Meetings: What is Your Role?
Meetings: What is Your
Role?
Every professional who conducts or chairs any meeting or attends any meeting as
a participant of the meeting should ask himself:
- Which meetings or what types of meetings do I attend?
- What is my role in the meetings? Chairman of the
meeting, facilitator, participant, supplier, customer, consultant, expert
or any other?
- What can be my contributions? To achieve what
objectives?
- How can I bring about improvements in managing and
conducting the meetings?
- Do have I some specific ideas of improvement and can I
implement them?
- Do I possess necessary skills/competencies in managing
and conducting the meetings and can I improve upon them?
- How can I make the meetings- their process and results
more effective?
- Can the meetings be made more interesting and bit of
fun?
Critical Questions
Prior To Meetings
Before managing,
arranging, conducting or attending any meeting find the answers to the
following critical questions:
- Why meeting?
- What is the subject matter/agenda?
- Who are attending the meeting?
- When is the meeting?
- Where will the meeting take place/venue?
- Where to: expected outcomes/results of the meeting?
Also answer one more question: Is
the meeting really necessary? what will happen if it does not take place?
Planning a Meeting
- Agenda preparation
- Agenda to be brief
- Duration of meeting
- Time allocation for each agenda item
- Decision on names of participants
- Date and time of meeting
- Venue of meeting
- Communication about meeting to all the participants
Role of the Chairman
(or Facilitator) of the Meeting
- Welcoming the participants
- Communicating the purpose of meeting
- Managing agenda and agenda items
- Managing participants
- Controlling difficult participants
- Equitable treatment to participants
- Motivating the participants for contribution
- Appreciating the participants for good ideas
- Clarifying
- Summarizing
- Managing time
- Making sure that documentations/minutes are being
recorded
Role of the
Participants
- Come prepared for meeting
- Be punctual
- Be enthusiastic and show it
- Take active part
- Contribute by sharing information, ideas and solutions
- Contribute to the process of meeting
- Do speak and take your chance to speak
- Listen attentively
- Appreciate other participants for their contribution
- Be flexible about the acceptance of outcomes if you are
convinced
- Accept your role as an implementer of the decisions
arrived at in the meeting wherever required
Types of Meetings
- Statutory
- Formal
- Informal
- Business
- Team Building
- Physically together
- Video conferencing
Skills/Competencies
Required for Conducting Effective Meetings
- Planning
- Organizing people
- Communication
- Assertiveness
- Time management
- Motivation
- Leadership
|