Meeting Management
Meeting Management Overview
Every organization holds meetings to discuss important matters. While emails and memos help enhance communication between and among managers and employees, meetings are still considered the best means to discuss pressing issues. But even though every organization holds meetings, the problem is that half the time, meetings are not really productive thereby wasting time and resources.
Effective meeting management is crucial if you want to carry out your agenda efficiently and achieve the desired outcomes for the meeting. Facilitators and managers should know how to direct the meeting in such a way that everyone will be able to contribute to make the business gathering a success. Meeting management training will help you learn how to conduct meetings, this guide will provide you with all the necessary information on how to plan, prepare, and conduct meetings. It is not an easy responsibility but if done correctly, you will surely gain the respect of your superiors and employees.
Training Objectives
By the end of this self-paced training, you will be able to:
Understand the importance of meetings
Learn the various types of meetings
Know the good and the bad of meetings
Learn how to plan, prepare, and set the agenda for the meeting
Know how to make the most out of every meeting
Know how to manage time efficiently during meetings
Gain knowledge on how to assign roles and responsibilities to meeting
attendees
Acquire invaluable tips on how to hold meetings, if you are a manager as
well as a team member
Know how to avoid resistance and arguments during meetings
Target Audience
Employees who aim to succeed in their respective careers should know how to
run business meetings. Meeting facilitators, including company executives,
managers, supervisors, and even team members will benefit from knowing how to
effectively manage meetings because this will create a strong and positive
impression to those who are attending the meeting.
Why are meetings common in a corporate setting and a business environment? Why do people have to converge and talk about work and business matters? Meetings are organized and conducted in almost every corporate office and business establishment for a specific purpose. Usually, this gathering of individuals is done to deliver new knowledge and information, and discuss crucial issues and team projects. Some organizations hold regular scheduled meetings as part of the routine at work. For them, it is one of the ways to keep each other updated with work matters and a way of keeping track of individual and…
Members of a company discuss organizational issues and other agenda through a personal gathering or through a conference call. A meeting is a routine activity in a company. It is even part of the weekly itinerary of many working individuals and business people. Meetings can be formal or informal, but for the most part, organizational meetings usually take a formal setting where preparation must be done to properly plan and execute the meeting. There are various types of meetings that may depend on its nature and the objectives or purpose of the gathering. Any company can utilize a particular type…
Meetings play an important role in management and communication. An effective meeting increases work productivity, saves time, elicits motivation from employees, and becomes a tool for problem resolution. To the meeting participants, meetings generate new ideas and proposals. Also, it helps disperse conflict in a way that email communication and company memos cannot. How can we make effective and successful meetings? A good and strategic planning contributes to an effective and productive meeting output since desirable results start with good planning anyway. For a business organization, since meetings are needed to discuss strategies, having an effecting meeting planning can be…
How can meetings run smoothly and end successfully? Aside from having an effective facilitator and active participants, effective meeting agenda is also a key factor. A meeting agenda is a structured outline that highlights the flow of the entire meeting process. It is a meeting framework that keeps the participants in control and focused on the subject matter or topic at hand instead of getting off the track. In other words, it provides a meaningful purpose and direction to any type of meeting. A meeting agenda has to be creative and effective in order to make the meeting a productive…
In a typical organization, managers and senior executives spend a majority of their work time in meetings. They meet with employees and discuss important work matters and issues. Email and memos are good tools of communication, but a meeting is a lot more effective when issues require in-depth discussion. However, surveys report that almost close to half of those meetings are not totally productive and are even a waste of time for employees. Nevertheless, meetings are deemed essential for quick discussion of goals and tasks. So managers and even meeting facilitators must have the proper skills to proceed with an…
Any event or activity that is poorly planned and lacks rehearsal often generates a negative and weak result. Things get messed up when the participants or the individuals involved are at a loss as to what to do and what roles to perform. An effective and successful meeting can be greatly attributed to adequate preparation by the meeting facilitator or organizers. Whether it is a formal or informal meeting, its outcome relies not just on the participants but on how well the preparation was made throughout the whole process. The facilitator or in-charge is responsible for spearheading the necessary preparations…
In a meeting facilitator’s role, one of the most challenging is time management. Time is limited and constrained in a meeting, so there are times when time runs out before the meeting is even adjourned, leaving some issues untouched and some tasks unassigned. The facilitator must make sure that all issues are thoroughly discussed and the process is completed upon the given time expectation. Keeping track of time can be achieved through the help of the participants. Factors of Time Management in Meetings Knowing the purpose and the need to conduct a meeting in person is important since meetings are…
Meetings can have different frequency options depending on the need and purpose. Meeting organizers may decide whether another session should be conducted or a one-time meeting will suffice. Regardless of the number of repetitions a meeting may have, the meeting facilitator must make sure that a meeting follow-up is performed. It does not necessarily have to be another meeting but simply a spot check of any work progress. Making a follow-up is simply monitoring the progress of any task assigned to the participants during the meeting. But in some cases, a team may need to go through another meeting to…
You may have noticed that every company and organization conducts meetings regularly. You must have attended meetings yourself frequently especially if you work in an office or even a business establishment. These sessions are deemed important because it is through these gatherings that essential organizational issues and many predetermined topics are brought to the table and discussed by every participant involved. What are the different roles and responsibilities of the attendees in a meeting? Depending on the type of meeting conducted, selected individuals are called to join the session. For example, a departmental meeting consists exclusively of those who are…
A face-to-face discussion of organizational topics and issues can be conducted in various methods. In this modern day and age, individuals conveniently communicate through emailing and conference calls which limit the ability of people to express ideas only through the power of words. However, traditional meetings allow individuals to facilitate discussion and interaction in a face-to-face manner, allowing the participants to express their opinions freely with the help of nonverbal communication. Body language and physical gestures, which are not possible through emailing and phone calls, play vital roles in meetings. Most of us find it easy expressing our ideas along…
Although organizing meetings at work is essential in attaining a specific purpose and achieving goals, there are also disadvantages and drawbacks in meetings. A meeting would turn out to be ineffective if the organizer failed to properly facilitate the session and if the meeting agenda is not observed. Basically, these are the two major outcomes of an unsuccessful meeting. There are many factors and other adverse effects that may occur in a poorly facilitated meeting. Because of the lack of supervision, conflicts are bound to happen, decisions become hard to attain, and participants may even lose track of the key…
Meetings, for the most part, are plain talks and discussions. You cannot expect fun and perks in a meeting. Instead, the atmosphere is one that is serious. If a meeting is not properly facilitated, it can become pointless and ineffective. Meeting facilitators have to make sure that it turns out to be insightful and effective by knowing the methods in running a session. The role of being a meeting organizer or facilitator may not be that easy, but the things to do are not that complicated, either. Unless the facilitator fails to follow the important steps in conducting a meeting,…
Conflicts are rooted from differences and contrasting ideas between individuals. Disagreements are not naturally bad. In fact, it is normal and a natural part of life since no two individuals share the same viewpoints at all times. The person you are talking to may agree with you but you can never tell whether the agreement is just because that is what you want to hear, but not what the person actually believes in. The occurrences of conflicts in meetings at work or in business can be unsettling and disruptive. It may cause delays in the decision making and resolution process….
Managers must make it a point to constantly keep up with the latest updates about their team’s progress and individual performance through regular meetings. Constantly communicating with them is a good way to discuss work issues and deliver new information. Effective managers never fail to schedule regular staff meetings. Whether it is a personal or one-on-one meeting or a group meeting, the important thing is that open communication is encouraged between the manager and the members. When can managers call for a meeting with their subordinates? When is it necessary to convene with them as a team or talk to…
The meeting participants play an important role in a meeting. They are the intended recipient of the message or information and the ones responsible for the meeting discussion. Without them, a meeting is not possible. Although we may think that the bulk of the job in making effective meetings is on the facilitator or the manager, the participants also portray an essential role. Because of their importance in a meeting, team members must cooperate to achieve the meeting goals and fulfill the purpose of the meeting. In what ways can they show their support and assistance toward the manager or…
