Managing Meetings



Managing Meetings

After the careful reading of the case study of Paramount Paper Products, following steps should they focus in order to manage the meeting effectively.

PPP should be able to define the purpose of the meeting in 1 or 2 sentences at most. "This meeting is to plan the new marketing campaign" or "this meeting is to review shipping's new policy for handling returns." That way everyone knows why they are there, what needs to be done, and how to know if they are successful.

Determine the purpose of the meeting

Meetings occur when groups of people gather to discuss and try to resolve matters which are of mutual concern. They provide the opportunity for all parties in an organisation to work as a team to fulfil their roles, while ensuring the goals of the organisation are met. This is achieved by structuring the meetings to ensure equal contribution from all representatives, resulting in innovative ideas, problem solving and decision-making processes.

Dwyer (2006) tells us that meetings can be used to:

provide or clarify information

give and receive feedback

provide training

encourage decision-making and problem-solving

facilitate discussion

encourage creativity and innovation.

Meetings can also be held to comply with statutory and legislative requirements of an organisation.

Time Management

One of the most difficult facilitation tasks is time management -- time seems to run out before tasks are completed. Therefore, the biggest challenge is keeping momentum to keep the process moving.

PPP might ask attendees to help them keep track of the time.

If the planned time on the agenda is getting out of hand, present it to the group and ask for their input as to a resolution.

Planning the meeting

Before calling a meeting, PPP need to determine if a face-to-face meeting is necessary, or can the objectives be achieved equally effectively by a tele- or video-conference. PPP then need to take into account the purpose of the meeting, its style, structure and any budgetary constraints. This will assist PPP in deciding on the venue, catering, travel and accommodation arrangements that may be necessary.

A Notice of Meeting states the purpose, date, time and venue of the proposed meeting. This notice is often incorporated in the Agenda, which lists the business items proposed for the meeting and the order in which they will be dealt with. It is a record of what will happen at the meeting.

The Minutes of the meeting are a record of the time, date and venue of the meeting, who was in attendance, the matters discussed and decisions made. They are a record of what did happen.

The Agenda, accompanied by a copy of the Minutes of the previous meeting, should be prepared and distributed to all members in a timely manner (usually at least 14 days before the proposed meeting )to enable participation by all interested parties. In some organisations a draft agenda may be distributed to allow participants to put forward amendments or additions. Obviously this will need to be done so that sufficient time is allowed for a revised agenda to be distributed prior to the meeting ...