All These Little Things: Business Meeting

What are the purposes of a business meeting?

Start with the definition. A meeting is a business activity where selected people gather to discuss matters of the organization and reach decisions jointly, which requires team effort .The purpose of a business meeting is mainly to make decisions, but it also serves other purposes. The objectives or purposes or importance of meetings are discussed below-

1) Making decisions

The most important aim of any meeting is to make decisions on some issues. The decision is taken on a general agreement and usually it is better to take decisions on routine and non-routine business affairs.

2) Exchanging Information

Meetings provide new information and insight about various situations of the organization to the audience.

3) Conveying Organizational Vision, Mission, and Operational Plans

Meetings are called to introduce the organizational vision, mission, and operational plans to the new staff. The head of the organization held these meetings so that the new staffs are acquainted to the vision, mission, and operational plans of the organization.

4) Announcing Changes

Another purpose of arranging a meeting is to announce the changes brought by the organization’s policy, mission, vision, plan, etc. before the audience. In this meeting, the causes, benefits, and ground of such changes will be explained so that the audience will understand and accept the changes.

5) Negotiation

Meeting is also called for making negotiations with conflicting parties through fruitful discussion. Both of the conflicting parties will sit in a meeting together to reach an agreement so that organizational activities will continue again smoothly.

6) Resolving conflict

Conflict is most common in large organization, whether it would be a healthy one which helps in increasing productivity or an unhealthy one. However, an unhealthy conflict must be resolved immediately. Meetings will help the conflicting parties to reach a common understanding and thus resolving or minimizing the conflict.

7) Solving Problems

Providing solutions to organizational problems is also an important purpose of meetings. Problems that are critical and requires the opinions of the organization members of a board must be solved by calling a meeting.

8) Reviewing and Informing Progress

Meeting is also called to review and inform the progress of any project, plan, and activity and so on. These meetings are held so that the members will be able to know the present status of the projects and input their opinions to improve.

9) Celebrating success

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

10) 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.

What are the types of meeting?
Meetings come in different types, some of them are:
a) Decision-making meetings

Decision-making meetings are all about making decisions. A decision is to be made on a certain issue, such as a deadline for a project. When there’s clear consensus on the meeting’s purpose before the meeting, it’s easier to focus on the decision-making during the meeting.

b) Innovation meetings

In innovation meetings, all participants are urged to think outside the box, brainstorming and sharing ideas. For innovation meetings to make sense, all participants should be innovating together. Usually, to get the participants to be creative, the meeting is held outside, or there will be creative tasks before the meeting.

c) Information sharing meetings

Information sharing meetings are about giving information to attendees about a specific issue or sharing information. This type of meeting is usually educational, such as seminars and panel debates.

d) Status update meetings

Status update meetings are all about sharing project updates and keeping your team on top of decisions in your organization. To hold successful status update meetings, you need to recognize that this meeting is all about sharing information before the meeting. Update participants about the issue before the meeting and remind them what outcomes you want for a particular project.

e) Team building meetings

Team building meetings help your team to work with each other better. Team building meetings can include anything from discussions to games and motivational speakers.

f) Organizational Meetings

Usually very soon after each election, a meeting may be necessary to establish the procedures concerning conduct of council meetings. Local practices may vary, but generally the meeting should establish: regular dates, times, and locations for routine council meetings; rules of procedure for conducting business at meetings (Robert’s Rules, etc.); and assignment of council member duties (i.e., mayor pro tempore, committee chairpersons, etc.).

g) Regular Meetings
This is the official, final public action meeting. It is the only meeting where the council may adopt ordinances or regulations. One very important feature of the regular meeting is the public forum aspect. The regular meeting generally includes at least a citizen comment period and often incorporates a formal public hearing on one or more subjects. While allowing public comment to some degree, the regular meeting always allows the public an opportunity to hear the council discussion on each subject.

h) Special or Emergency Meetings

Emergencies and special situations may require convening a special meeting often with little, if any, advance notice. Examples of special meeting items include, but are not limited to: emergency ordinances, unexpected matters requiring official action before the next regularly 57 scheduled meeting, emergency equipment replacement, financial problems, and health and safety emergencies. While the occasional need for such meetings cannot be denied, the term “emergency” should be used very carefully to avoid abuse of the special meeting.

i) Continued Meetings

A meeting that is continued from the previous meeting.

j) Closed Sessions

This is a session that includes only the board members. This meeting requires secrecy in discussing matters. Typical topic areas for closed (in-camera) meetings include the security of the property of the organization, the disclosure of intimate, personal or financial details in respect to a person, the acquisition or disposition of property, decisions with respect to negotiations with employees, and litigation affecting the organization.

What makes a good meeting?

The meeting must have a clear purpose and should stick to the agenda. A meeting, like any business event, succeeds when it is preceded by planning, characterized by focus, governed by structure, and controlled by a budget.
The meeting must start and end on time. Short meetings free people to work on the essential activities that represent the core of their jobs. In contrast, long meetings prevent people from working on critical tasks such as planning, communicating, and learning.
Good participants which are properly prepared. Unprepared participants will spend their time in the meeting preparing for the meeting.
A good leader that understands the purpose of the 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.
Minutes must be taken. It is better to spend a little time preparing for solutions than to spend a lot of time fixing problems.
Effective meetings require sharing control and making commitments.

What are the characteristics of a successful business meeting?
The following ten ingredients characterize an effective meeting:

Clarity of mandate, purpose, issues, and process.
Participation protocol and etiquette: Only one person speaks at a time. Interruptions (verbal or non-verbal) are kept to the necessary minimum. A courteous, civilized and respectful tone is maintained. Discussions are focused on issues, not personalities.
Productivity and forward movement: Discussion progresses along a pre-defined agenda, in an efficient and timely manner. For the sake of follow-up, good minutes are taken.
Flexibility and room for creative thinking: Meeting structures (agendas and rules) are used in a flexible manner, to accommodate and promote creativity and open discussion rather than stifle them.
Quality: Informed and in-depth discussions take place, leading to meaningful outcomes and thoughtful decisions.
Balance and inclusion: All members are given an equal opportunity to participate. Dominated discussions are avoided.
Openness and Collaboration: Listening takes place, and members work together towards a common goal; Members are open to changing their views based on the discussion; Debates are "personality-neutral": hard on the issues, soft on the people.
Shared responsibility: Everyone (and not only the leader) takes responsibility for the success of the process; Finger pointing is minimized; Promises are kept and assigned tasks are completed.
Variety and a light Touch: The meeting’s pace and activities are varied, to make it more engaging, interesting, and enticing to attend. A light touch is introduced when appropriate: "Take yourself lightly and your work seriously".
Logistical support: Logistical details are managed proactively and professionally, to allow for an optimal use of time at the meeting.