Meeting Skills

Course Objectives Explain the Importance of Effective Meetings Describe the Meeting Process Explain the Key Elements of Meeting Explain the Key Roles in a Meeting Explain What is Minutes of Meeting (MoM) Describe the Decision Making Approaches in Meeting List the Characteristics of a Good Facilitator Explain the Role of Active Listening in Meetings Explain the Various Questioning Techniques Explain the Role of Body Language in Meetings List the Challenges of Meetings Describe Dos and Don’ts of Meeting Etiquette

Introduction Radium Project Mark Dawson is a Project Manager in Helios Inc. He has called a meeting of his team members. He wants to discuss the progress on Radium Project, a project of developing new billing software.

Introduction Radium Project Let’s begin! Let’s focus on Radium Project for now. …….. What about the progress on XYZ Project ? Yes, XYZ Project has …… …….. XYZ Project is ………. XYZ Project …… The meeting started off well. However, as the meeting progressed, it was found that the discussion deviated from the progress of Radium Project. Mark tries his best to bring the focus of the meeting back on Radium Project but to no avail.

Let’s focus on Radium Project for now. Introduction I’ll need to reschedule the meeting again to discuss the progress of Radium Project. Let’s focus on Radium Project for now. Radium Project …….. XYZ Project …… ……. XYZ Project The participants in the meeting continued discussing other projects, general team related concerns and queries and other general issues. The end result of the meeting was that Mark was not able to complete the discussion about the progress of Radium Project and decided to schedule another meeting again for the same.

Introduction Radium Project It is equally important for the person conducting a meeting to have outstanding meeting skills as well as for the participants to have good meeting skills so that they can together contribute towards making a meeting successful. Most people think that conducting a meeting or attending a meeting is a very simple and straightforward process. However, there are several intricacies involved in conducting a meeting successfully as well as involving each participant and getting the best from each of them in a meeting.

Introduction Radium Project As you have seen in the earlier example, in spite of Mark’s best intentions to discuss the Radium Project in the meeting, the discussion deviated towards several other topics. So, let us learn about meeting skills in detail. Hence, the end purpose of a meeting will not be met successfully if your meeting skills are not up to the mark.

Conducting Effective Meetings People do not like to waste their time; hence running efficient and successful meetings is a key skill that every individual should learn for growing in their career. Running an effective meeting is more than sending out a notice that your team is to meet at a particular time and place. An effective meeting achieves the following: It achieves the meeting's objective. It takes up a minimum amount of time. It leaves participants feeling that a sensible process has been followed.

9 out of 10 people daydream in meetings. Did You Know? Research has shown that: 50% of meeting time is unproductive and that up to 25% is spent discussing irrelevant issues. Following a detailed agenda and starting on time would reduce the time that managers spend in meetings by 80 percent. Agenda items are covered in only 53% of the scheduled time, with the remaining time as unproductive. Most managers spend up to 10 hours a week in meetings and 90% believe that more than half of that time is wasted. Executives spend on an average of 40-50% of their working hours in meetings. 49% of participants considered unfocused meetings and projects as the biggest workplace time waster. 9 out of 10 people daydream in meetings.

Meeting Progress Flow Opening Concluding Discussion The following diagram shows the flow of the progress of a meeting: Discussion

Meeting Process Follow-up: The third step of the meeting process is the follow-up. This is done in sync with the action agenda that has been prepared after the exchange of information during the meeting. This also involves keeping track of the roles and responsibilities that were assigned to different people during the meeting.

Key Roles in a Meeting Chairperson The Chairperson is responsible for ensuring that meetings are run effectively and efficiently. The chair must consider two main task functions of the group which are as follows: The actions and decisions that are critical to achieve The maintenance functions – the relationships, welfare and harmony of the group Both functions are important and will affect the organization’s success. The chair has the lead role in planning, preparing, implementing and evaluating meetings and is responsible for starting and ending on time and involving members in the decisions and discussions.

Minutes of Meeting Name of organization A format of minutes of meeting is given below. You will notice that any minutes of meeting should include the following elements: Purpose of meeting Date and time of meeting Minutes of Meeting Name of Organization: Purpose of Meeting: Date/Time: Location: Chair Person: Name of Participants: Topic Discussion Action Due dates for the completion Person Responsible 1.     2.   Further Notes or Comments: Location of the meeting Name of the Chair Person Name of participants Topics / agenda covered Discussion / decisions made by the participants Follow-up actions committed by participants Due dates for completion Name of person responsible for each action Other comments worth documenting for future review or history

Before the Meeting Notify Everyone who needs to know about the Meeting The following should be done before the meeting: Ensure all Reports & Information are available: Confirm that the required person or a suitable alternate is available to attend the meeting and make a report. Notify Everyone who needs to know about the Meeting Ensure all Reports & Information are available Send out Agenda & Background Information prior to Meeting Plan the Agenda

Physical Set-up of the Meeting All your best planning efforts can be wasted if you overlook the physical surroundings of your meeting. The following considerations of the physical set-up of a meeting will encourage participation and foster success: Other considerations to be Other considerations to be Other considerations to be Other considerations to be Other considerations to be Other considerations to be Other considerations to be Other considerations to be Other considerations to be v Other considerations to be Other considerations to be Other considerations to be Other considerations to be Other considerations to be Other considerations to be Other considerations to be Other considerations to be Other considerations to be Other considerations to be Other considerations to be Other considerations to be Other considerations to be Other considerations to be Other considerations to be Other considerations to be Other considerations to be Other considerations to be Other considerations to be Other considerations to be Other considerations to be Other considerations to be Other considerations to be Other considerations to be Other considerations to be Other considerations to be Other considerations to be Other considerations to be Other considerations to be Other considerations to be Other considerations to be Other considerations to be Let us look at each in detail. Size of the room: How many people will attend the meeting? Too big a room gives an isolated feeling, and too small a room makes people feel cramped and uncomfortable.

Physical Set-up of the Meeting Size of the room: How many people will attend the meeting? Too big a room gives an isolated feeling, and too small a room makes people feel cramped and uncomfortable. Size of the room: How many people will attend the meeting? Too big a room gives an isolated feeling, and too small a room makes people feel cramped and uncomfortable.

At The Meeting At the meeting, the following key points should be kept in mind for an effective meeting: 1 Set the ground rules: These agreements for participant behavior will make meetings more efficient and effective. They should be discussed by the group and revisited periodically. Some ground rules are: Everyone has equal rights and can participate. The will of the majority is carried out. The minority will be heard. Only one topic will be considered at a time. Decision-making will be done fairly and impartially

Evaluating the Meeting Some ideas for assessing your meeting are as follows: Have the participants complete an anonymous survey about the meeting and discuss the results. Appoint someone to monitor the meeting process and report on it at the end. Rotate the responsibility among the members. Before the meeting is adjourned ask, “what went well” and “what could be improved.”

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