CONDUCTING MEETINGS

Why preparation is needed

Professionals of all the fields all over the World

spend a large part of their working hours attending meetings. But these meetings if not organized well become a wastage of time.

CONDUCTING MEETINGS
Chairperson, Coordinator, Time, Venue, Agenda and Handouts
Appoint a Chairperson and Coordinator of the meeting.

(Chairperson should be a senior person who commands respect of the participants. He has to direct and control the meeting.). Coordinator to finalize names of participants, agenda, date, time and venue of the meeting along with any handouts if they are to be distributed for the meeting, in consultation with the Chairperson.

CONDUCTING MEETINGS
Chairperson, Coordinator, Time, Venue, Agenda and Handouts
Coordinator to send out meeting requests to all

concerned parties specifying the date, time and venue of the meeting along with agenda of the meeting and handouts if any for the meeting. Wordings of the request to start with: <designation of the Chairperson> has called for a meeting ---. Request must specify that participants should go thru the agenda points and the handouts AND should come prepared for the meeting.

CONDUCTING MEETINGS
Chairperson, Coordinator, Time, Venue, Agenda and Handouts
If the meeting is a teleconference with participants

from multiple time zone locations, meeting request to contain the date and time of the various time zones. Coordinator must cross check with the participants that they have received the meeting communication and that they are going to attend the meeting.

CONDUCTING METINGS
Agenda and Handouts
Agenda means list of all issues/ points/ topics which are to be discussed/ deliberated upon in the meeting. It is essential to circulate it in advance so that participants can come prepared for the meeting. Preferably, these points can even be enumerated in brief on the whiteboard in the meeting room, allowing everyone to be aware of the agenda and helping the Chairperson keep an eye on it at all times. If handouts are to be distributed for the meeting, make sure you do it well before the meeting so that attendees will have sufficient time to read them and will be well prepared for the meeting.

CONDUCTING MEETINGS
Place, Material and Tea Breaks
The Coordinator to arrange a discussion room large enough to hold the requisite number of attendees. Discussion room should make participants feel comfortable and it should also be disturbance free. Coordinator to also arrange for materials such as projector, computer, slides, whiteboard and markers etc. If meeting is to last 3-4 hours or more, Coordinator should make it a point to have Tea/ Coffee breaks every two hours or so. It helps participants to freshen up and to attend to the natural and urgent calls.

CONDUCTING MEETINGS
Punctuality:
The Participants must reach the meeting place at least five minutes before the start of the meeting and take their seats. Late coming means that the person coming late has no respect for the time of his other colleagues who have come on time for the meeting. IF YOU WANT RESPECT, GIVE IT. Late coming means time loss for the Organisation. If 12 people were to come for a meeting, 10 came on time and 2 came 10 minutes late, it means Organisation lost 100 minutes of valuable time of participants who came on time.

CONDUCTING MEETINGS
Punctuality:
Late coming could also mean that the person coming late does not consider the issues to be discussed in the meeting as important. Late coming could annoy people coming on time as their time is also important and may lead to bad blood between the participants. It could prompt others also to come late in future meetings and the purpose of calling meetings will get lost.

CONDUCTING MEETINGS
The focus on agenda:
Often, despite maintaining an agenda and adhering strictly to time and schedule on a few points, the discussion deteriorates into heated debates. At this point, the Chairperson must ensure an objective discussion. Also, if a member starts rambling for hours without any end in sight, he must be brought back on track. It should be made clear that although brainstorming is acceptable, digression into irrelevant territory is entirely unwelcome. Chairperson must ensure that each point of the agenda is discussed in detail and decisions taken on them before the meeting wraps up.

CONDUCTING MEETINGS
The focus on agenda:
If

any participant wants to discuss a point which is not part of the agenda, then it could be discussed provided all agenda points have been discussed, time is available and the Chairperson has consented to the discussion.

ATTACK THE PROBLEM, NOT PERSON Do not behave in a manner which forces a participant to go on defensive because then that person will loose objectivity. Responsibility Chairperson. Do not brush aside any suggestion unless it has been properly debated. Respect every suggestion. Responsibility Chairperson.

CONDUCTING MEETINGS
Give chance to everybody to speak:
Some

participants hesitate to speak though they may have really useful contribution to make. If they are not encouraged to speak up, we may not be able to reach at the best possible decision. Responsibility Chairperson.

No overpowering:
Some participants want that only their voice be heard by interrupting when others are speaking or by asking others to keep quite. Such tendencies should not be allowed. Responsibility All participants in general and Chairperson in specific.

Switch off Mobile Phones during the meeting:

It disturbs the flow of the discussion. It also disturbs other participants and the attention of the receiver gets diverted to the phone call.

CONDUCTING MEETINGS
Give respect to dissenting voice:
If some participant

is opining which is different than the opinion of majority, it should be given due respect as he is probably highlighting the risks associated with majority opinion. Responsibility - All participants in general and Chairperson in specific.

Be objective, not subjective:

Best decisions are made by objectively collecting, analyzing and debating over the relevant data. If some problem is being discussed, go to the root cause. Subjectivity could lead to making wrong choices. Responsibility all participants.

CONDUCTING MEETINGS
Responsibility, time frame and resources required for implementing decisions:
When

a point has been deliberated to the extent that a decision is taken about it, it should also be decided as to who will implement that decision and within what time frame. It should also be discussed as to what additional resources will be required to implement that decision and how and by what time these resources shall be provided.

CONDUCTING MEETINGS
Taking notes:
In the duration of the meeting, several points and ideas will be thrown up which, if not documented, will evaporate into thin air well before the end. Therefore, it is best for the Chairperson to appoint one person to jot down notes during the meeting. It is better still if two persons take notes just in case one misses out something important.

Minutes of the meeting:

At the end of the meeting, the person assigned should note down the minutes to create a document and circulate it amongst all attendees. Such a document typically contains the date and time of the meeting, names of attendees, the agenda and, against each of the points on the agenda, the action items.

CONDUCTING MEETINGS
Conclusion:
When all points on the agenda have been discussed to the
satisfaction of all parties, the Chairperson should wrap up by briefly reading out the salient points of all that has been discussed, including action to be taken once people return to their work. The minutes of the meeting is a good starting point to follow up with team members in the following days if necessary action has been taken, as discussed.

Follow up:
Responsibility to follow up and check whether the decisions taken in the meeting are being implemented or not lies with the Coordinator of the meeting. Any deviations should be brought to the notice of the Chairperson