successful meeting // softskill

1. What are the purposes of a meeting?

A meeting is where a group of people come together to discuss issues, to improve communication, to promote coordination or to deal with any matters that are put on the agenda and to help get any jobs done. For any meeting to be successful it needs the support of the group involved, or the organisation behind it and it must have the intention of achieving some goal or objective. It has also some other purposes. The objectives or purposes or importance of meeting are discussed below

• Making Decisions: The foremost objective of any meeting is to take important decisions on some predetermined issue. Decisions are taken here on consensus and it is very crucial to take decisions on routine and non-routine business affairs.

•  Exchanging Information: Meeting is arranged also to provide information to the audience about various matters of the organization. Audience also exchange information in meetings.

• Conveying Organizational Vision, Mission and Operational Plans: Meetings are also called to convey organizational mission, vision and operational plans to the newly appointed employees. Managers or heads of various departments call these types of meetings for the fresher so that they can be better acquainted with organizational culture, mission, vision, plans etc.

•  Announcing Changes: Another purpose of arranging meeting is to announce the upcoming changes brought in organizational policies, mission, vision, logo etc. before the audience. The causes, benefits and ground of such changes are explained in the meeting so that people understand and accept the probable changes without much resistance.

• Negotiation: Meeting is also called for making negotiations between the conflicting parties through fruitful discussion. Sometimes employers and employees or trade union leaders sit in meeting together to reach on some agreement so that organizational activities can be run smoothly.

• Resolving Conflict: In large organizations conflict among people is most common. Healthy conflict helps to increase productivity but unhealthy or undesirable conflict must be resolved immediately after found. Meeting helps the conflicting parties to reach on common understanding and thus resolving or minimizing conflict.

• Solving Problems: An important purpose of meeting is to provide solution to organizational problems. Problems that are critical and require opinions of most of the members of a board or council must be solved by calling meeting. In meeting diverse thoughts are found that help to face problem suitably.

• Reviewing and Informing Progress: Meeting is also called for reviewing and informing the progress of any project, plan and activity and so on. Form it the attendants of the meeting are able to know the present status of the projects and can provide their opinions to improve if there is any loophole.

• Celebrating Success: Meetings are often called to celebrate the success of the organization, completion of any project, achievement of any award etc. it increases the organizational harmony and motivates employees to work united to achieve more.

• Interaction with External Stakeholders: Every organization is to work with different parties of the society and it must build a long term harmonious relationship with them. Meetings are called to exchange information and to share experience with different stakeholders of an organization so that their interaction with the firm is increased.

2. What are the types of meeting? 

The typical meeting types are:

• Problem - solving
• Decision - making
• Planning
• Feed forward (status reporting and new information presentations)
• Feedback (reacting and evaluating )
• Combination meetings

3. What makes a good meeting?

A meeting is a gathering of people to present or exchange information, plan joint activities, make decisions, or carry out actions already agreed upon. Almost every group activity or project requires a meeting, or meetings, of some sort. 

Knowing how to hold efficient and effective meetings can help make projects successful. In a good meeting, participants' ideas are heard, decisions are made through group discussion and with reasonable speed, and activities are focused on desired results. Good meetings help generate enthusiasm for a project, build skills for future projects, and provide participants with techniques that may benefit them in their future careers. 

Good meetings require good leaders and good participants. A good leader understands the purpose of a meeting, makes sure that all participants understand this purpose, helps keep the discussion on track, works with participants to carry out the business of the meeting in the time allotted, and tries to ensure that everyone is involved appropriately in discussions. These responsibilities often require a leader to distribute an agenda and other written materials prior to a meeting.

Good participants come to a meeting prepared for the business at hand—with reports ready, concerns over key issues thought out, and questions about key issues organized. They also bring to the table their best listening skills and group manners. These participants, for example, take turns talking, stay on the point of discussion, and help to move decisions forward.

4. What the charasteristic of succesfull business meeting?

• Proactive participation 

Good communicators proactively seek out opportunities to develop their skills by, for example, appropriately contributing their opinions and knowledge in group discussions or meetings rather than simply sitting back and letting the conversation flow around them. Other opportunities might include volunteering to chair a meeting or steering group or to give a speech or presentation. Being proactive rather than waiting to be asked to contribute suggests a communicator that is both capable and confident in their abilities.

• Ability to learn from others 

Improving business communication is a journey rather than a destination; there are always effective skills and strategies that can be learned from others and adopted for an individual's own use. Successful business communicators are willing to be mentored by those with greater skills and experience, will seek out training and development opportunities and will actively further their knowledge by reading around the subject. 

• Listening, rather than hearing 

Being a good listener is a hallmark of a successful communicator. Unlike simply 'hearing', listening involves taking in information, processing it, understanding its context and meaning and using these to form reasoned, intelligent responses. Often an unskilled communicator will only 'hear' what is being said and will second-guess the context and meaning in a bid to interject with a response. An inability or unwillingness to listen properly can lead to misunderstanding and a breakdown in business communications.

• Willingness to practice communication skills 

Every communicator can improve with practice, and the most successful communicators will practice every aspect of their daily communications from refining their telephone technique and manner to honing their public speaking or presenting skills to drafting and re-drafting documents and emails until the tone, style and content are optimal.

• Staying focused 

Communicating effectively in the typical work environment demands that you pay attention to whoever you are communicating with and don't lose focus as a result of distractions such as a ringing phone or incoming email. In group communication situations such as meetings or presentations, nerves or anxiety can cause loss of focus that is detrimental to communication; successful communicators will adopt strategies to help them overcome these distractions.