BY NAKIA HAWKINS & KEITH ROBB

“How to Run a Meeting”By Antony Jay

Functions of A Meeting

Define the team or groupEfficiently use of human resourcesHelps define the goals of members and what

they have to offerProvides support for group decisionsUsually the only occasion when supervisors

have the opportunity to guide the group

Types of Meetings By Size

The Assembly-100 or more membersThe Council- 40 or 50 membersThe Committee- up to 10, max 12People: too many members can harm the

meeting, 4-7 is ideal, 10 is acceptable, 12 is too many

Managing Meeting Size

1. Determine whether each agenda item needs everyone’s input

2. Decide if separate smaller meetings would be better

3. Determine whether topics can be ruled out before the meeting; requiring less people

Defining the Objective

1. Informative-Digestive: strictly informational

2. Constructive-Originative: create a new plan

3. Executive Responsibilities: implement the plan

4. Legislature Framework: a system of rules or routines

Agenda

Accelerates and clarifies meetingMore details lead to a more organized

meetingHighlights specific topics

Meeting’s Minutes

Done by a secretaryIncludes:

Time, date, location, and name of chairman

Names of present members All items on agenda discussed

and all decisions reached End point Date, time, and place of next

scheduled meeting

Order of Meeting Topics

Mental energy issues go first

Most important item 15 minutes into meeting

Introduce unifying topics before topics that may cause divide

Conducting a Meeting

Lateness: do not encourage it Start on time

Make a note of all latecomers

Bring it to everyone’s attention

Seating Chart: effects behavior Face to Face, facilitates

opposition and disagreement

Side by Side, makes disagreement harder

“Dead Man’s Corner”, on the Chairman’s right

Closest to the Chairman signifies favor

Dealing with the People:

Dealing with the people

Control the long winded: Create a sense of urgency Indicate the need for

brevity Pick a phrase

Encourage the clash of ideas Promotes further discussion

between members

Watch out for the suggestion-squashing reflex

Come to the most senior people last

Close on a note of achievement Any successful point in the

meeting

Meeting Tips

Meetings should be about 1 ½ hoursRecord the meetings start and end timesDon’t spend too much time on one topicIf meetings are too long, set a fixed end pointCirculate agenda ahead of time, about 2 0r 3

daysDo not leave extra time for “Any Additional

Business”

B I N G O?