Better Meetings
Meetings, for good or bad, are part of life. People with the same interests meet together for a specific common purpose, to solve problems, share and discuss ideas, make decisions and act together on matters of mutual concern.
Business meetings have a degree of formality and structure which varies according to the purpose, size or type of meeting.
Remember to:
- respect the rights of all members at the meeting, and
- respect the rights of the minority at the meeting to have a say, and the right of the majority at the meeting to act.
When you protect the rights of others, you are protecting your own rights.
HOW TO HAVE BETTER MEETINGS
For meetings to be successful, it helps to follow a set procedure. This procedure is designed to move things from start to finish, making sure everyone has a fair chance to express themselves. If you follow these steps, you are on your way to conducting effective and efficient meetings.
PLAN
What is the purpose of the meeting? Is it to inform, solve problems, make a plan of action, make a decision, review progress or to negotiate?
Be clear about the objective of the meeting. Ask yourself:
- Why are we meeting?
- What do we want to achieve?
- What would happen if we didn't have this meeting?
Sometimes it is better not to meet when one or two people could solve the issue, when a phone call would do or when information could be distributed another way.
NOTIFY AND INFORM
If you are the person responsible for organising the meeting, you need to:
- Inform others of what is to be discussed and why
- Arrange a venue
- Ensure that there are adequate resources available
- Ensure that you have the people and information resources you need
- Limit attendance to only those who need to be there.
AGENDA
The agenda provides direction and purpose for the meeting.
It is essential to address all the items of business in the order that they need to be discussed.
Allocate a start and finish time for the meeting and for time to be spent on each item.
Each item should have a number, title and indication of why it is being discussed and what action is to be taken.
List items in order of importance, not urgency. A typical agenda contains:
- Opening remarks
- Apologies
- Confirmation of minutes from previous meeting
- Business arising from these minutes
- Correspondence received and business arising from the correspondence
- Reports
- General business
Remember to circulate the agenda to all relevant people well in advance of the meeting, and to allow people to add items to the agenda.
STRUCTURE AND CONTROL
The chairperson is usually responsible for controlling the meeting. It is important to:
- Begin and end on time
- Discuss all items in stages
- Keep order - don't jump ahead or go back once an issue has been dealt with.
Present the evidence, then interpret the facts and decide on a plan of action.
SUMMARISE AND RECORD
The secretary is usually responsible for recording the meeting. If there is no secretary, you need to nominate a person to be responsible for recording the decision reached and any required actions resulting from the business discussed.
Minutes are an agreed-upon record of the business of the meeting. Good minutes:
- Identify the name of the committee
- Identify the kind of meeting
- List the place, date and time
- Record each item discussed in the order listed on the agenda
- Define the issues and why they were discussed
- Summarise the essential points
- Record accurately the decisions and action outcomes of the meeting.
Minutes should be written up and distributed as soon as possible after the meeting.
ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Chairperson
Sometimes there is a formally appointed leader, or sometimes different members take turns chairing the meeting. The leader of the meeting is responsible for:
- The administration of the meeting
- Preparing and circulating the agenda
- Assembling the necessary information and resources
- Preparing the minutes of the previous meeting
- Dealing with correspondence
- Taking notes at the meeting to enable clear and accurate minutes to be written up.
The type of meeting will usually determine how a decision is made.
A motion is a proposal for action which summarises and formalises the group's decision.
Motion procedures can be quite complex. Here is a general guide to what motions involve:
- At least two people need to be in favour of a motion: the proposer, and the seconder.
- The proposer needs to present the motion
- Someone must second it
- Discussion must follow, both for and against the motion
- A vote is taken
- The result is announced. An amendment may be made, in which case the vote must be taken on the amendment first, before the original motion can be voted on.
SEARCH THE CATALOGUE
The Online catalogue is available via the LLC website . To find resources on meetings, use these key terms:
- Meetings
- Meetings handbooks
- Meetings management
If you need extra help, ask a librarian! You can do this in person, over the phone (9279 2428), or send email to LLC.
