Good Meetings are three-fourths

preparation and one-fourth

theater.from Gail Godwin

Why Worry?
Time is money!
Time is also precious!
Meetings involve a group of people working
towards a common goal.
We have to make as productive a use of our
time as possible to be effective.

The Practical Alternative to Work !!

Success Factors
Purpose of the Meeting
Why was the meeting held?
What was EXPECTED to be accomplished?
What was REALLY accomplished?

Success Factors (cont)

Membership
Who attended a meeting?
Was the knowledge needed available?
Were members willing to participate freely?

Success Factors (cont)

Leadership
The leader provides guidance and unity to the group.
The leader has the challenge of guiding the other
participants.
Six common behaviors include:

Initiating
Orienting
Clarifying
Informing
Integrating
Summarizing

Types of Meeting
When two or more people meet, its a
meeting !!
Broadly,
Information Giving
Information Taking
Decision Making

Formal Meetings
Daily Meetings/ Briefing
Daily review and reporting
Could be standing meeting for maximum 10
minutes
Closely working group
Quick to the point
Review actions during the day
Verbal

 Weekly / periodic meetings

Send invites and agenda with details

Sometimes Cross functional
Minutes to be prepared
R & R to be defined

Emergency meetings

Urgent purpose, unpredictable event

Telephonic invitation is enough
Brief and specific
Action points and responsibilities specific

 Informative meetings
Usually to update participants
New policies, offers, procedures
Feedbacks and reviews (information receiving)
Ensuring project is on track
Circulate written material on points to remember
etc

 Problem Solving meeting

Send agenda with relevant material along with
invite about 3-4 days in advance
Leader should encourage participation
Brainstorming sessions
Free discussion, small groups

Specify urgency of problem and its probable

impact
Focus on arriving at conclusion / solution

 AGMs/ Board Meeting

Follow protocol
Ensure all necessary reports and documents are
circulated well in advance
Formal guests, maybe outside the work group, so
extra care is necessary
Circulate draft of minutes for confirmation
Clarity in communication
Time management

Office Host:
The host's responsibility is to greet the guest and to make the visitor
feel comfortable.
If you're busy, have your secretary go out to reception to bring the
visitor to your office. Then, get up and come around from the desk to
shake hands with the person.
Indicate where you would like the person to sit.
The host leads the visitor through the visit.
When the meeting is over, the host is responsible for bringing the
meeting to a close, summarizing what was covered and what action is
to be taken.
Then the host escorts the visitor to the elevator or out of the office.
Never leave visitors to find their own way. Not only is it rude, it
jeopardizes security.

Formal Guest:
First, a guest is punctual and does not pay surprise visits
Guests also do not make themselves more comfortable in
someone else's office than the host.
they don't place a handbag or briefcase on the hosts desk.
Guests also do not overstay their welcome
If your host is delayed, keep yourself busy by reading,
working on projects, or reviewing your notes. Do not get
angry, this will set the tone of the visit.
Do not use their assistants or secretaries as yours. Do not
interrupt them while performing their job.

Meetings/Appointments
Be on time or notify appropriate individuals
when missing the meeting is unavoidable.
Dont keep others waiting. This lack of respect
for others diminishes your effectiveness
If you must be late for a meeting, have another
individual join the meeting in your absence to
explain the circumstance. If you scheduled the
meeting, have someone else extend an offer to
make those waiting more comfortable.

Meeting/Appointments
When expecting a group of people, make sure
to have adequate seating.
When visiting other offices, do not blame
assistants if you are kept waiting.

Opening the Meeting

Establish a Friendly Atmosphere

Start on Time
Open with an Attention-Getter
Welcome the Group

During the meetings

Put mobile phone on silent mode
Receive only very important call, keep them
very brief
Take notes wherever required
Focus only on agenda
Avoid getting angry / taking things personally
Summarize before you leave
Thank the host for the courtesies extended

Try to conclude !!
Lets agree to disagree !!

Concluding a Meeting

Indicate Its Time to Conclude

Review the Problem Briefly
Summarize the Progress Made
Emphasize Major Agreements
Inform of Developments
Thank the Group

After the meeting

Circulate the minutes of meeting
Conclusion
Action points
Time frame
Responsibility allocation

When someone else circulates the minutes,

confirm or request necessary changes
immediately

7 Strategies for Successful Meeting

What really goes on in the

mind during meeting !!

1. Purpose
Have a reason for the meeting.
Make sure there are decisions, issues, or such
items to be discussed that cannot be handled
effectively outside of the meeting.
Keep in mind, there are no neutral meetings,
the meeting is either beneficial to the group
or detrimental.

2. Prepare
Build the knowledge base prior to the
meeting.
e-mail or mail information prior to the
meeting. By doing so, valuable meeting time is
not spent skimming the handout materials.
Attendees must then be expected to come
prepared, having read what was sent out in
advance.

3. Road Map
Have a meeting agenda.
A strong agenda will set the tone on what will be
achieved.
If you allow new issues to become the focus, then
you are taking away from the agenda items.
Also, limit the amount of items on the agenda to
a reasonable amount; you do not want so many
items that following the next tip is impossible.

4. Time Management
Start and end on time.
Even relevant items can be discussed in circles so
many times that the group gets dizzy.
Time limits allow the meeting leader to focus the
group on accomplishing the agenda timely.
Referring to the agenda as the reason to move on
allows the facilitator to avoid hurt feelings.
Meeting attendees appreciate your
demonstration of respect for their time.

5. Rules of Engagement
Develop meeting norms (guidelines) and follow
them.
The specific meeting norms depend on the group
of people attending. A common norm is to allow
everyone an uninterrupted opportunity to
contribute.
Once norms are established, it is imperative that
everyone follows them.
The meeting leader must respectfully remind
participants of the norms when they start to
stray.

6. Discuss and Decide

Encourage participation and make decisions.
Even if you must post-pone a decision until more
data is available, make that determination and
move forward.
When making group decisions, explicitly invite
everyone to participate.
If you notice someone not participating, ask
directly for his or her view on the subject.
Warning: some critics will still complain and place
blame even if it was their idea.

7. Action
A meeting can appear very productive at the closing and
never actually accomplish anything beyond discussion.
Close the meeting by reviewing what was discussed and
creating a task list with responsible people and timelines.
Update the people who could not attend and inform
them about their Roles and Responsibilities
Another important aspect of follow up is the list (often
called a Parking Lot) of items that were brought up and
determined to be better handled at another time.
The best decisions in the world do not accomplish much
if they are not implemented.

Participating in Meeting

Confirm attendance upon invitation

Be on time
Be Prepared
Share your views
Back up your opinions with facts and figures
Be Objective Dont get personal
Take notes
Allow others to speak

 Understand the task before volunteering for it

In case you are assigned a task, ask for
support if required
Give progress reports periodically after the
meeting
Respect others opinion and try to understand
their point of view
Drive for conclusion, not just argument

Its not important who is right

Focus only on

What is Right

Any Questions !!

Role Playing :
- Activity Why did you select it
- Did all participants gave their views
- Mode of selection/decision
- When you propose to do it
- Benefits of the activity
- Responsibility allocation and action points
- Alternative plans