The essentials of the meeting

 

You may be required to attend meetings. A meeting is in­tended to be a controlled discussion with a definite purpose. Generally, there are two basic purposes for all meetings: problem-solving (resulting in some action or decision) and idea- generating (discussions of positions and views in hope to generate better thinking).

The way a committee operates often depends on the chairperson: he or she may control the proceedings very strictly, or let everyone speak whenever they want. An effective chairperson should be flexible. In some committee meetings the members have to take a vote before a decision can be made: formal proposals or ‘motions’ may have be tabled, seconded and discussed before a vote can be taken. Other meetings may require a consensus of the members: everyone agrees with the decision – or at least no one disagrees.

Even one-to-one or small informal meetings are structured (usually with an agenda) and planned. They are different from chance conversations in a corridor or over coffee. Small informal meetings may also take place or continue during a meal.

Most meetings have an agenda - a list of matters to be discussed in the meeting. When you decide what to talk about in the meeting, you ‘set the agenda’. The person in charge of the setting the agenda and running the meeting is the ‘chairperson’.

It is very important to prepare the meeting properly. There are two things you should follow when creating an agenda:

Carry out all your agenda discussions and preparations in English. It allows you to practice the vocabulary you need to take part in the meeting. It also means that you will identify those areas where you are missing words and give you the chance to look them up.

Make sure the agenda is a well-thought-out logical tool that helps the participants to understand the purpose of each item. It should communicate the purpose of the meeting and the goal of item, include all necessary practical information and have a logical order of items. The language of the agenda should be clear and concise.

The procedure and the results of a meeting should be recorded in the final essential document - a written report in the form of minutes. There is a sample of minutes

The meeting took place on Monday 10 November. Those present were: MrN (chairman), Mr H, Ms S, Ms R, Ms T (secretary) Mr. Z sent his apologies. Mr. N opened the meeting. The minutes of the last meeting were read and approved. Market research information: It was reported that....... It was agreed that... Proposer: Mr. N Seconder: Ms S Carried unanimously

Next year’s budget: It was suggested that the heads of the departments should form a committee to work on this. All proposers of motions should contact the members of the com­mittee. The discussion should be postponed until the next meeting (to be held on 17th November).

All participants - the chairperson (chairman or chairwom­an), who is ‘in the chair’, that is in charge of the meeting; the secretary, and other members - should prepare for the meet­ing, cooperate and communicate.

Chairing a Meeting

Why do meetings fail? Well, there may be reasons such as lack of time, a badly designed agenda or an unsatisfactory venue. However, if the chairman is doing his (or her) job, it should be possible to overcome these difficulties.

Before the meeting Hilary Rhodes is a management consultant who specializes in meeting skills: ‘A good chairperson has to be a good organizer. What they do before the meeting is as important as the meeting itself. They should make sure the agenda (the list of things to be discussed) is complete by asking those involved what should be on it and then circulating (distributing) it to everyone concerned. They should check the venue, making sure the room will be free, without interruptions, until the end of the meeting.’

During the meeting The chairperson should be a good timekeeper. They should start the meeting on time, without waiting for latecomers.

They should appoint a minute-taker to take the minutes, making sure that opinions and action points (where participants agree to do something) are noted. They should make sure each point on the agenda is allocated the time it deserves and should keep to the timetable. When the time allocated to one point is up, the chair should make sure that discussion moves on to the next point, even if the issue has not been completely covered or resolved (decided).

The chair should make sure that each participant has the chance to make their point, and should deal tactfully with disagreements, making sure that each side feels their point of view has been noted. They should also try to avoid digressions, where people get off the point.

Finally, they should ensure the meeting finishes on time, or early.

Follow-up After some meetings, it’s necessary for the minutes to be circulated, especially if there are action points that particular people are responsible for.

At the next meeting, the chair should ask for the minutes to be read out and see if all agree that it is an accurate record of what happened, and see if there are any matters arising (any points from the last meeting that need to be discussed). And they should check what progress has been made on the action points from the previous meeting.

Chairing a meeting means ensuring that a meeting achieves its aims. The meeting should have been called for a specific purpose and all discussion at the meeting must be steered to this end. This may sound simple in theory but in practice it is a very demanding task. The skills required include: Impartiality, Assertiveness, Staying on course and Summarizing.

Impartiality A chairman is like a judge in a court. He should ensure that all participants have an opportunity to express their point of view. It can be difficult to leave your own opinions at home, but if you can’t remain impartial, you shouldn’t have taken the job.

Assertiveness Ensuring that everyone gets a hearing will almost certainly involve stopping someone from dominating the proceedings. The more contentious the issue the more likely you are to require firmness. You don’t need to be rude or dogmatic. Phrases such as “I think we should hear from Ms. Smith on this” or “can we have some comments from the engineering department on this” should be sufficient in most cases. Once you provide this opening, however, you need to ensure that there are no interruptions while the next speaker has their say.

Staying on course How often have you seen an agenda left totally aside? The meeting starts off well but becomes embroiled in a particular topic (perhaps the first item on the agenda) and ends when time runs out. A Chairman must assess the importance of each item on the agenda, and allot time to each topic as required. If one issue begins to dominate the chairman must take control. You might suggest a further meeting to discuss the issue at a later date, or that the main parties concerned could continue the discussion at the end of the meeting. Sometimes it will be necessary to call for a decision and then move on to the next topic. You need to stay alert and make sure that the issue has been given an adequate and impartial hearing within the allotted time.

Summarizing can be used to end a topic, to end a discussion, to limit the need for discussion and at the end of a meeting to ensure that everyone has a clear overview of what took place or what action is now required. It is an invaluable skill for a chairman. Summarizing requires active listening. You have to state concisely what was said in an impartial way and end with a clear statement about what is expected to happen next. It takes practice to summarize well, but it is a skill well worth developing.

Many people feel that being a chairman means opening the meeting and stopping rows. There is much more to it than that. Prior to the meeting, a chairman should consult with the secretary regarding the agenda, ensure that all interested parties have been notified, assess the level of interest and the potential for divisiveness for each item, and allot time to each item, based on decisions required and number of people attending.

During the meeting, the chairman must focus on the decisions required of the meeting, ensure that all participants are accorded adequate time, decide when to end debate on each topic, use appropriate questions to elucidate information or re-direct discussion, listen carefully to all contributions, and clearly summarize proceedings with an emphasis on decisions taken and future plans [6, 18].

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1. Imagine you are presiding at some conference or meeting. Introduce the speaker to the audience. Use the phrases of the above given texts.