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?
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.
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.
