HOW TO CONDUCT EFFECTIVE MEETINGS

 

HOW TO CONDUCT EFFECTIVE MEETINGS

HOLDING MEETINGS

A meeting is an assembly of people e.g. for discussing issues, for entertainment, for worship, etc. Everyone hates a boring meeting. All meetings must have concrete objectives that can be accomplished in the time allotted. Good meetings are productive and enjoyable; they are run efficiently and they build good morale.
 

OBJECTIVES

 Generally, good grassroots meetings are held to:
1.    Plan action
2.    Assign responsibilities
3.    Make decisions
4.    Build team spirit
5.    Reemphasize or generate commitments to a shared purpose.
 

TYPES OF MEETINGS

There are many types of meeting, each with specific objective. Examples include:
1.    Accountability meetings with officials to gain their support or to remind them of promises they have   made in the past
2.    Informational meetings for public education, which may have recruitment objectives     as well
3.    Committee meetings; and
4.    Administrative meetings

Most of your early group meetings, especially internal or organizational ones will be used to plan action, make decisions and build support.
The meeting's objectives will aid greatly in setting the agenda. The objective should make it clear who should attend and what they can expect as an outcome of the meeting (decisions, knowledge, commitments or new assignments).
 

ABOUT MEETING AND ROLES

Every meeting requires some administrative management in five key areas. Someone should take or be assigned responsibility for each of the five administrative roles. For small groups, a few people may be responsible for several administrative tasks. The tasks are as follows:
 

1.    Facilitating or Chairing the Meeting
 

Someone should be assigned with the responsibility  of facilitating or chairing the meeting. Usually the Presiding Officer chairs the meeting. At all meetings, it is up to the Presiding Officer to use the rules of parliamentary procedure appropriately so that good order and reasonable  decorum are maintained and the business of the meeting goes forward. At times, the technical rules of parliamentary procedure may be relaxed as long as the meeting accomplishes its purpose and  the rights of absentees and minorities are protected. Conventions and large meetings are conducted more formally than the meetings of small boards and committees.
 

The Role of Presiding Officer
 

The Presiding officer (Chair) should:
⦁    Be ready to call the meeting to order at the set time
⦁    Follow the agenda and clarify what is happening and what is being voted on at all times
⦁    Deal firmly with whispering, commotion and frivolous or delaying debate and motions.
⦁    See that debate is confined to the merits of the question and that personal comments are avoided. No one should speak more than twice on a subject, and no one should speak a second time until all who wish to speak have had a chance to do so.
⦁    Talk no more than necessary. Except in small boards and committees, the Presiding Officer should not enter the debate without giving up the chair to a substitute until the motion under the debate has been voted on.
⦁    Remain calm and deal fairly with all sides regardless of personal opinion. To preserve this impartiality, the Presiding Officer abstains from voting except by ballot or to cast the deciding vote on an issue.
 

2.    Taking Notes
 

It is usually the duty of the Secretary to take notes. The Secretary:
⦁    is the recording officer
⦁    handles correspondence
⦁    issues notices of meetings
⦁    informs those elected or appointed to office or committees
⦁    receives and file committee reports; and
⦁    keeps the minutes of meetings
 

3.    Keeping the Time
 

The timekeeper is saddled with the responsibility of keeping time. A particular amount of time is usually set for discussing an agenda item, and the timekeeper sees to it that the agenda is discussed within the set time.
 

4.    Presenting New Topic or Material
 

An officer is usually assigned with the responsibility of presenting new topic or business for discussion.
 

5.    Host or Hostess
 

You are to assign an officer with the responsibility of greeting new people, collecting their names and addresses, and thanking people for attending.
 

EFFECTIVE AGENDA

Even small meetings benefit from prepared agenda. Agenda help people understand what will be discussed, what decisions will be made and when progress has been made. Assign a set amount of time for discussion of each agenda item. If the time allotted expires without a decision, the facilitator can ask the group to dedicate additional time or close discussion. Make assignments and get commitments as each agenda item is discussed. Never wait until the end of the meeting to make assignments; people already are thinking about things they have to do or what they will eat for dinner. Good agendas usually start with relatively easy discussion items for which decisions will not be too difficult or controversial. More controversial issues requiring a great deal of debate can come next, after some some successes already have been achieved and people are comfortable with the meeting climate. Noncontroversial decisions or discussion of new ideas can be saved for last. People will begin to get tired and will prefer closing the meeting in a positive mood. Ending the meeting on a promising note also will encourage participants to attend future meetings. Every organization is free to decide the order in which its business will be conducted, but most agendas follow a standard pattern.