Meetings: Course Summary

 Within any organization, meetings between members are vital for the maintenance of
effective communication and democracy. The purpose of meetings is not only to share
ideas and to reach a common agreement among members, but also to make decisions and
appoint the right people to carry out these decisions.
 There are several different types of meetings that an organization may conduct. Types of
meetings will naturally vary between different organizations. The most common ones are:

o Annual General Meeting (AGM): A formal meeting, held annually, where, in

the case of a company, those responsible for running it (the directors) meet with
those who own it (the shareholders). The AGM for a public limited company (Plc)
must be held annually and can be quite a high-profile affair. These meetings may
be open to media scrutiny and require a lot of careful thought and planning.
o Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM): This is a general meeting which is
called to deal with urgent matters which require resolution between AGMs. (
o Board meetings: The directors of a company are responsible for managing its
business on a day-to-day basis. They may hold meetings between them when
deemed necessary.
o Committee meetings: These are meetings involving a group of people who have
been drawn from a larger group, forming a committee, for the purposes of
managing specific issues.
o Management meetings: Management meetings can take many forms depending
on the structure of the organization. These meetings involve managerial decision
making at various levels. For example, some meetings will involve the senior
management team, while others will involve middle management or will cover
both groups.
o Departmental meetings: These are periodic or one-off meetings attended by all
departmental staff to discuss and address departmental issues (e.g. reviewing
 performance, setting objectives, reporting on the outcome of actions taken and
discussing any other matters in connection with departmental operations).
o Project team meetings: Project teams may be formed for all manner of reasons.
For example, in a large organization there may be many different projects being
carried out at the same time. Large projects, such as the implementation of a new
IT system, would necessarily involve the establishment of sub-groups (project
teams) to handle different aspects of the project.
o Team briefings: These are meetings held by the team leader to discuss issues
with members of the team (e.g. progress reviews, allocation of tasks, setting
objectives, performance and motivational issues).
o There are also several other types of meetings such as staff meetings, weekly
meetings, monthly meetings etc.

 Meetings may be held to satisfy a company’s legal obligations such as an annual general
meeting (AGM). But there are other reasons why meetings take place in an organization
such as: decision making (to select a candidate for a job, buy new equipment …),
problem solving (late delivery of supplies, shortage of skilled workers …), idea
generating (sales strategy, product development …), reviewing/evaluating (staff
appraisal, year-end review), negotiating (suppliers’ contracts, pay and conditions…)

 Formal meetings typically have a meeting agenda, which is a is a list of items that
participants hope to accomplish at the meeting. The agenda should be detailed enough
to allow all those attending the meeting to arrive fully informed and prepared. Where
possible ensure supporting papers/notes accompany the agenda.

Example: Elements of an Agenda:

 1. Opening Formalities
 2. Apologies
 3. Confirmation of Minutes
 4. Business Arising from the Minutes
 5. Correspondence
 6. Business Arising from the Correspondence
  7. President's Report
 8. Treasurer's Report
 9. Approval of Memberships
 10. Special Reports
 11. Notice of Motions
 12. New Business
 13. Date of Next Meeting
 14. Close of Meeting
 It is the Chairman’s responsibility to ensure that participants follow the meeting agenda and
to prevent any digressions or sidetracking.
Essential Language of Meetings:
Starting the meeting:
Introducing the participants,
when necessary:
Purpose of the meeting:
Introducing the agenda:
The minutes of the previous
meeting (if relevant):
 Good morning, everyone. I think we should make
a start.
 Right, shall we begin?
 OK, can we start now please?
 We have received apologies from (names of
people who can not attend.)
 I’d like to introduce our partners from Peru and
Chile.
 We are here to discuss (the recent changes in our
production methods)
 The purpose of this meeting is to (plan the June
conference)
 What we want to do today is (come to a decision
about staffing levels)
 Does everybody have a copy of the agenda?
 You will see that there are (four) points on the
agenda.
 Can we take the minutes as read? (this means “does
everybody accept that the minutes are accurate)
 First point
Asking for contributions
Handing over to another person:
Bringing others in:
Controlling the speakers:
Timekeeping:
Summarizing key points during
the meeting:
 Now, I’d like to move on to the first point.
 The first point on the agenda is …
 Who would like to start?
 I’d like to ask Mr. Wheeler to tell us his views on
the subject.
 Can we hear from human resources on that please?
 Mrs. Bates, would you like to comment on that?
 Now, over to you James.
 Mr. Reid, would you like to take it from here?
 Pamela, how do you feel about what Jerry’s said?
 George, have you got any comments on that?
 Would you like to add anything Martha?
 Sorry Rob, I’ll have to stop you there.
 Mike, can you let Paula finish?
 We are moving away from the point here.
 Can you be brief?
 Right, that leaves us with about twenty minutes to
discuss (the final point)
 We need to move on now if we are getting to go
through everything.
 The main points we have looked at are (how the tax
changes will affect the company and what we can
do about these changes.

Tips for Meeting Participants:

The best-planned meeting, led by the most able facilitator, will be successful only if those
attending are prepared to fulfill their role. While some meetings may require only that you show
up and pay attention, others require careful preparation and participation. Here are some tips for
meeting attendees:

✓ Respond in a timely manner to requests for agenda items.

✓ Be on time.

✓ Be well prepared:
✓ Be familiar with the agenda and objectives.
✓ If uncertain about the purpose or your role, ask beforehand.

✓ Review minutes of previous meeting, if any.

✓ Read or gather background information ahead of time.

✓ Have action items assigned to you at prior meetings completed.

✓ Bring a copy for yourself (and others if appropriate) of the agenda and other materials
distributed in advance.
✓ Be concise and to the point.

✓ Participate in a constructive manner.

✓ Stay on topic.
✓ Volunteer your time, talent and expertise to get things done.
✓ Be realistic in your availability and ability to carry out action items.

✓ Bring your calendar for scheduling future meetings

Checklist for Meeting Convener/Facilitator:

Before initiating a meeting, think about your need or goal and how best to achieve it (email,
memo, conference call, individual calls, meeting, etc.). If the most appropriate method is a
meeting, then consider the type of meeting and participants and use the following checklist as
appropriate to ensure it is successful. Checklist items with an asterisk (*) apply to all meetings.

Before the Meeting:

Planning
 Identify the meeting purpose and desired outcome (By end of meeting, I want the group to.)*
 Identify appropriate participants*
 Prepare and distribute agenda in advance; ask for input and revise as necessary*
 For each agenda item, identify action to be taken (discuss, decide, for information) and assign
appropriate leader and time limit
 Determine strategies to achieve purpose (brainstorming, small group discussions, voting, etc.)
 Identify a facilitator, recorder, minutes taker and timer as needed
 Reserve room, equipment and refreshments as needed
Set-up

 Arrange tables, chairs, visuals and refreshments

 Bring copies of agenda and supplemental materials (markers, paper, tape, etc.)
 Set up and test equipment

Facilitating the Meeting:

At the Beginning of the Meeting
 Start on time*
 Discuss the purpose of the meeting and outcomes expected*
 Review the agenda, time frame and format for meeting*
 Have individuals introduce themselves; Consider an icebreaker activity
 Develop or review ground rules; revise if necessary
 Address facility logistics (restrooms, smoking, refreshments, parking, etc.) as needed

During the Meeting

 Keep the group on track and on time*
 Encourage participation and protect minority opinions*
 Demonstrate respectful behavior*
 Confirm group’s decisions or agreements*
 Respectfully enforce ground rules*
 Provide breaks or activities when needed

At the End of the Meeting

 Clarify next steps*
 Confirm action items, person responsible and due dates
 Set next meeting
 Evaluate the meeting process (what worked well, what to do differently)
 Thank the group
 End on time*
Follow-Up
 Engage in appropriate follow up*
 Distribute minutes of meeting soon afterwards including action items and responsibilities.
 Check in with those responsible for action items to keep process moving

(Tips for participants and Checklist for Convener/facilitator

are provided by Department Head Resource Portal)