Conducting a Meeting and Participating in a Meeting


2. Meetings

2.1. Conducting a Meeting
Meetings are a very important event in any business organisation. All important decisions about the working of an organisation are taken in meetings. Whenever any problem arises and a solution has to be found or a policy decision or any action has to be planned, a meeting of the executives of the appropriate level is called, the issue is discussed threadbare and the best decision in the interest of the organisation on the basis of the collective wisdom is arrived at. These meetings cost the organisation a great deal in terms of money and time. Therefore, it is very important to conduct these meetings in such a way as to make them yield maximum positive results. The success of a meeting in terms of its output depends on the way in which the presiding officer conducts the meeting and the spirit with which the participating members take part in it. The person responsible for conducting the meeting must keep the following things in mind in order to make it fruitful and productive:
1.     He must be clear about the objective of the meeting. For that, he must prepare a list of the issues to be discussed well in advance so that they may be included in the agenda.
2.     The agenda for the meeting should be prepared well in advance and made available to the members in order to enable them to prepare themselves for the discussion. They need time to collect the relevant information regarding the issues on the agenda and to reflect over them. The meeting cannot be fruitful if the members do not get enough time to prepare for the meeting.
3.     He should study the agenda and prepare a discussion plan, decide the main points to be covered, visualise the questions likely to be asked and their possible answers. He should also determine the time to be given to each issue on the agenda
4.     He should make proper seating arrangements for the members and take care that they feel comfortable. The place where the meeting is held should not be too hot or too cold.
5.     He should welcome the members cheerfully before starting the proceedings and then explain the agenda, and clarify the goals that the meeting seeks to achieve, provide the background information, explain the context, throw light on the circumstances that have necessitated the meeting and clarify the goals that the meeting is expected to achieve.
6.     He should tell the members to stick to the time limit and make the maximum contribution to achieve the goals.
7.     He should encourage all the members to make a positive contribution to the discussion and ensure that every member does so. For this, he can do any one of the following:
I.                   Ask all the members to give their views one by one.
II.                 Ask questions collectively and individually and ask the members to answer them.
III.              Ask the members to write their ideas on a piece of paper and elaborate them later on.
IV.              Ask those members who are not coming forth to express their views.
8.     He should ensure that the participation is not unbalanced and every member gets a fair chance to express his views. He should not allow one or a few members to dominate the proceedings of the meeting. If any members takes up too much time, he should tell him to be brief and leave time for the others.
9.     He should acknowledge the views expressed by the members in a non-committal way but refrain from supporting or opposing them, thus giving the members freedom to express their views.
10.                        If the discussion does not develop, he may rephrase the issue or the question, or direct a question to a member and then ask the opinion of the other members about the views expressed by him.
11.                        He should keep the discussion on course and not allow any member to derail it. If he finds a member wasting time by talking irrelevant things, he should tell him to stop and come to the point. If the discussion loses direction, it is his duty to put it back on the rails.
12.                        He should not allow any member to make any uncharitable comment on the views expressed by any member or make a personal attack.
13.                        He should ensure that the discussion is carried on in a calm and friendly manner. He should discourage direct debates between members, keep the tempers in check. Differences of opinion are natural. He should handle them in a mature and tactical manner. The discussion should not become a battleground. The discussion should be used to enlighten and be enlightened and not to offend and defend their respective views.
14.                        If any member has a private agenda, he should try to bring it out, expose it, and try to defeat it by making the members see through it.
15.                        He should encourage rather than discourage the diversity of opinion without taking sides. But he must intervene effectively if the situation so demands.
16.                        During the discussion, questions may be directed at him. If he does not want to answer them, he may direct them to the whole group or ask an individual member to answer them. He may even ask the member asking the question to answer the question himself. Often the member knows the answer but wants it to be confirmed by others.
17.                        He should take up the issues on the agenda one by one and ensure that they are dealt with within the prescribed time limit. He should not allow them to drag on endlessly.
18.                        He should see to it that all the issues on the agenda are discussed and none of them is left out.
19.                        Before the meeting ends, he should sum up the views expressed by the members and the decisions arrived at.
20.                        He should thank the members for their valuable contribution to the discussion before the members disperse.
21.                        After the meeting, he should ensure that the proceedings of the meeting are recorded in the minute book by the secretary and the views expressed by the members and the decisions taken are faithfully reflected. He should not allow them to be distorted or changed in any way.
22.                        It is also his duty to ensure that the decisions taken are honestly and sincerely implemented.

Participating in a Meeting

1. Study each item on the agenda carefully and decide what information you need to make effective contribution to the discussion.
2. Decide from where you can get the information required. Is it available in some book/s or in the records of your own or some other organisation or do you need to speak to some of your colleagues and know their views?
3. Gather the required information before you go to attend the meeting.
4. Participate actively in the meeting. Do not hesitate or be afraid to express your views.
5. Express your views confidently and forcefully but politely.
6. Take care that you express your views precisely using the most suitable words that can convey your meaning unambiguously.
7. Speak clearly enough to be understood and loudly enough to be audible to all.
8. Speak at an even pace. Do not speak too slowly or too fast. If you speak too fast, members may not be able to keep pace with you and may miss some of the things you say. Too slow a pace will bore the listeners and make them laugh at you or lose interest in what you say.
9. Be brief so that other members may get enough time to express their views.
10. Be relevant. Do not beat about the bush and waste the group’s time. Hit the nail on the head.
11. Use simple language. Avoid jargon.
12. Do not make personal comments or try to humiliate any member.
13. Neither try to provoke any member nor be provoked even if somebody deliberately tries to provoke you. Be cautious. He/she may have a design which you have to defeat.
14. Listen carefully so that you may be able to weigh the opinions expressed by others and judge them on merit. Do not allow your personal likes or dislikes to stand in the way.
15. Be flexible. Do not try to impose your views on others or insist on their acceptance. Judge them impartially without bias and on merit. Be convinced if they are right and do not feel shame or insult in changing your views if you are proved to be wrong. Do not feel disappointed if your opinion is not accepted.
16. Do not mind if somebody thinks differently from you. Respect his/her right to hold his views. Remember that wisdom is born out of the clash of views and others have as much right to think the way they do as you have.
18. Do not interrupt any member when he/she is speaking. Let him finish and then say what want to say.
19. Raise your hand when want to speak and the presiding officer will give you time.
20. Do not talk to anybody when somebody is speaking. You may disturb the speaker as well as the listeners.

2.2. Notice of Meeting

To make a meeting productive, members must be informed of the meeting well in advance of the time when it is to be held in order to enable the members to fix up their programs accordingly and ensure attendance. If the members get the information at the eleventh hour, they may be busy with other business and find it hard to spare time for the meeting.

Therefore, notice of meeting must be circulated among the members well in advance of the meeting. The time to be given to the members to free themselves from other engagements depends on the nature of the meeting and the issues to be taken up for discussion. It may be a month or even more in some cases while in other cases a week’s time may be enough. However, a meeting at a very short without giving due time to the members should be called only if there is some emergency and the meeting cannot be delayed.


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