Effective Meeting Skills
Why have Meetings?
Meetings can have several difference purposes, which include
- Informing people of what is happening/has happened
- Reviewing what is happening/has happened
- Generating new ideas
- Solving problems
- Allocating responsibilities
- Decision making
- Planning activities
Before a Meeting
- Circulation of minutes of previous meeting (if any) and material for discussion by the Secretary and Chair.
- Booking of a location and informing those attending where it is being held, preparing notices for guidance if required
Preparing for a Meeting
- Ensuring any matters you have to report on or actions to undertake are done.
- Reading of minutes of any previous meeting.
- Reading of the material provided, perhaps taking notes or preparing points you want to discuss.
- Prepare what you want to say
- If you have a large number of points or have found additional information, type them out and either circulate to other members or bring paper copies with you top the meeting.
Taking an Active Role in a Meeting
Meetings can be daunting, especially if it with a group of individuals you don’t meet often if this is the first time you have met them. It is important that a meeting runs effectively and swiftly but at the same time everything is discussed thoroughly.
Sticking to the agenda is important. If there is deviation from it, it could be because of
- Lack of purpose for the meeting
- Weak/badly designed agenda
- Weak chair of the meeting
Things not to do
- Wander off the agenda
- Interrupt others when they are speaking. If you want to/need to contradict what they are saying or disagree with what they have said, you can easily do this when they have finished.
Concluding points
If you are unable to attend, send apologies. Thus the Chair knows you will not be attending and will not spend ages waiting for to turn up
Turn up before the start time, thus allowing the meeting to being on time