Conducting meetings. Stages of a constructive meeting. At the end of the meeting

Despite the fact that the meeting is a common management tool, not every manager has a clear idea in what cases and how it is best to use it. As a result, meetings turn out to be ineffective and create the impression of a waste of time. Therefore, many managers are skeptical about them. But if the manager is familiar with the features of this form of work, then he is able to easily achieve his goals.

Typically, a meeting performs such functions as transmitting information, assessing the situation, assessing the reaction of employees, adjusting joint actions, and developing solutions. To use meetings effectively, you need to understand their advantages and disadvantages.

One of the benefits of a meeting as a management tool is that it ensures that employees are committed to the decision being made. Even if a strict authoritarian style prevails in the company, the attitude of employees towards the decision made after discussion will be more loyal. Especially if the manager explains with reason why it is necessary to do this. In contrast to the situation when the same decision is simply passed down “from above”, and people have no opportunity to express their attitude towards it, except on the sidelines.

In addition, the meeting allows you to draw on team resources to find optimal solution. As you know, one head is good, but ten is better. Again, even in a situation with an authoritarian management style (when the decision is made by the formal leader alone), the meeting allows you to expand the “problem field” of the current situation and, more importantly, increase the number of options for solving the problem.

Another positive aspect meetings are an opportunity to quickly receive feedback from below, learn about what is happening in the company, people’s moods, their needs, level of understanding of the company’s problems, attitude towards the policies of top management, etc.

Of course, the meeting also has its downsides. And one of the most significant is the need to allocate time. The manager himself must distract himself from the current work and distract his subordinates. It often turns out that the issue is urgent. Sometimes a manager, fearing a long meeting, prefers to make a decision alone in order to save time. However, it should be noted that a properly organized meeting usually lasts no more than an hour and a half.

Common mistakes

Situation 1. Lack of a clear goal. The initiator of the meeting does not fully understand what result he wants to get in the end. The true goals of the meeting are not clear to anyone, there is no visible benefit. People come to a meeting only because certain measures are expected for non-attendance.

At least once in our lives, each of us has happened to attend a meeting, after the long-awaited completion of which we are left with only the feeling of wasted time. The presenter can talk for a long time and quite emotionally about any problems (sometimes current problems organizations that concern many employees), but everyone understands that this conversation leads nowhere and does not imply any real actions arising from this conversation. This category also includes meetings when several participants discuss a problem, but again according to the “talk and leave” principle. An effective meeting needs a clear purpose and specific objectives. Moreover, they should be formulated not in terms of the process (“talk about...”, “discuss the problem...”, “outline ways to resolve...”, etc.), but in terms of the result (“give participants information about...”, “receive feedback on the issue...”, “agree on the order of interaction in project A between participants B and C...”, etc.).

Situation 2. Insufficient preparation for the meeting. For example, it might look like this. The company plans to change the system of financial motivation for personnel. The purpose of the meeting is to increase employee loyalty to the decision made. A week before the meeting, participants were distributed materials outlining new system motivation. However, the materials do not have a competent introductory article explaining the position of the management. The materials themselves are presented in complex, obscure language. As a result, most of the time at the meeting was spent on clarifying misunderstandings that arose due to the participants’ misunderstanding of the essence of the introduced system. The purpose of the meeting - to increase employee loyalty to the decision made - was only partially achieved.

Situation 3. Blurred boundaries(most often there is a situation of blurred time boundaries). The meeting becomes an endlessly long process with blurred time boundaries. This is also a symptom of a lack of thoughtfulness in the meeting structure.

Situation 4. Excessive formalization, lack of internal motivation for the leader and participants of the meeting to conduct it. The company's top management obliged department heads to hold weekly “planning meetings.” It was understood that current issues would be resolved at these meetings. However, department heads themselves do not know how to use the meeting as a tool, consider it just a waste of time, and simply do not know what to talk about at them. The result is that meetings are held, but operational planning exists on its own, and meetings exist on their own.

Situation 5. Inadequacy of the purpose of the meeting. The meeting is just a tool. And like any tool, it is important to use it for its intended purpose. You can, of course, hammer in the buttons. But it's not convenient. But cutting paper with an awl simply won’t work. Likewise, sometimes they try to use a meeting for completely inappropriate purposes. For example, in one company, at a weekly meeting of middle managers (store directors), the general director again and again hopes to improve the competence of his employees, to make them finally understand how to manage their subordinates. The result is minimal: the director’s monologues take up four to five hours every week, but “things are still there.”

Situation 6. The goals of the meeting and the methods for conducting it contradict each other. For example, a leader sets a goal to make a joint decision, but limits himself to a monologue on the problem for about 60 minutes. At the end he asks: “Who wants to say what?” No one wants to say anything anymore, everyone is silent and thinking about how to quickly leave the meeting and return to their routine affairs.

Meeting Methods

Report– one participant makes a presentation on a specific topic. It is important that the report takes no more than seven minutes, since this is exactly the time during which, on average, listeners are able to maintain their attention.

Opinion exchange(exchange of information) – each of the participants takes turns speaking on a certain topic (answering a specific question). For example, “the situation in the department over the past week,” “how the employees of your department are reacting to the changes that are taking place,” or “your assessment of the risks in relation to the project under discussion.” The good thing about this method is that it allows you to create a holistic picture due to the fact that each participant in the meeting takes the floor.

Brainstorm– participants chaotically come up with answers (solutions) to a specific question (problem). In this case, a situation of non-judgment in relation to ideas is necessary, since the main task is to generate as many ideas as possible, even the most absurd ones. Employees need to be warned not to criticize their colleagues’ suggestions and not to say the word “no” at all. Then the atmosphere will be relaxed and no one will withdraw into themselves. Subsequently, from the entire variety, you can choose those solutions that are most suitable. The good thing about this method is that it allows you to go beyond templates. It allows you to use the group's resource and find creative solutions complex tasks. For example, where to get money for new project? how to arrange it at minimal cost corporate party? plot commercial etc.

Discussion- any of the participants can take the floor on an existing issue, but not everyone must speak out. This method is useful when the issue has already been discussed and everyone has had the opportunity to speak, but there are still controversial points and questions to be answered. this moment not resolved.

How to have a constructive meeting

In every meeting there are two things that the facilitator needs to manage. There is a subject for the meeting, a specific issue that needs to be resolved, agreed upon, or simply brought to the attention of the participants. And there are relationships between people - participants in the meeting. At each stage of the meeting, it is important for the facilitator to have at least two objectives in mind (see table).

In general, the rules effective meetings can be formulated as follows:

1. Put specific goal- Why are you holding a meeting? Be sure to check whether this goal can actually be achieved through the meeting.
2. Determine which meeting techniques will help you achieve this goal.
3. Set a meeting time and ensure that it not only starts, but also ends on time.
4. Regardless of the purpose of the meeting, be sure to allow time for participants to ask questions and express their views.
5. Determine the participants’ performance limit, including your own limit. Speeches taking more than seven minutes are not permissible, even if the leader takes the floor.

Stages of a constructive meeting

Business meeting is a form collegial discussing issues in order to inform and make decisions on them.

There are three main types of meetings, presented in Table 10.

Table 10 – Types of business meetings

therefore, it is advisable to hold meetings of this kind in a more relaxed and more comfortable atmosphere; The most fruitful ideas from the meeting are recorded and brought forward for further discussion and refinement.

Now let's look at the process of preparing and holding business meetings (see Figure 6).

Figure 6 – Stages of a business meeting

Preparing the meeting IN preparations for the meeting it's important to define it goals -

expected result, required type of solution, desired outcome of the work. The precise formulation of the subject of discussion will help to obtain the desired result. Subject

meetings are a matter of discussion. It should be formulated specifically and be of interest to the participants

meetings. It is advisable to bring up for discussion only those topics that cannot be resolved in a working manner. The most important stage in preparing a meeting is the development agenda,

a written document sent in advance to meeting participants.

The meeting agenda typically contains the following information:

Topic of the meeting;

Purpose of the meeting;

List of issues discussed in the order of priority for their consideration;

Start and end time of the meeting;

The place where it will take place;

The names and positions of the speakers presenting the main information and those responsible for preparing the questions;

Time allotted for each question;

The agenda ensures the progress of the meeting and the thoughts of those present in the right direction. The agenda and materials of the meeting must be sent to the meeting participants in advance, with a note that they have read the documents before the meeting (some information materials can be “circulated” with a list of persons affected by the information attached, and an instruction to make a note after reading and pass it on to the next one). This is necessary to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to include the meeting in their work schedule and prepare for it. Meeting participants, informed in advance about the subject of discussion, can not only familiarize themselves with the materials in advance, but also think through constructive proposals for solving problems. In cases where meeting participants are not informed in advance, at meetings they express opinions and points of view that provoke discussion and do not contribute to making an effective decision.

It is advisable to hold business meetings on a certain day of the week (with the exception of emergency meetings), preferably at the end of the working day or in the second half.

The duration of the meeting should not exceed one and a half to two hours. After two hours of continuous work, most participants, for purely physiological reasons, become indifferent to how the issue is resolved. Therefore, the shortest meeting is the best.

Reasonable number of participants meetings. Often there are people at meetings who have no business being there. P. Bird in his book “Time Management” proposes to determine the cost of a meeting in monetary terms, based on the wages of the participants. Suppose ten people present at an hour-long meeting spend a total of ten hours of working time on it. Let’s determine the cost of the meeting by adding up the cost of an hour of working time for each of them - we get an impressive amount. If sufficiently high-ranking employees are present at the meeting, the cost of the meeting to the organization can be very significant.

The optimal number of participants in joint discussions is 6-7 people. If necessary, the number of participants can be increased, but within reasonable limits, so as not to exceed 15. Increasing the number of invitees sharply reduces the average participation rate (or output) of those present, while simultaneously lengthening the meetings. Depending on the topic, only those middle managers and specialists within whose competence the problem under discussion should be invited to the meeting.

It is desirable for one person to be present from each department. Those employees whose issue has already been resolved should be allowed to leave the meeting, and specialists should not come to the entire meeting, but according to the regulations, at the time their problem is discussed.

When conducting business meetings, it is possible for the manager to carry out delegation powers on participation in the meeting specialists who are most competent in the problem under discussion (this helps save time for the manager: a properly trained employee will inform the manager about the results of the meeting at a time convenient for him, and he will be able to make the necessary decisions in a calm atmosphere; in addition, for the employee, participation in meetings will help to acquire experience and professional skills, developing the ability to act independently and successfully cope with a wide variety of situations).

Authority is delegated not only to participate in the meeting, but also to conducting meetings (the meeting is entrusted to those specialists who are most competent in the problem under discussion; this helps to increase responsibility for decisions made, and also increases the activity of participants in generating ideas or constructive proposals).

There is a difference between meetings led by a top manager and a competent colleague. In the first case, meeting participants think not so much about the problem as about self-preservation and often approve of the solution proposed by the leader, without considering it effective (this does not mean that first managers should refuse to conduct meetings, but the leader needs to take into account the psychological effects when taking time away from time, from stereotypes).

Organization of the spatial environment– when preparing a meeting, you need to think about the order in which participants will be seated. The meeting should be held at a large table and in a spacious room. Overcrowding is itself a source of conflict. It has been noticed that when the room is small, the pulse of those present increases and blood pressure rises.

Participants should be placed in such a way that they can see each other’s face, eyes, facial expressions, and gestures, which contributes to better perception of information (for example, as in Figure 7).

Figure 7 – Placement of meeting participants

A round or oval table is best suited for these purposes. The meeting leader must be able to look into the eyes of the largest number of meeting participants.

The seating order, starting with six participants, must be established using special cards before the participants appear. When placing meeting participants, the following consideration should be taken into account: representatives of competing groups should not sit opposite each other; with such seating, each edge of the table turns into a trench, and conflicts arise on their own. Therefore, it is necessary to separate the groups that have formed as “resistance units.” People who dislike each other are seated as far apart as possible. The organizer of the meeting, knowing the characters and psychological characteristics of the invitees, can, without drawing attention to this, seat the Participants so that those who might break off and interfere with the consideration of the issue are not opposite each other.

Questions to ask yourself meeting organizer:

Is it necessary to hold a meeting at all? Is it possible to do without it?

Should I personally take part in it?

Which employees should take part in the meeting?

What can be done to reduce the number of participants to a minimum?

Is the time chosen convenient or should the meeting be rescheduled for another time?

Is the room closed from outsiders?

Do you have all the materials needed for the meeting?

What is the best way to seat meeting participants and what techniques to use to create a creative atmosphere?

Holding a meeting

Meetings are more effective when participants know their tasks and rules of conduct.

Supervisor. For a successful meeting, the meeting leader must solve both general and special problems.

TO general The meeting leader's responsibilities include the following:

1) it is necessary to open the meeting with a brief and clearly formulated message regarding the problem at hand (and the manager’s opening statement should focus on a positive solution to problems and convey confidence in their successful solution);

2) In organizational terms, it is necessary to agree on the rules of work, clarify the agenda, inform about the rules, warn about the withdrawal of speeches that are not on the merits of the issue;

3) During the meeting, it is necessary to briefly and essentially summarize the results reached in order to use them to adhere to agreements and compromises.

4) It is necessary to keep the discussion in the direction intended by the leader (this means that he needs to besiege those who are verbose, force those who remain silent to speak, and not allow speakers to deviate from the intended issue; in case of criticism, demand that it be constructive and not allow it to become personal ).

1) Stay in neutral positions - this has a positive effect on the emotional state of those present.

2) Keep the conversation going. If there is an awkward pause, intervene immediately by asking additional questions, explaining, or summarizing preliminary results.

3) Take action immediately if tension arises - the argument should not flare up.

4) Predict the possibility of implementing proposed ideas and solutions, reject ill-conceived solutions. Take into account only decisions supported by factual material.

5) Call meeting participants by name to speak.

6) Remember that only one person should always speak, prevent discussions from arising in the meeting.

7) Listen to the opinions of all participants. No ideas are held as stubbornly as those that were not discussed.

8) Remember that a meeting is not a battlefield on which the enemy must be “destroyed,” so strive to develop common approaches and look for common ground.

9) Do not tolerate excursions into the past, deviations from the topic, or destructive criticism that some participants make. The meeting should consistently move step by step towards solving the problem at hand.

10) To avoid misunderstandings, if necessary, clarify the messages of individual participants: “Did I understand this correctly?”, “Will this be correct?”

11) Provide frequent milestones to show participants how close they are to the goal.

12) Save time. Explain at the very beginning that the problem can, without a doubt, be resolved within the allotted time. If possible, do not delay the meeting for even one minute.

The authority of the meeting leader largely depends on how competently and consistently he conducts the meeting, and how closely he monitors compliance with the rules. A meeting leader who allows someone to be late, to debate among themselves during a meeting, or to come to a meeting unprepared (without collecting and analyzing materials on the issue under consideration) faces a complete loss of authority.

The meeting leader should not allow a situation where some undisciplined colleagues heat up the atmosphere at the meeting. The successful completion of the meeting will be possible only with thorough and serious preparation for the meeting by its leader.

At the end of the meeting, the manager must summarize the discussion, clearly develop a decision and outline ways to implement it. We must use the opportunity to thank the unsuccessful minority for their active cooperation, because only the joint efforts of all participants helped to achieve the desired result. Appreciating the failure will encourage them to speak up in subsequent meetings.

Participants of the meeting.

The rules of conduct for meeting participants are no less significant for an operational meeting.

Tips for meeting participants

1) Introduce yourself in your statements and use the pronoun “I” instead of “we” or an impersonal form. When a speaker says “we,” he usually avoids responsibility for what he says.

2) Be specific in your statements, express your thoughts clearly, be responsible for your mistakes, defend your personal point of view, be patient with dissent.

3) After listening to the information, ask questions to clarify and understand the problem being discussed. Do not use questions that provoke conflicts and lead away from solving the problem.

4) Refrain, as much as possible, from interpreting other people's ideas and thoughts. Speak not about the actions and thoughts of others, but about your perception of these thoughts, that is, formulate judgments in the language of “I-messages” rather than “You-statements.” For example, don’t say “You made a mistake here,” say “It seems to me that a mistake has crept in here.”

5) Express your own position and try to find the most rational decision Problems.

The best decision made at a meeting is worth little if, at the same time as its adoption, you do not take care of its implementation and do not monitor the progress of its implementation.

At the stage end of the meeting its leader must solve the following tasks:

1) summarize briefly and clearly the result achieved at the meeting;

2) establish what steps should follow the decision, distribute responsibilities, determine those responsible for implementing the decision and monitoring its implementation.

The progress of the meeting and its results are reflected in protocol, which should be brief and concise. An important point is that those who will carry out the decision become familiar with this document.

During the meeting, the manager must convey to his subordinates useful information and set clear objectives for them. If everything is done correctly, labor efficiency will increase; otherwise, the procedure for holding meetings should be reconsidered.

Do you often hold meetings? Do your employees often get something useful from them? Do they understand the goals and objectives you have given them?

Does their work efficiency increase after planning meetings? Are you receiving adequate feedback? If you answered “no” to at least one question, then you need to learn how to conduct effective meetings and planning sessions in order to waste a minimum of time on them and get the maximum benefit.

Effective meeting

With the help of meetings, communication is maintained between different departments and within the departments themselves, implementation decisions made and the motivation to perform work increases among individual employees. But only an effective meeting can solve these problems, so check yourself if your meetings meet the following criteria:

1. Format Compliance. There are several types of meetings: meeting, planning meeting and operational meeting. Each of these meetings has its own purposes and lasts accordingly different time. The operative is designed to solve the problem that just arose.

It usually lasts 5-10 minutes and brings together people directly related to the problem. The planning meeting is usually held every day in the morning and lasts 25-30 minutes. During this time, the manager needs to set tasks for the day, receive feedback on the results of the previous day and adjust plans if necessary.

The meeting aims to find a solution global problem, create a new offer for your market, develop new program motivation, etc.

Often meetings are divided into two stages - the first is held in the evening, during which the goals of the meeting are set and the problems that will be discussed are outlined. In the morning, the second stage begins, which can last up to two hours. A full-fledged meeting is creativity in its purest form.

2. Specification of tasks. Each meeting should have clearly defined objectives that are announced to participants in advance. Deviation from the agenda is highly undesirable.

3. Strict regulations. A meeting must have a start and end time, regardless of whether everyone invited has attended. Set clear time limits, such as finishing agenda item 1 in 25 minutes.

For each speaker, set aside a certain time - 5 minutes is enough, this will teach people to speak to the point. If you hear extraneous conversations or deviations from the topic, stop these attempts and save your time.

4. Optimal composition. The people concerned must be present at the meeting. Just sit and listen, don’t invite anyone. Let everyone mind their own business.

5. Word to everyone. Each participant in the meeting should have the opportunity to express his opinion on a particular issue. Do not interfere and, especially, do not interrupt the employee’s speech, even if it goes against your point of view. Do you need adequate feedback?

6. Record keeping. The agenda is not the only one mandatory document meetings. The minutes, which record all the main points, the employees who spoke in order of priority, their opinion on a particular issue, and most importantly the results of the meeting, is a very useful paper.

Be sure to send a newsletter to the meeting participants so that they always have it at hand to clarify any points. This will make it more convenient to monitor the implementation of assigned tasks and analyze the results obtained. It is the “task - results - control - task” scheme that allows you to make meetings the most efficient and concise.

7. Planning of the meeting. Every employee should know when he will next be invited to the meeting room. Suddenness is a bad assistant in organizing meetings; participants do not have time to prepare or do not come at all due to absence from the office.

If some problem arose suddenly and you decided to convene a task force to solve it, get ready for the answers “I don’t know,” “I need to check,” and “I’ll give you a report later.”

How to prepare and conduct an effective meeting?

To have an effective meeting, you must first prepare for it. Before the meeting begins, the leader should clarify the following questions:

• what goals the meeting pursues and what tasks it solves.
• what is the format of the meeting, what are the roles of the meeting participants. The roles of employees are assigned in advance: there must be a chairman and a secretary. Also define exact time the beginning and end of the meeting.
• what is the structure of the meeting? A typical structure looks like this:
• greetings;
• announcement of the meeting’s goals, objectives, format;
• discussion and analysis of existing problems;
• receiving feedback from performers;
• analysis of results and setting tasks for the near future;
• summarizing.
• what are the rules of the meeting? Determine the exact time for working on each agenda item, set aside time for a break if the meeting involves long time carrying out.
• what documents will be needed. Prepare all the necessary information that will be of interest to the participants, send out materials so that they are studied in advance.
• Is a meeting necessary? Before sending out invitations to a meeting, check whether it is really necessary.

Answer these questions for yourself:

• Do the tasks you set need to be solved today?
• What should participants take away from the meeting?
• How should their work change after the meeting?
• Has all the necessary information been collected? Will you get a “don’t know” answer to any question?
• Is there another way to solve the problem without holding a meeting?

Remember about simple rules conduct effective meetings, keep the audience's attention on main goal, give the discussion a positive or neutral tone and encourage them to express their own opinions.

Then you will get an increase in the efficiency of your employees and at the same time reduce the amount of time wasted.

You don't have to invent your own approach to running meetings. All necessary tools and the techniques have already been found and proven effective. They have been tested by many successful companies around the world. Next, we will consider all the main stages and provide all the necessary recommendations for their successful implementation.

What is an effective meeting?
People need to meet to exchange knowledge and experience. Although many decisions can be made over the phone, Email or in the hallway, if the company's management wants to fully utilize the abilities of its employees, they need to meet and discuss the current state of affairs.

A productive meeting requires rational use employees’ working time: after all, they come together to achieve a certain result. There are three key conditions without which a meeting cannot be effective:

1. The purpose of the meeting must be clearly defined, just as any business process improvement initiative must have its objectives defined before it is implemented.
2. When holding a meeting, you must follow certain rules and recommendations (i.e. standards).
3. For a meeting to be effective, everyone present must actively participate in it.

To make meetings productive in your organization, treat them like business processes: develop rules for conducting them and follow those rules.

Basic rules for holding meetings:

• define the purpose and agenda;
• identify the meeting participants and inform everyone about it in advance;
• distribute roles and responsibilities;
• stick to the rules at the meeting good manners;
• take minutes and make a plan at the end of the meeting further actions;
• create an agenda for the next meeting;
• evaluate the meeting;
• Distribute the minutes of the meeting to the participants.

The objectives of the meeting determine the type of meeting.
All goals can be divided into several types depending on what they are aimed at.
For example:
Informing- Discuss the types of waste and provide examples of each type of waste when processing purchase orders
Skill development- Learn to make changes to the process design as it improves
Process implementation- Develop new uniform purchase order for new customers
Distribution of duties- Review customer loyalty scores and discuss the action plan from last week's meeting
Problem solving- Find the reason why 4 customers were dissatisfied with the order fulfillment time

The objectives of the meeting should be short and clear. At the end of the meeting, it should be easy for participants to determine whether they achieved their goals or not.

The agenda should include the following information:

• topics covered (including short description each item);
• a speaker for each topic;
• time allocated for each topic/speaker.

The agenda usually consists of the following items:

• introductory part (a short part designed to focus the attention of those present at the meeting);
• a brief overview of the meeting's objectives and agenda (write or cross out a few items to engage those present in the discussion);
• breaks if the meeting lasts more than 90 minutes;
• discussing an action plan;
• meeting evaluations.

Inform everyone in advance. Every meeting participant should know what to expect at the meeting. Tell everyone how the meeting will go, who will have what role, and how long everything will last.

Select participants. How many meetings in your organization were held without someone who could make the right decision, or without people who could important facts? Because of this, too often during a meeting:

• participants are waiting for one of the employees to find and bring them to the meeting the right person(if it can be found at all).
• an erroneous decision is made, which is then reversed.
• No decisions are made at the meeting because the right people were not present.

For meetings to be productive, they must be attended necessary people. For this it is necessary clearly articulate its goals. Managers with decision-making power and extensive experience should be invited. It is also important that the meeting is attended by employees who have reliable facts about the processes being considered.

Assign roles and responsibilities. Each meeting must be attended by at least four people: project manager, team leader/coordinator, timekeeper and secretary.

Secretary:

• records the main points of the meeting. These responsibilities should not be assigned to the coordinator.

• is constantly involved in the project and regularly communicates with team members;
• makes decisions on allocating the required resources to the team;
• monitors that the team's work is consistent with the strategic goals of the organization;
• appoints a team leader;
• solves issues that the leader cannot solve;
• provides support when the team is experiencing difficulties.

• is able to implement the required changes;
• vested with the authority of a manager or senior employee;
• fully interested and actively involved in the project;
• prepares the meeting agenda;
• selects new team members;
• understands well the stages of team development.

• keeps an eye on it. so that the discussion does not wander away from the main topic;
• intervenes in the course of a meeting when several people start talking at once;
• ensures that no one participant dominates the others;
• promotes interaction between those present and their active participation in the meeting;
• brings the discussion to a logical conclusion.

• monitors compliance with the regulations in accordance with the agenda;
• informs team members when they are behind schedule;
• reports the remaining time allotted for the meeting;
• helps determine the time needed for the next meeting.

• Attendance. The reasons why employees are allowed to be absent should be clearly stated, and a process should be in place to inform the team leader if someone is unable to attend. The best way ensure high attendance - conduct meetings correctly.
• Duration. Meetings should start and end on time. This avoids wasting time and helps each employee fit the meeting into their own schedule. When this rule is followed, most meetings become shorter.
• Participation. Each participant has a valuable contribution to make to the discussion. Emphasize how important it is to you that everyone present freely expresses their opinions and listens carefully to others. If team members do not participate equally in meetings, the facilitator should structure the discussion so that everyone is included.
• Basic rules of politeness. Each participant, regardless of position held, must comply with basic rules politeness when communicating. Listen carefully to others, do not interrupt, do not speak at the same time as others, and show respect to your colleagues.
• Smoking and breaks. Decide in advance when employees can and cannot take breaks, go out to smoke, make phone calls, etc.
• Other rules. Decide what other rules need to be established regarding meetings.

Make an action plan. Any meeting should end with drawing up a plan for further action. The implementation of each item should be assigned to a specific employee and a deadline should be assigned.

Create an agenda for your next meeting. At the end of each meeting, define the goals for the next meeting and create a “draft” agenda. It only takes a few minutes and can save you a significant amount of time when preparing your next meeting.

Evaluate the meeting. At the end of each meeting, it should be evaluated, even if other agenda items took longer than planned. The assessment will, among other things, determine whether the objectives were achieved (and what contributed or hindered this) and decide what needs to be done to make the next meeting more effective.

It is unthinkable to imagine the work of any organization without business communications. Properly built communication between employees allows you to solve assigned tasks smoothly and quickly.

There are many types of meetings in organizations, and each of them has its own characteristics and objectives. Knowing these nuances will help facilitate business discussions. This article will tell you about the types of meetings, help you understand why they are held and how they are recorded in office work.

Purposes of business meetings

Any type of office meeting allows you to see a comprehensive picture of the situation happening in the organization, identify its weak and strengths. It is worth noting that when participating in this format of business communications, rapid growth of the company or enterprise occurs.

Tasks

The following tasks for all types of meetings can be distinguished:

• solving current problems and issues;
• integration of departments' actions in accordance with strategic goal firms;
• assessment of the activities of the company and its individual structural divisions;
• maintaining and developing company policy.

In order to understand in what format to hold such a business event, you need to decide which of the above tasks will correspond to it, and only after that you can understand which classification it will belong to.

Types and classification

Meeting as a view business communication, may have different shape holding, which determines its topic and the list of officials present.

The main classification of meetings should be highlighted:

1. Membership area. Here we can distinguish such types of meetings as administrative (which involve discussion problematic issues), scientific (seminars and conferences, the purpose of which is to discuss current scientific issues), political (providing for a meeting of members of any political parties and movements) and mixed types.
2. Scale. Here we distinguish between international ones, where specialists from other countries or foreign partners are involved, national, regional, and city ones.
3. Regularity. In any format, meetings can be ongoing or periodic.
4. Depending on the location - local or traveling.

And also all types of meetings can be divided as follows:

1. Instructional, providing for a directive format, where a senior manager conveys information directly to his subordinates, which is then dispersed and transmitted along the vertical of power. Most often, in the course of such business communication, orders of the general director are conveyed, which can significantly influence the progress of the enterprise, and these can also be norms of behavior or important innovations.
2. Operational (control rooms). The purpose of this type of meeting is to obtain information about the state of affairs in the organization or enterprise. The flow of information in this case is directed from lower subordinates to the heads of departments or to CEO. Mainly at operational meetings, issues on the implementation of road maps, planned activities, strategic and operational plans are discussed. An important difference between an operational (dispatcher) meeting and all others is that they are held regularly and have a constant list of participants. It is also worth noting that during the meeting there may be no agenda.
3. Problematic. Such a meeting is convened in the event of an urgent need to make a decision to complete tasks in short time or to solve a global problem that has arisen for the enterprise.

In addition to all of the above, we can separately highlight one of the most popular types of production meetings - the planning meeting. As a rule, such an event is held daily or once a week, at which the head of the department and direct performers are present, who receive tasks for the day and discuss the progress of their implementation.

The topic of the meeting of the enterprise’s personnel for the meeting can be any type of issue that arises in the course of the enterprise’s activities, and the course of the discussion can be devoted to changes external environment in which a specific organization operates.

Organization of the meeting

Any type of meeting, regardless of its format, requires careful preparation for it, since its effectiveness depends on this moment. Initially, it is necessary to determine the following points:

• target;
• issues discussed;
• setting tasks for staff (based on functionality and subordination);
• stages of task completion.

Today, most meetings are conducted in a very mediocre manner, due to which their meaning is lost, and the assigned tasks may be performed poorly. Therefore, it is extremely important to think through the entire course of such business meetings and structure the working discussion in such a way that it does not just take up time, but has a backlash from the team.

Holding meetings

It should be noted that large firms and organizations seeking to gain a certain market share and develop their company in order to make large profits place a big bet on the discussion important issues namely through meetings. From practice successful managers You can formulate the following set of rules on how to prepare for a meeting:

First, a list of participants is determined. You should clearly understand who to invite to the meeting and what role he will play in it. It often happens that the invited persons may not understand the issue, and are invited “just in case,” but at this moment they could do their own thing. job responsibilities and don't waste your time.

It is important to prepare an agenda. If the meeting is planned, then an agenda is developed in advance, which indicates the issues to be discussed, and also identifies the main speakers. It is important to remember that this document must be sent to those responsible for preparing the information and those who will be present so that all participants can prepare reports, proposals and additional questions. If necessary, the agenda can be adjusted.

The main and strategic issues should be brought to the forefront of the meeting. The speakers of such issues must necessarily be persons (heads of departments, sections, workshops) who are personally responsible for the implementation of any strategic activities of the company.

Important points

It is important to remember that any meeting has two main stages - preparation for it and its conduct itself. The first stage includes determining the relevance of holding a business gathering, identifying tasks, main and secondary goals, creating a list of participants and speakers, preparing reports, presentations and a report according to the topic or previously determined agenda. The second stage involves the implementation of the previously planned course of the meeting, hearing reports and discussing current and strategic issues.

If during such business communication it is necessary to decide what employees should do and to whom, then we can distinguish the third stage - decision making. As a rule, decisions are determined by the chairman leading the meeting, based on his discretion or through discussion or collective voting.

Example of a meeting plan

Having a clearly defined plan in front of him, any manager can conduct a meeting efficiently and effectively, which will allow him to receive feedback from the staff and set the right tasks for them. This plan may include the following aspects:

• hearing reports and summing up results for a certain time period (quarter, week, half-year, month);
• coverage of current issues relevant to the company;
• listening to proposals for eliminating problems (brainstorming);
• assessment of the proposed options and discussion of their implementation;
• accumulation of options;
• voting for the adoption of one or another option;
• defining boundaries when solving problems (determining those responsible, deadlines, methods and methods).

Logging

Most of types of meetings need to be recorded on paper (document), which is called minutes. Maintaining this kind of documentation allows you to legitimize the decisions made. And also, thanks to the protocol, you can always track the progress of activities, and in case of failure to complete the assigned tasks, determine who is responsible for this.

The meeting is usually conducted by the secretary of the leader who is the chairman of the meeting. However, often this function can be performed by other employees.

Functions and tasks of the secretary

Before the start of business meetings, the secretary must be familiar with the list of invitees and the list of issues discussed. However, it is worth noting that if the meeting is held on a regular basis, then it is this official who collects all the documentation (lists, plans, agenda, etc.) and helps the manager prepare for the meeting.

Initially and if necessary, the secretary may ask the persons who have appeared to fill out a registration sheet, where their full names will be indicated. and position. This will be needed when drawing up the protocol. Next, the secretary announces the agenda, which marks the beginning of the meeting. Further, when those present begin discussing issues, the secretary records the progress of this event. At the end of the meeting, this official prepares a finished version of the minutes, after which he signs it with the chairman and sends it to all involved persons.

When drafting, it is extremely important for the secretary to pay due attention appearance minutes of the meeting. It must include a header, location, list of those present, issues discussed and decisions made.

Conclusion

From the above information, it becomes clear that holding meetings at enterprises is extremely great importance. However, it is always worth remembering that high-quality preparation for such events carries more than 50% of the key to success when covering information, setting tasks and their high-quality implementation.