Communication & Organisation Lecture 9 Business Meetings Communication & Organisation Lecture 9

Communication & Organisation Lecture 9 Business Meeting A communication event between two or more people, usually taking sufficient time to allow some dialogue. Communication & Organisation Lecture 9

Communication & Organisation Lecture 9 Meetings? May take place for many reasons e.g.: Sales meeting with customer Engineering project progress meetings Brainstorming meetings Strategy meetings Supplier negotiation meetings Meetings with the bank or with local government Communication & Organisation Lecture 9

Communication & Organisation Lecture 9 Meetings? Informal Meetings: These happen as we pass in the hallway or in the canteen. They can be very useful for lobbying or bouncing ideas about. Also used for spreading rumours. They help grease the wheels of an organisation. Usually FTF ( Face to Face) but may include duplex CMC such as the telephone. Usually 2 people or maybe 3. Communication & Organisation Lecture 9

Communication & Organisation Lecture 9 Semi-Formal Meetings: These may be called at short notice to address an issue of importance and perhaps agree actions. It may include a large group e.g Town Hall Meeting Someone will call the meeting and probably act as chair person. Sometimes this may include information transfer of importance e.g We have just won a life saving order from Company X….. Communication & Organisation Lecture 9

Communication & Organisation Lecture 9 Formal Meetings: Are planned in advance and those attending given some idea of the purpose of the event, the venue and a start time. But is that enough?……….. Communication & Organisation Lecture 9

Communication & Organisation Lecture 9 Survey Results In multinational companies over 75% of formal meetings are held between colleagues and do not include customers, suppliers or other ‘outsiders’. Over 40% of those asked indicated that the meeting was of no value to them ( in doing their job). Communication & Organisation Lecture 9

Communication & Organisation Lecture 9 Reasons for Failure? Poor preparation Ill defined focus Too many items to consider Takes far too long Goes off at tangents Too many people ( some who contribute nothing) Poor chairmanship No agenda No time limit ( and stuck to) No ( or poor) records kept of actions agreed No effective follow-up Communication & Organisation Lecture 9

Communication & Organisation Lecture 9 ? So, what can we learn from this? ? Communication & Organisation Lecture 9

Communication & Organisation Lecture 9 Prepare Meetings Management Follow-Up Manage Communication & Organisation Lecture 9

Preparing for the Meeting What purpose is purposed for having the meeting? Do reports have to be written – alert the report writer! Who will contribute ( and who will not)? Prepare an AGENDA(and agree it with all) Are there regular items (yearly, monthly?) Venue: Time? Place? Room availability? Communication & Organisation Lecture 9

Communication & Organisation Lecture 9 The AGENDA Apologies for absence Minutes of the last meeting (Accuracy) Matters arising from the minutes ( Actions, progress etc.) Substantive item 1 Substantive item 5 A.O.B. (Any Other Business) Date for next ( follow-up) meeting Communication & Organisation Lecture 9

Communication & Organisation Lecture 9 Conduct of the Meeting Meeting has to be chaired Is the meeting constitutional? (Advertised? Quorate?) Remarks addressed through the chair Proper discussion (focussed) ‘Sense of meeting’; Vote if necessary Each item to be followed by a decision & actions. Meeting adjourned, concluded Communication & Organisation Lecture 9

Communication & Organisation Lecture 9

Communication & Organisation Lecture 9 Minutes of the meeting Minutes should reflect AGENDA Accurate reflection of decisions (rather than the discussion) Record (indexed?) to be kept in minute book or minute file Audit trail should be possible from agenda...minutes...action taken Communication & Organisation Lecture 9

Communication & Organisation Lecture 9 Accuracy of Minutes A permanent record of the decisions that have been taken This constitutes the ‘authority’ of a decision i.e. bureaucracies are rational-legal In large organisations, minutes are fed through into other committees Matters of accuracy should be checked at the subsequent meeting Communication & Organisation Lecture 9

Chairing of the meeting When chairing a meeting, the chairperson needs to show impartiality at all times Balance needs to be kept between democracy and efficiency “Chairperson’s action” may be needed for urgent items arising from a meeting Conflicts of interest should be declared at all times, particularly by the chairperson. Communication & Organisation Lecture 9

Communication & Organisation Lecture 9

Communication & Organisation Lecture 9

Communication & Organisation Lecture 9 After the Meeting Was it worth while? What was achieved? What was NOT achieved Is there a better way? E.g. Different venue; different people; shorter agenda; less/more frequent etc. etc. Communication & Organisation Lecture 9

Communication & Organisation Lecture 9 Questions ? Communication & Organisation Lecture 9

Communication & Organisation Lecture 9 Activity….. In groups of 6 to 8 students Form a meeting with a Chairperson and a Secretary( leave 2 persons as observers) Discuss and agree a proposition (We agree/disagree that all degrees awarded at University College Winchester are better now that they are their own and not those of Univ of Southampton) Observers to consider any rules that are broken and good principles followed. Communication & Organisation Lecture 9