MÉTODO QUÍMICO COLOIDAL

List of topics

Introduction

1 Meetings: benefits and costs 2 Types of business meeting 3 Planning and preparation 4 Setting the agenda

5 The role of the Chair

6 Attending a business meeting 7 After the meeting

8 Teams and team working

It was the economist J.K. Galbraith who said, ‘Meetings are indispensable when you don’t want to do anything.’ Then it is said that the ideal meeting involves two people – with one absent.

If there is one thing in business life that is a mixed blessing, it is meetings. Yet what organisation could survive without the regular exchanges of information and opportunities for decision making which meetings provide? This chapter looks at the proper purposes of business meetings, how they should be planned, conducted and recorded depending on the level of formality required. Particular attention is given to topics such as the role of the Chair, key documents such as the agenda and minutes and the importance of involving everyone present. The chapter also looks at the more informal opportunities for group exchanges offered by team working, and looks at the range of roles which are important to effective team functioning.

1

Meetings: benefits and costs

Business meetings are a necessary and important part of business communication. They are crucial to organisational communications, consultation, debate and decision making. However, because they are held so frequently, and often involve a lot of time and people, they are also expensive. This makes it all the more important to get the most from them, be careful not to hold too many, and not let them go on longer than they need to. Above all, they must be constructive.

1.1 The benefits

Whatever the meeting, large or small, formal or informal, long or short, if it is planned, considered and conducted with an eye on how it can be made to go well, then it can be effective.

The role and importance of meetings can vary. As another form of communication, they can be a source of:

PART THREE Verbal communication

● analysis and problem solving ● discussion and exchanges of views ● inspiration and motivation ● counselling and conflict resolution ● opinion and feedback

● persuasion

● training and development ● reinforcement of the status quo

● changes in knowledge, skills or attitudes.

The key role is most often to prompt change, and for that to happen decisions must be made. To achieve this, any meeting has to be constructive and put people in a position where good decisions can prompt appropriate action.

Good meetings are not just useful, most people want them, believing that they: ● keep people informed and up to date

● provide a chance to be heard ● create involvement with others ● are useful social gatherings ● allow cross-functional contact

● provide personal visibility and public relations opportunities for the individual ● can broaden experience and prompt learning.

Having too few meetings can be as big a mistake as having too many.

1.2 The costs

All meetings are costly, and poorly run or unnecessary meetings are more costly than good ones. Poor meetings:

● waste time ● waste money

● divert attention from more important tasks ● slow progress and delay action

● are divisive ● lower morale

● are a platform for the talkative and disruptive ● breed office politics

● create muddle, or at worst, chaos. Meetings need to be productive and useful.

90

List five possible penalties of a poor meeting.

CHAPTER 8 Meetings and teams 91

Table 8.1Organisational meetings: overlapping types, purposes and styles

Source: Successful Organisational Communication, 2nd edition, Blundel, R., Pearson Education Limited. Copyright © Pearson Education Limited 2004.

Type Primary purpose Formal example Informal example

Briefing To deliver

information

Chief executive presents financial results to investment analysts

Project manager explains the task to a newly-formed team

Investigatory To gather information Board of inquiry interviews

witnesses to a serious accident

Architect and structural engineer visit construction site to resolve technical problem

Advisory To provide

information

Panel of experts advise

government department on new legislation

Human resources manager consults two colleagues on a disciplinary case

Consultative Voice opinions Community leaders speak at

public inquiry into new airport runway

Manager asks her staff how they feel about a proposed profit- sharing scheme

Executive Make decisions Board of trustees agrees a new

strategic plan for hospital trust

Emergency workers at the scene of a fire decide on the best course of action

2

Types of business meeting

The form and intention of business meetings vary greatly, and in many cases overlap. It should always be clear what the meeting is for, and the format it should take. There is considerable potential for confusion between purpose and format. For example, one might expect that an executive committee would be charged with making high-level decisions, but in reality its purpose may be to consult or to brief rather than to decide. Similarly, those attending a meeting have different views of its purpose: for example, if a meeting is a one-way briefing, then attendees expecting consultation will be confused or upset and this may be disruptive.

The level of formality varies too. One factor affecting this is the numbers attending: greater numbers of people need more organising. One-to-one meetings are simplest in terms of the flow of communication; a few more may meet perfectly well sitting around in an unorganised fashion. A round table may help when everyone is contributing and little chairing is necessary, but the classic boardroom table layout is perhaps best for larger numbers and puts whoever is in the chair in a commanding position.

Table 8.1 summarises some of the main types of business meetings and their purposes, and gives examples of formal and informal meetings which fall into each category.

2.1 Formal meetings and committees

The need for planning and structure outlined below applies to all kinds of meetings, irrespective of the level of formality. However, it is also likely that the more formal the meeting, and the more decision-making power that meeting has, the greater the need will be to follow agreed rules and procedures and to keep a formal record of

proceedings. For example, under UK law, the meetings of boards of directors are governed by that company’s constitutional documents, known as the Memorandum and Articles of Association. If the directors subsequently act outside the stated rules and powers, their decisions may be invalidated, and directors may find themselves personally liable.

Similarly, the UK’s Companies Act 1985 includes specific provisions for the conduct of the meetings of a company’s shareholders, especially concerning the annual general meeting (AGM). The specific requirements include rules on how frequently meetings should be held, who is entitled to receive notice to attend and vote, and the format of resolutions, depending on the kinds of decisions to be made.

Organisations may also operate through a series of committees, made up of representatives from different departments or representing different interests.

Committee members may be appointed or elected by a wider group. These committees generally have their own rules of conduct or terms of reference, and may elect sub-