Department is
still working with Internet Service Provider
(ISP) on the possibility to upgrade the existing 15/1/18 CLOSE ADMIN
WIFI services in the Administration building.
He estimated the work will be completed by
September 2018.

5.4: Staff’s Feedback Form

Mr. Mohd Abdul briefed that the Staff’s
Feedback Form on the implementation of
Electronic task card in ORM sheet format will 15/1/18 OPEN HACS
be used to collect data for easy processing. He
also reminded all Section Heads to inform all
staff to fill up the feedback form and submit
before end of July via E-citie.

Electronic Lab
6. Mr. Abdul Wahab informed that Proposal and
PR have been issued last month to upgrade
the facilities of the Electronic lab and now his
department is waiting for further development 15/1/18 OPEN HACS
from vendor. He will update the progress in
the next meeting.

7. DCA Workshop
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 Mr. Hudin Hyde has proposed to conduct
DCA Workshop for the new technicians. He 15/1/18 CLOSE HANGAR
informed that he will contact DCA for
confirmation on the workshop. He will also
update on the date, venue and also the
facilitators involved in the Workshop. This
workshop will be monitored by Human
Resource.

8. Other Matters
8.1: Safety Boot 15/1/18 CLOSE PROCUREMENT
The Chairman stressed that to expedite the
process of purchasing F1 shirts, procurement
staff must directly contact the supplier for the
next intake of new staff.

9. Adjournment of Meeting
Meeting was adjourned at 6.00p.m.

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