LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION SKILLS 2

BBA 1201

PREPARED BY PRISCILLA DALILI MBVUNDULA

 Planning and
conducting Effective
Meetings
 MEETING
Meeting defined:
A defined real-time gathering of two or more people for the
purpose of achieving a common goal through conversation
and interaction.
Meetings can be effective, ineffective, or a complete waste of
time.
QUALITIES OF MEETINGS
1. Meetings are declared – someone proposes and schedules
the meeting.
2. Meetings have a purpose – Though may not be clear to
the attendees, but there is always the need for calling the
meeting.
3. Meetings have a defined start and end -Each meeting has
a clear before, during, and after.
 BEFORE THE MEETING
1. Define your meeting goal
Why are you meeting?
Brainstorming, making policies
Clearly identify and communicate the purpose
of the meeting before anything else.
 BEFORE THE MEETING…cont

2. Decide attendees
• Select relevant participants, not just
everyone and anyone.
• Be thoughtful with your invite list to avoid
getting negative feedback for wasting other
people’s time.
 BEFORE THE MEETING…cont

3. collaborate on your agenda

• Needs team work
• Brings some other important issues to your
attention that you might not have been
aware of.
 BEFORE THE
MEETING…..cont
4. Provide supporting materials
- Send pre-reading documents that might be useful
to your participants.
- Should be sent a few days in advance to let them
have enough time to go through.
- Helps attendees come prepared and contribute
their thought, ideas and experiences.
 BEFORE THE
MEETING…..cont
5. Designate one time keeper
- Holds you accountable not to digrace, but to focus
on your topic thereby keeping time.
- Giving participants roles, increases engagement.
- Make sure you rotate roles each meeting so that the
role shouldn’t fall on the same person.
 BEFORE THE
MEETING…..cont
6. Designate a participant to take notes
 DURING THE MEETING
1. Punctuality
2. State the meeting goals/objectives – be clear, communicate
the goal clearly and concisely.
3. Start with good news – start on a positive note.
Acknowledge the presence of the participants and applaud
them for sparing their time. Positive remarks encourages your
team to continue working hard, knowing that their efforts
don’t go unnoticed. This motivates them.
 DURING THE
MEETING…..cont
1. Punctuality
2. State the meeting goals/objectives – be clear, communicate
the goal clearly and concisely.
3. Start with good news – start on a positive note.
Acknowledge the presence of the participants and applaud
them for sparing their time. Positive remarks encourages your
team to continue working hard, knowing that their efforts
don’t go unnoticed. This motivates them.
 DURING THE
MEETING…..cont
4. Follow the agenda to keep time
- Helps you focus on your topic for discussion
- Helps you not go beyond allocated meeting time.
5. Place new topics on parking lot for next meeting
6. Take notes – apart from the designated participants, it is also
important for you to take notes as the meting progresses.
7. Highlight decisions made
8. Assign tasks to specific people and set a due date – helps in holding
people accountable to specific tasks.
 DURING THE
MEETING…..cont
9. Summarise next steps – be concise
10. End the meeting on a positive note – thank everyone for
their time and participation. Let the feel valued.
 AFTER THE MEETING
Last step in meeting planning process
1. Distribute the minutes as soon as possible – get the notes
while everything discussed is still fresh in everyone’s mind.
Encourages promptness and quick in getting things done.
2. Communicate decisions to people who didn’t attend the
meeting – if a particular task was assigned to a person in
absentia, shoot them an email with a heads up to check
out the action items assigned and attach the meeting
minutes for context
AFTER THE MEETING…cont..
3. Follow up on what next – ask your team members on the
progress of the tasks assigned to them as you approach due
dates.
- Make sure your team give you updates on the progress, you
may help those struggling and also give guidance.
Roles of a chair person in a meeting
• Meeting planning
• Choosing the right participants
• Set the meeting agenda
• Lead the meeting
• Maintain order at the meeting
• Ensures the agenda is followed
• Makes sure discussions are within the scope of the meeting
• Gives opportunity to participants to speak
• Making sure that minutes are taken and kept properly
• Assigning other duties or tasks related to the meeting
Roles of the secretary in a
meeting
1. Before the meeting
- Varies according to the needs of an organization, board or committee.
- Setting the venue for the meeting
- Arrange refreshments and secure any needed computer equipment
e.g projectors.
- Drawing up the agenda set by the chair and distribute them to the
invitees.
- If the agenda seems overloaded according to the time allocated, point
this out to the chair and discuss which items to be postponed.
Roles of the secretary in a
meeting
cont…
1. Before the meeting
- If you are a new secretary, familiarize yourself with the type of
minutes that the organisation requires.
Roles of the secretary in a
meeting
cont…
2. During the meeting
- Still has some preparation to do. E.g. making sure everything is in
place, such as security if need be.
- Should be at the meeting venue earlier to confirm attendees
presence. Set up name badges where people enter the meeting room.
- Position seats – central position for the chair.
- When the meeting starts, start taking notes, use shorthand.
- You can take rough notes and polish them later for accuracy.
Roles of the secretary in a meeting
cont…
3. After the meeting
- Polish the minutes by making corrections where necessary
- Send to involved parties for adoption/recommendations
- File them using your organisation’s system
- Keeps for the next meeting.
Roles of participants in a meeting
-A participant is an employee who is attending a meeting and doesn’t
have the role of a leader in the meeting.
-crucial to the success of the meeting because they can offer input and
present insights.
• Endeavour to attend meetings, or send apologies to the chair for the
absence.
• Provide comments on papers where you are unable to attend.
• Prepare for the meeting by reading the agenda before the meeting.
Ask the chair for clarification where you don’t understand.
Roles of participants in a meeting
cont…
• Arrive on time and stay till the end.
• Participate actively, listen attentively and contribute positively to the
deliberations and provide concise comments.
• Fulfil any responsibilities assigned to you.
• Prepare to report back on your progress at the next meeting.
• Maintain confidentiality where required.
WRITING MINUTES
Minutes are the factual record of the proceedings and resolution of a
meeting.
They constitute a true and impartial record of events.
Appropriate form varies according with the type of the meeting and the
importance of what took place.
• serve as a useful reminder for participants after the meeting’s
conclusion and also ensure that absent colleagues can learn what was
discussed and what decisions were made.
WRITING MINUTES
cont…
Agenda-based minutes or reports
- Traditional type of records.
- Taken at a scheduled meeting for which the agenda is known.
- The agenda may either be circulated prior to the meeting or
announced by the chairperson at the start of the meeting.
- They follow the framework set by the agenda.
- Mostly written by professionals or precis writers.
WRITING MINUTES
cont…
Informal meeting minutes
- Mostly taken in departmental and group meetings.
- They are summaries of decisions taken, follow-up actions required,
persons responsible for individual projects and milestones and
deadlines of those projects.
- Summary minutes can also be used to trace the history of a project.
- Normally distributed to all attendees and in some cases to other
interested parties who were not present in the meeting.
Writing minutes
cont…
Prime functions of meetings
• Records the proceedings of a meeting as the basis for subsequent
action.
• Minutes constitutes authorisation for actions to be taken.
Writing minutes
cont…
Contents of minutes
Minutes start by stating the time and place of the meeting and must have the following contents and
requisites:-
1. The name of the organization.
2. The name, date, time and place of the meeting held.
3. The name of the chairman of the meeting and members present.
4. The name of the secretary present.
5. Arranging the proceedings as per agenda - writing each decision against the concerned serial
number of the agenda.
6. Heading of each proceeding.
7. Decision(s) taken at the meeting
8. Hand written signature of the chairman with date.