1. Lecture 9: Conducting Interactive Meetings and Writing Minutes

2. Conducting Interactive Meetings and Writing Minutes
I. Steps in Planning a Meeting
II. Setting the Agenda
Elements
Order of agenda items
Example
III. Participating in Meetings
The Chairperson
The Secretary
The Participants

3. Conducting Interactive Meetings and Writing Minutes (cont’d)
IV. Resolving conflict
Possible outcome
Win-win assumptions
V. Writing Minutes of Meeting
Elements
Producing minutes
Example
VI. Strategies to Improve Your Listening
Effectiveness

4. Steps in Planning a Meeting
1. Determining the purpose
Information sharing
Decision making
Identifying issue / brainstorming
Persuasion and negotiation / discussion
Decision
Problem solving
Identifying solution(s) / brainstorming
Evaluating solution(s) / discussion
Choosing best solution(s) / decision

5. Steps in Planning a Meeting (cont’d)
2. Selecting the participants
Key contributors
Decision makers
3. Setting the agenda
Frames the structure of the meeting.
Consists of a list of items to be discussed.
Distributes meeting content in advance for better contribution.
Allows chairperson to keep the meeting focused and achieve its purpose.
Presents items in order they appear and the limit allocated by the chairman.

6. Steps in Planning a Meeting (cont’d)
4. Picking the convenient time and the location
Time of day
Morning versus afternoon
Venue
Comfort and convenience
Seating
5. Preparing notice of meeting
6. Sending out documents
7. Copying minutes of last meeting

7. Setting the Agenda Elements of the Agenda 1. To : Involved personnel
2. From : Chairperson
3. Date : Date of the meeting
4. Subject: Brief description of the meeting
5. Issues to be discussed
6. Person responsible for any designated issues
7. Designated time line
8. See Samples

8. THE GRABBIT INSURANCE COMPANY AGENDA
TO: All Members of Staff
FROM: Joe Chan (Chairperson)
DATE: 23 February 200-
SUBJECT: Monthly Staff Meeting
A meeting of all members of staff will be held on Monday 3 March 2000 at 10 am in the conference room. It will last about one hour.
1. Apologies for absence (JC)
2. Minutes of the last meeting (JC)
3. Matters arising (WW)
4. Measures to be taken to cut running costs (SY)
5. How the measures are to be implemented
6. Any other business
7. Date of the next meeting
Ms T Tam
Secretary to the chairperson
Distribution: Willie Wong Sanny Yeung
Charlie Wu Billy Bunter
Susie Wong Venus Pong
Peter Perks Joesph Tse
Source: Adapted from NLM

9. Participating in Meetings
The Chairperson
Before the meeting
During the meeting
The Secretary
After the meeting
The Participants

10. Participating in Meetings (cont’d)
Each participant has a role to play in a meeting as follows:
THE CHAIRPERSON
Beforehand:
Establishing purpose
Deciding if a meeting is necessary
Choosing participants
Preparing agenda
Circulating agenda etc.
Checking arrangements

11. Open the meeting: invite introductions if necessary; state the purpose of the meeting; present the agenda.
Move to first agenda item
During the meeting :
Invite someone to speak
Move to the next point
Bring others into the discussion
Interrupt / Control if necessary
Ask for repetition and clarification
Paraphrase (restate using own words) & Summarize (brief general statement)
Conclude the discussion: summarize the decisions/ points raised make sure tasks are delegated
Ask if there is any other business
End the meeting and fix the next meeting date
Source: Adapted from NLM

12. Participating in Meetings (cont’d)
THE SECRETARY
Beforehand:
Helping distribute the agenda to participants
Checking physical arrangements
Preparing stationery and necessary documents etc
Booking venue

13. Participating in Meetings (cont’d)
During the meeting:
Taking notes for the minutes
Providing information to chairperson and participants if needed
After the meeting:
Writing up the minutes
Checking accuracy of the minutes with the chairperson
Circulating the minutes to participants before the next meeting

14. Participating in Meetings (cont’d)
THE PARTICIPANTS
Beforehand:
Reading the agenda and any other pre-meeting documentation
Preparing for the meeting
Confirming availability
Being punctual to the meeting

15. Participating in Meetings (cont’d)
During the meeting:
Making relevant and productive contributions
Asking for clarification if necessary
Being prepared to justify opinions
Being attentive and listening
Being aware of your and others’ body language
After the meeting:
Following up with any action agreed during the meeting

16.  Win-lose  Lose-lose  Win-win Resolving Conflict Possible outcome
Win-win assumptions
 Win-lose
Mutual satisfaction possible
Parties willing to cooperate
Parties can be trusted
 Lose-lose
 Win-win

17. Writing Minutes of Meetings
About minutes
Can be defined as a written record of the business transacted at a meeting.
May well have some legal and authoritative force.
Must summarize the major contributions to the discussion in such a way that each speaker’s interactions are recorded
Must be clear about what the speaker “meant”, not just what the individual “said”
The process of minutes writing is a process of interpretation, not just repetition

18. Writing Minutes of Meetings (cont’d)
Check that the minutes
Provide a true, impartial and balance account of the proceedings;
Are written in clear, concise and unambiguous language;
Are concise and accurate;
Follow a method of presentation which helps the reader assimilated the content.

19. Writing Minutes of Meetings (cont’d)
Elements to be included in a minutes:
Heading (including where and when the meeting was held)
Present (who was there)
Apologies of Absence
Minutes of the previous meeting (note any corrections and state the minutes were accepted as a true record of the meeting [with the above corrections, where applicable])
Statements of what actually occurred at the meeting
Any Other Business (AOB)
Who was the chairperson and who the secretary
The time the meeting adjourned and when the next meeting is to take place

20. Writing Minutes of Meetings (cont’d)
Types of minutes writing:
Narrative minutes [Click for example]
A summary of the discussion leading up to a decision.
Useful for meetings that a more detailed record of the discussion is preferable.
Resolution minutes [Click for example]
Actual resolutions are emphasized, but only give brief details of the discussion itself.
Opinions stated, conflicts among members and disagreements are treated off-record.
Action minutes [Click for example]
Record the decision made on the issue and the action (what) to be taken (by whom) and (when).
(See Supplementary Reading for examples)

21. Strategies to Improve Your Listening Effectiveness
Second language listening problems
Native speaker accents and pronunciation
Speed: Perceived pace of native speaker delivery
Inability to predict because of unfamiliarity with
Concept / subject matter
Terminology
Cultural references
Sustaining concentration

22. Strategies to Improve Your Listening Effectiveness (cont’d)
Strategies to strengthen your academic listening skills
Before the Lecture
1. Prepare yourself
mentally:
- Write down one thing you already know
about the topic
- Listen to confirm
2. Prepare the subject area
- Reading in advance to establish a context
3. Predict what you
will hear (outline
format)
- Write down 2 or 3 questions related to
the topic: 2-3 things:
1. You expect to find out
2. You would like to know
3. You didn’t understand from the reading

23. Strategies to Improve Your Listening Effectiveness (cont’d)
During the Lecture
1. Listen for key words
- Don’t write down everything
- Leave lots of white space on the page
- Use a numbering system
2. Listen for
organizational
signposts
- First of all / next / a further point / finally
- One… Two…
- First… Second…
3. Listen for summaries
and for repeats
- To sum up
- In summary then
4. Wake
- Mind drifting?
5. Link to what you
know
- Write notes to yourself:
1. Examples
2. Comparisons

24. Strategies to Improve Your Listening Effectiveness (cont’d)
After the Lecture
1. Review
- Read over your notes as SOON as you
can after the lecture
- Use hours between classes!
2. Transform
- Manipulate the information in some way:
1. Chart
2. Diagram
3. Mind map

25. ~ The End ~