Unit:7 Business Communication

Meetings A meeting is a gathering of two or more people; who gather to discuss, share, investigate, decide, or with any other common objective – which is to be achieved through continuous and meaningful interaction among them. A meeting could take several forms and settings, depending upon objective and participants of the meeting. But presence of specific purpose and interaction between participants, are essential parts of any meeting.

Types of meetings Kick-off Meeting Status Update Meeting Shareholder Meeting Brainstorming Session Damage Control Meeting Pitch Session Pre-Bid Meeting

Kick-off Meeting At the beginning of a new project, the stakeholders gather to have a Kickoff meeting. A kickoff meeting is an initial interaction between the stakeholders, where roles and contributions of respective stakeholders are discussed and agreed upon. Information regarding project requirements and standard processes to be followed are shared in the meeting.

Status Update Meeting A status update meeting is a meeting being held at a specific interval of time – weekly, monthly, or quarterly basis – to share and discuss any update regarding the status of respective organization, department, team, or any other specific group of people.

Shareholder Meeting Shareholder meetings are, generally, organized on annual basis by an organization inviting the people who hold a share in the respective organization. Through this meeting, an organization can share current financial situation with the stakeholders, and also provide them information regarding any future plans which may have an impact on finances of the organization.

Brainstorming Session A meeting to have brainstorming session is organized to get creative ideas from the team. Participants of the meeting are encouraged to, spontaneously, come up with new ideas through intensive discussions among them. This particular technique can be used to define a future action plan, or to identify the best possible solution to a particular problem.

Damage Control Meeting An organization may face a critical situation, where a specific problem arises and threatens to damage organization’s public image. In such situations, a damage control meeting is held. Through this meeting, every stakeholder is taken on board regarding the issue.

Pitch Session A pitch session is the type of meeting where one individual or group pitches the idea – tangible, or tangible – to another individual or group. A pitch session could take several forms, depending upon the nature of business, product, or idea. The objective of such meetings is to nicely present your idea to respective person/group, to successfully close the deal.

Pre-Bid Meeting A number of interested contractors and prospective bidders meet to regarding a future project, in a pre-bed meeting. A potential customer, who specifies the bidding requirements, may host such meeting. Contractors and bidders, normally, visit the actual location of future project to make sure that they are aware of the details and services they need to provide for that project.

Planning for meetings Identifying the Purpose Drawing the Agenda Inviting Attendees Scheduling the Meeting

Organizing documentation Assessing Your Needs Making the Scene Running the Meeting

Assessing Your Needs Assessing the things that are needed according to the plan is part of organizing meeting. It should be carefully assessed that what kind of apparatus is required to successfully run the meeting without any problem or breakdown being occurring right in middle if the meeting.

Making the Scene After planning everything perfectly and organizing the required equipment, next step is to ensure that meeting is held in a suitable environment. The environment should be comfortable enough, and matching with the type and objective of meeting, to make everyone feel associated with the settings.

Running the Meeting “This includes opening the meeting, starting the discussion, developing the discussion and concluding the meeting. The chairperson starts the meeting with apologies for absence followed by approval of the previous meeting's minutes. He should restate the purpose of the meeting.

Conducting effective meeting Be prepared Have an Agenda Start on Time and End on Time Encourage Ideas Maintain the Focus Capture and Assign Action Items Get Feedback

Today we discussed: Types of meetings Planning for meetings Organizing documentation Conducting effective meeting

List of References: AIHA (2005) Health and Safety Requirements in Construction Contract Documents. VA: American Industrial Hygiene Association, p.20 Friedmann, S.A, (2003), Meeting and Event Planning for Dummies, Wiley Publishing Inc., Indiana, USA. Osborn, A.F. (1963) Applied imagination: Principles and procedures of creative problem solving (Third Revised Edition). New York Sethi, A. and Adhikari, B., (2010), Business Communication, Tata McGraw Hill, New Delhi, India. Weynton, B, (2002), Organizing Meeting, Software Publication Pty Ltd., Sydney, Australia