Conditions for a successful meeting. During a meeting. During the meeting

Mark Fedin, President of BCG management consulting

Meetings are essential if you decide to do nothing.

John Kenneth Galbraith

Among various types activities of the leader greatest number time, and with a break from the rest of the work, is absorbed by meetings. Surveys show that managers, depending on their level of management, spend up to 80% of their time at conferences and meetings. There is hardly any other type of activity that wastes so much time from so many people at the same time as during meetings!

The reason why so much time and money is wasted at these "meetings" is simply because many of the meetings are poorly prepared and organized, poorly conducted and poorly summarized. In most cases, meetings last too long, often they are essentially even completely unnecessary.

I hope this material will help you rationally prepare and conduct a meeting and summarize its results.

Types and purposes of meetings

There are several main types of meetings, and each has a different purpose. Of course, meetings can have more than one purpose. A staff meeting, for example, often serves both to exchange information and to resolve minor problems. But regardless of whether there is one reason or several, there is a reason due to which the meeting was called.

During a meeting aimed at solution, participants first identify a problem and then develop a solution to it. At a meeting arranged for decision making the group selects a solution to be implemented. In order to have a successful meeting, the group must agree on the decision-making process: will the decision be unanimous, will it be made by vote, or will it be based on the opinions of individuals? There are also meetings for exchange of opinions, reports, feedback. The status of the meeting is important for the team to prepare for it.

You can call a meeting, When:

you need information or advice that the group can provide you;


want the team to take part in making a decision or discussing a problem;


you are dealing with a problem that requires consideration from different points of view;


believe that responsibilities for solving a problem or issue need to be clearly explained;


Do you think the group needs such a meeting?

It's better NOT to call a meeting, If:

you don't have time to prepare;


you think it would be better to use another method, such as a note, email, phone call;


the issue has already been resolved;


the question is not so important to waste time on it;


the group needs time to discover the source of conflict or frustration.

Announce that the meeting will start at 2:00 pm and it will not start until 2:10 pm. Schedule a meeting for 10:13, and employees will take you literally.

Cyrel Northcote Parkinson

Preparing for the meeting

Begin your preparation by defining the goals of the meeting. This may be information, problem definitions, new ideas, directions for action, definitions of responsibility, or a combination of these factors. Based on your specific goals, determine who you will ask to come to the meeting and how you will conduct it.

Invite people to a meeting, which:

make key decisions on issues that will be raised at the meeting;


may be useful; will take part in resolving issues that will be raised during the meeting;


due to the nature of their activities, they must be familiar with the information that you will provide during the meeting;


will implement the decisions made.

Invite only those people to the meeting who will help you achieve your goals, but make sure you provide different points of view. You can increase your chances of success by inviting key players. To do this, invite them personally or schedule a meeting based on their schedule. Give them an active role in the meeting or emphasize the importance of them attending.

Only by separating the real deterrents from the potential dangers can you properly guide your team. For groups of more than four people, the level of structure should be higher. If you want everyone to participate in the process, break the large meeting into subgroups at specific time segments.

If possible, set the agenda before the meeting. Use the following list for this:

the ultimate purpose of the meeting;


desired outcome;


date, time and place of the meeting;


who calls the meeting;


which team will be convened, the names of the participants;


roles of participants;


is there anything unusual in the meeting format;


are there any outside participants, their names and roles;


the person responsible for allocating time and adhering to agenda items;


duration of the meeting;


necessary preparation.

Include only those discussion points that can actually be addressed in the given time period. It is better to underestimate rather than overestimate the number of issues a group can consider. Also try to arrange the items of the day in such a sequence as to ensure the movement of the meeting. The questions should flow from one another. Separate information sharing from decision making and problem solving. Start with easier questions and then move on to difficult ones, but don't avoid difficult questions. Be careful to leave enough time for the most important questions. During long meetings, try to address difficult issues before participants become tired. Break difficult questions into chunks.

How long should the meeting last? It depends on the goals and agenda. On average, the duration of a meeting is from thirty minutes to two hours, usually the shorter the better.

Meeting goals also help determine room and furnishings. Ask yourself:

How big should the room be and what equipment do you need to achieve your goals? For example, you want to freely exchange information in an informal setting and for this you need appropriate furniture.


What equipment - phones, projectors, whiteboards, etc. do you need?

When you prepare for a meeting, make sure you assign roles and responsibilities. One person can play several roles during a meeting. The main roles are: leader- he may or may not lead the meeting, but he will determine its purpose, the difficulties encountered and the area of ​​authority, and will also take upon himself the responsibility for summing up the results. Mediator conducts a discussion – the stages of problem definition and decision making. May take responsibility for logistics before and after meetings. Secretary identifies key points, ideas and decisions that result from the meeting. He also takes notes during and after the meeting. Assistants– participants who actively put forward ideas and do not allow the discussion to veer off the right path. Expert acts in this capacity if necessary. If this is not a regular team member, they may not participate in other aspects of the meeting. Speaking of experts. Define their role and make it clear to them what you expect of them. Let them know that they may not participate in other aspects of the meeting. Once you have determined the purpose of the meeting and who will be invited, consider the location and duration of the meeting, assign roles, responsibilities and develop an agenda.

How should you prepare for a meeting? Gather the necessary documents and data. Talk to the participants, ask their opinions, identify goals they would like to achieve, let them know that you are interested in their ideas. Make it clear that participants should also prepare for the meeting. Develop an agenda, including a goal, a list of desired outcomes, and the expected time to discuss each item. Share information, especially if it will help shorten the meeting.

How groups develop a solution. Some groups make decisions by voting. Others require consensus: all meeting participants support a decision, even if they disagree with it. In some groups, the leader makes the decision. Each approach has its own advantages and disadvantages.

Consensus means that everyone understands and can support and help implement the decision, but some meeting participants may feel that some issues have not been addressed. Sincere consensus is achieved when all participants come to the same opinion. What are its distinctive features? The following comments are an example. "I had my own opinion on question A, but I think this is the best option." “I did not immediately agree with the formulation “A”, but I think that it will suit everything.” “I do not think that the formulation “A” meets our criteria one hundred percent, but I am ready to help in its implementation." Such a decision It is difficult to achieve and takes time, but is nevertheless recommended if the change required requires the understanding of all parties, or if the group is sufficiently experienced in making this type of decision.

People are more willing to accept decisions reached by consensus. But the process often requires a fallback position - an alternative if consensus is not reached within a certain time frame. Thus, consensus is not typical for situations in which an urgent decision is required or in cases where only the leader is responsible for the decision.

Decision made by the leader– this is the most effective method within a limited time frame. An example would be a leader announcing a decision and closing a meeting. It is important that all participants feel that their views are heard. If time allows for consultation with others, the leader may consider individual opinions - the most appropriate method if expert opinion is required or if a select few represent the views of shareholders. The leader can also call a meeting to gather opinions - it is recommended when the decision is important for many people, when it is possible to create joint activities, and a general framework for implementation.

The length of a debate is inversely proportional to the complexity of the subject under discussion. If the subject is simple and understandable to everyone, the debate can last almost endlessly.

Robert Knowles

Holding a meeting

Simple tips can help you avoid common problems that make meetings a nightmare. And it will be recognition of your meeting skills. Start the meeting on time. Have a short introductory discussion to ensure the group is clear on the agenda, goals and desired results - make adjustments as necessary. If you don't have an agenda prepared, create one as you go.

How to create an agenda if it is not prepared in advance. Ask participants to suggest questions that require discussion. What are the desired outcomes of the discussion and how long will it take? Create an agenda from the proposed issues. If you need to shorten the agenda, ask what items can wait until the next meeting. Review the basic rules, principles of conducting constructive meeting, with which all participants will agree.

What should the ground rules include?

Maintaining a specific time.


Agreement on who can contribute to the agenda.


Agreement on how decisions will be made.


Time limit for making a decision. If you want to increase this limit during discussion, you must ask the group's consent.


A clear definition of the limitations that exist on each issue. For example, decisions by senior managers or restrictions imposed by the firm's policies or budgets that may limit the choice of alternatives.

Determining the person for each issue who will make the decision.


Please be more open to ideas. To ensure that all points of view are considered, have someone present and defend their point of view. Ask: “What might be missing? Who didn’t speak out?” If the group is large, break it up into two or three people and ask them to report. Take your time to vote and make a decision. Go around the room and ask everyone's opinion. All points of view are important, but not equally important. How much time should a senior participant have to speak? It depends on the purpose of the meeting. Perhaps he should speak up first and set goals and direction. Or, if those whose opinions are needed have already spoken, and junior team members are silent, you can ask him to speak up. Even if you are interested in everyone's opinion, you should not let the discussion get sidetracked. To do this, frequently summarize using the agenda and ideas written on the board, and also announce the transition from one agenda item to another.


Agreement on how to resolve conflicts.


Agreement on how to summarize.

Agreed ground rules help encourage participation in the discussion. You act as a leader and as a facilitator who gives people a voice. Be aware of how you participate in the discussion and make sure you are not dominating. Give the indecisive and timid the opportunity to speak. Make sure no one interrupts the speaker or dominates the discussion. Maintain a positive attitude towards the points of view expressed. Intervene if one participant begins to criticize another's point of view. Emphasize what has already been agreed upon, do not allow issues that have already been resolved to be revisited.

Make notes on the board, write down the suggestions made. This will help you stick to the key questions. Save the notes you take for the internal meeting. During a brainstorming session, accept any ideas. Then mark those that the group approved, accepted as priorities, and discuss solutions. Write down separately the questions that you will consider after the meeting.

If you feel strongly about an issue, listen carefully to all opinions. Confirm with a glance, a nod or words that you are listening: “Let’s listen first to Anna Viktorovna, then to Denis Stanislavovich, and after that to Marina Vasilievna.”

A prolonged discussion means both sides are wrong.

Voltaire

Bad things happen even in good meetings.

Even if you follow the above recommendations, problems will inevitably arise. At critical points the group will get stuck and become silent. Unfortunately, sometimes open conflicts occur. There is no need to lose your cool - especially if you are armed with special techniques. But even if you intervene in the conflict, you need to determine its cause, for this you need to listen carefully.

When you listen to another participant, pay attention to the following questions: What is he describing? How does he feel? What does he emphasize? What interests him? What words, metaphors and images does he use? What is your body language like? Depending on the results of your observations, you will resolve the conflict using special techniques.

If the group is confused. Ask what's going on. Remind what agenda item you are considering and for what purpose (point to the board). Remove the obstacle if possible. If the group is at a loss because of a lack of information or an unclear task, help them. Ask the group if there is a need to move forward or if there is any aspect left untouched. Take a short break, move the issue lower on the agenda, or discuss it at another meeting.

If the group is silent. Let me be silent for a minute. Try to understand what is happening, what people are thinking about. Ask if anything needs clarification. Perhaps some key issue is unclear and this has led to confusion. Don't rush to fill the gap. Make sure your behavior is not the problem. Break into small groups.

If the group does not address an issue directly or discusses one at the expense of others, perhaps participants are avoiding some issue. However, you should ask participants to describe the problem more precisely and clarify its consequences. Remember to be grateful for points of view different from yours. Let the group know how important it is to consider all the alternatives, doubts, and questions you don't want to talk about. Make it clear that you will encourage the first person to speak up. Keep your promise, otherwise they will no longer trust you.

If the group returns to points already discussed. Point out the sequence of the discussion on the board. Make sure you understand the idea presented correctly. Ask by pointing to the board "Do you have anything to add?"

If a conflict situation arises. Put an end to the quarrel. Make it clear that it is better to let your temperament take place outside the meeting room. Remind them of the previously agreed upon standards of behavior. Focus on the essence of the idea or opinion, not on the behavior of the participants. Ask participants to remain positive and pay more attention to the content of the question. Ask not to make quick judgments. If you notice that one participant is overly sensitive to another's suggestions, note: "We are not evaluating ideas right now. I will write it down to discuss later." Use probe questions to get participants out of dangerous situations.

Silencing a person does not convince you.

John Morit

Additional Leadership Roles

In addition to his own role, the leader also has additional functions. Observe- he must ensure that the agenda is followed, that there is no dominance, and that everyone has the opportunity to speak. Defend your point of view– he must prevent consensus if he believes that a decision is premature. Build Consensus- indicate already agreed upon points. Provide support- sincerely praise the deserving participants. Defuse the situation- relieve tension and remind you of your goals.

How to end a meeting

Knowing when and how to end meetings will help team members get things done.

When to finish. Warning Signs: When Discussing last question Participants experience difficulties or participants begin to leave the meeting.

These two signs indicate that you have exceeded your time limit. These tips will help you avoid such danger and earn the gratitude of your colleagues: Make a promise to yourself to finish on time. Keep track of the time or ask one of the participants to do so. Remind the group how much time is left and how many issues remain to be resolved. If time is running out, choose priority tasks and set aside the rest. If an item requires more careful consideration, ask if the group agrees to exceeding the time limit or schedule another meeting.

If there are no obvious warning signs, the end point for the meeting may be when all goals have been achieved, attempts to achieve them have been exhausted, or time has run out.

What to do to end the meeting. Summarize achievements, milestones, decisions, and explain how they will be presented to shareholders. Specify further actions and emphasize their importance. Emphasize the importance of all points of view expressed. If necessary, schedule another meeting. Ask the group to evaluate the meeting and come up with ideas on what could be improved. Thank you for your participation.

Summing up after the meeting. The opinion that summing up after a meeting can be postponed is the most common mistake. This is especially inconvenient for shareholders who are absent from the meeting. Meetings without the final step of creating an action plan and exchanging information are meaningless.

A plan of action and communication creates a sense of completion. He also presents key decisions to shareholders and helps ensure that everyone receives the information in the same way. The plan should have three key elements: what, who and when.

Which the decisions were the result of the meeting, and what tasks should be completed as a result of the meeting?


Who is responsible for these tasks? If participants volunteer to do them, then they are more likely to complete the task.


When must tasks be completed? Make it clear that participants must take the schedule seriously and complete tasks on time.

After the meeting, having drawn up the plan of action and information exchange accordingly, send it to the meeting participants. Then distribute it to employees who were not present at the meeting but need to be informed. The plan of action and communication will be carried out more effectively if everyone has a clear understanding of their responsibilities.

What is included in the final notice? It is best if it is based on the notes you took during the meeting on the board and personal notes. It should be written in a way that can be understood by someone who did not take part in the meeting. It includes participants, goals achieved, key discussion points, key decisions, action plan, date for the next meeting or debriefing, and thanks to those who participated.

If the meeting was about solving a problem, the final notice includes the definition of the problem, method of analysis, alternatives, decision criteria, solution, next steps, and expected results.

How can you determine if a meeting was effective? You can judge by the results: have you achieved your goals? Were all required participants present? Did the group work well together?

Discussion of the problem. If participants encounter a problem, ask them the following questions one by one: What is their perception of the problem? How long does this last? What's happening now? Define the problem. What are its reasons? What solutions exist? What benefits can be gained? If the problem is not resolved, what will be the consequences? Which alternative should you choose? What are the key factors: time, finances, etc.? Agree on the alternative with everyone.

No one ever learned anything from the discussion.

Vaclav Havel

Some tips

When preparing for a meeting. Invite only those participants who can help achieve the goal. Remember that a large group requires a clear structure. Select a suitable meeting location and provide necessary equipment. Prepare an agenda. A meeting without an agenda can be like a search expedition without a map. Plan your meeting to last anywhere from thirty minutes to two hours, and always schedule fewer tasks than the group can handle. Try to keep the meeting as short as possible, as far as the goals to be achieved allow. Gather all the information needed for the meeting.


During a meeting. Always start on time. Start simple. Quick success often fuels the success of the entire meeting. Leave difficult questions for the end of the meeting, but make sure there is enough time for them. Minutes - write everything down. Value everyone's contributions. Make sure everyone has a say and be grateful to people who are willing to speak out on a difficult issue. Cover and summarize meeting steps.


For problem behavior.

• Latecomers. Always start on time. Think about what can serve as motivation and make the employee show up on time. Find this person something to do during this meeting. After the meeting in private, ask him why he was late. Communicate the cost per minute for this meeting (participant earnings per minute plus overhead) and your intention to run it efficiently. Express confidence in the success of the meeting.
  

  Participants leaving before the end of the meeting. Find out why the employee constantly leaves before the end of the meeting. At the beginning of the meeting, ask if all participants will be able to stay until the appointed time. If not, suggest changing the length of the meeting.
  

  Participants who constantly touch on the same issue. Show that this question is already written on the board. Show with a gesture that you understand what is bothering them. Consider the issue at your next meeting.
  

  Participants ridiculing or blaming others. Ask what ideas they have to offer. Ask not to evaluate proposed ideas until everyone has spoken. Remind them of the agreement and confirm that the assessment will take place at a later date. If someone makes expressions such as, "That's stupid," or makes a negative gesture, you can say, "Wait. Right now, all ideas have equal value." If the above measures do not help, ask the participant to leave the meeting.
  

  Participants exhibiting disruptive nonverbal responses. Ask the participant what he actually wants to say. During the break, tactfully explain that his behavior is not acceptable. If this doesn't help, then tell him directly that he needs to control his emotions.
  

  Participants engaged in distracted activities during a meeting. Ask a question, say that you want to hear the opinion of this particular person. Talk to him during the break. Refer to the ground rules when you start your meeting.
  

  Whisper. Try to turn everything into a joke, ask: “Are we bothering you?” Ask participants if they could talk about the subject of their conversation or finish it later. During a break, ask what's going on.
  

  Some participants try to dominate. If you are standing, move closer and closer to them. Thank them for their feedback and move on to someone else. Ask the group to switch roles so that shy people can speak up and those who talk too much can remain silent. If this doesn't help, you can directly point out that they are trying to dominate. If even this doesn't help, ask them to leave the meeting. If their opinion is valuable to you, then try to get it after the meeting.
  

  Participants attacking others. Ask what the problem is, if it's something unrelated to the meeting ask for it to be sorted out later. Use the board to redirect attention to the topic of discussion. You can also write down the essence of the complaints. If this doesn't help, ask them to leave the meeting. If their opinion is valuable to you, then try to get it after the meeting.
  

  Participants finishing thoughts for others. Ask them to let others speak. Ask others if they are comfortable with what these participants are saying.
  

  Participants who believe they know everything. Recognize their competence. Ask them to be more patient and listen to other people's opinions.
  

  Participants interrupting others. To the person who was interrupted, you can say, “Please continue.” To the participant who interrupted him, you can say: “Let Pavel finish.” If you know which participants tend to interrupt others, ask them to wait outside the meeting until they have a chance to express their thoughts.

How to intervene in a critical situation. Ask the same question to the person who addressed it to you, making it clear that the leader is not obligated to answer all questions. If something isn't working, ask what's going on, don't brush it under the rug. Don't let the situation get out of control by reminding you of the ground rules and accepted agreements. Make sure everyone is working at the same rhythm. Create a favorable environment for collaboration and creative ideas, responding neutrally to a participant whose ideas are not relevant to the discussion. Use humor to lighten the situation, but avoid making jokes that might offend other participants.

The meetings did not give birth to a single great idea, but buried a number of idiotic ones.

Francis Scott Fitzgerald

Checklist: how to conduct a meeting correctly

Majority Managers spend most of their time in meetings. Meeting is too much broad concept, this could be a conversation with a colleague or a large press conference at which the head of the company is expected to appear. But the rules for a successful meeting can be applied to any situation. We can break this down into pre-meeting, during-meeting, and post-meeting because all meetings involve preparation, execution, and debriefing. Ask yourself:

You can use these forms to conduct the meeting, choosing the one you prefer for each stage.

Begin filling out the following form at the meeting to record the flow of discussion and decisions made. After the meeting, carefully format it and distribute it to meeting participants and other interested parties.

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

A meeting, as a type of business communication, can 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 of problematic issues), scientific (seminars and conferences, the purpose of which is to discuss current scientific issues), political (involving 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 superior 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 from 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 the general director. 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 issues that arise in the course of the enterprise’s activities, and the discussion can also be devoted to changes in the 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 big profits place a big bet on discussing important issues 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 defined 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 important. 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.

We recommend reading it to everyone who has to organize planning meetings, five-minute meetings and other meetings. Many people do them, but few do it well. The article describes the stages of preparing a meeting, its structure, evaluating effectiveness and recording results - everything you need to know to conduct a truly useful meeting.

We all participate in meetings. And someone even has to cook and conduct them. Or planning meetings. Or group discussions. Admit it, many of us really don’t like such “talking” things.

Why? Because the philosophy has been ingrained into the blood of any of our people: a meeting is when they talk for a long time, formally and tediously, not on the point, and after that, nothing is done anyway. Well, isn't it a waste of time?

This wonderful format of work

I feel bad for this wonderful format of work. That is why in today’s article we will discuss what is good about it, what makes group discussion indispensable, and learn how to conduct it effectively.

To begin with, why do we need all this? Why bring together a lot of busy people and take them away from work?

A high-quality meeting allows you to use key mechanisms that increase labor productivity, about which more...

The principle of synergy. The effect of synergy has long been known to psychologists. Remember? — The effectiveness of the whole is higher than the total effectiveness of its individual parts. Or even simpler: one head is good, but two are better. And it is true. It is together that we are able to generate more ideas, find many solutions to a problem and choose the optimal one from this variety. In group discussion mode, people begin to work as a single whole, complementing each other. Efficiency also increases - check. That is why, if you need to resolve a number of work issues, then quality discussion, this huge resource, should not be neglected.

The principle of cohesion. A team, that is, people who have the same vision of the goal, trust each other and know how to work together, is more effective than one person. Do you agree? How will your employees become a team? Suddenly? By yourself? Maybe immediately highly effective? And due to what? The key to forming a team is moving towards a goal together, proactively and organizedly. And all these conditions live in the meeting mode. Meetings and planning sessions are a powerful tool for unity, building respect for colleagues and managers, and an excellent teaching tool. Therefore, if it is important for you that your employees work harmoniously and not just belong to one department or company, conduct weekly planning meetings with high quality.

The principle of clarity. Many people are afraid of the unknown. A normal person - voluntarily or involuntarily, consciously or not - resists the incomprehensible and unfamiliar, and this is absolutely natural. What if the company’s goals, performance indicators, tasks for the next month, etc. suddenly fall into the category of incomprehensible? How does a person feel when they ask him to dig a hole, but they don’t tell him why, how deep and where? Of course resistance and demotivation.

Meetings are a platform for explaining the “party course”, increasing its understandability, its acceptance by employees, and, therefore, a tool for reducing their resistance to the unknown. Therefore, if you are introducing changes, carry them through a series of planning sessions and meetings.

An experienced leader knows that meetings create organization. With their help, you can maintain connections within the company and implement decisions made, check how employees see goals, and break down barriers between departments. If you don't hold meetings, then rumors and speculation arise in your organization. This is a problem that leads to disunity and uncertainty among employees about the future, and it’s not far from losing control.

Well-run meetings can work wonders. Keyword it is nice here. What needs to be taken into account when holding meetings?

Principles for Effective Meetings

Compliance with objectives

Example formats:

• Meeting. The goal is to generate ideas, evaluate options, and find solutions. That is, the team works in creative mode. The apotheosis of this format is brainstorming. A prerequisite is the opportunity to voice an idea/opinion, that is, a culture of free communication at the meeting. People should feel free to express their thoughts and should be encouraged to do so. Therefore, there should be no harsh, unconstructive criticism.
• Planning meeting. The goal is to analyze Current state process and outline new tasks. This format is closer to oral reporting on given indicators, so the presence of these same indicators is mandatory for it. The planning meeting always proceeds on business, according to the intended agenda.
• Five minutes. The goal is to identify priorities and create a working mindset. Five-minute meetings are not held to solve global problems and answer the questions “Who is to blame?” and “What should I do?” This is a reminder format. The key requirements are positivity and short-termism. Remember, morning meetings play the role of a stimulator, activator, and motivator. Their duration is from 5 to 15 minutes - no longer!

Specificity

Short term

Timing

Adequacy of participants

The right to speak

Consolidation of results

After the meeting, minutes are sent to all participants. It is the minutes of the meeting that become a control tool, allowing you not to miss anything or forget a single task. And the translation of the protocol into electronic system(for example, 1C or Lotus) makes it possible to integrate it into the task setting system. And most importantly: you should definitely ask about the tasks set at the last meeting. It is the mode of cyclical meetings “analysis → tasks → control → analysis” that allows you to transfer the meeting from idle talk mode to work format.

Planning of the meeting

To evaluate the effectiveness of your meetings, take this test:

Do you have more than 3 yeses? Let's optimize!

Stages of preparing and holding an effective meeting

1. Determine the goals and objectives of the meeting. What issues need to be addressed? What information should I track? What conclusions should we draw? What is the best way to structure tasks?
2. Determine the meeting format based on the objectives. Select participants and meeting time. The meeting MUST have a chairman/facilitator who will monitor the rules. This person should have less responsibility for solving the problem about which the meeting is being held. Then he is less fixated on emotions (than, for example, the initiator of the meeting) and does not lobby, wittingly or unwittingly, for decisions beneficial to the latter. And the right to speak honestly is given to everyone present.
3. Determine the structure of the meeting. The meeting must have a clear structure and each time take place exactly in the order provided for.

   Typical planning meeting structure:

   Opening remarks/warm-up.

   Goals. Regulations. Format.

   General issues.

   General results of the work. Fulfillment of assigned tasks.

   Participant results/reports.

   Analysis of results. Setting goals. Summarizing.

   Identification of the problem, goal. The importance of the topic. Plans.

   Goals. Regulations. Format.

   Discussion. Analysis.

   Analysis of results. Setting goals.

   Summarizing.

   Opening remarks / objectives of the meeting / regulations.

4. The problem and why it matters.
5. Generation of ALL solution options.
6. Discuss the pros and cons of each option.
7. Selecting a solution option. Based on it, tasks are set for the participants.
8. Preparation of minutes of the meeting.
9. Determine the regulations. When developing regulations, remember that they should be convenient for both the leader and the participants. Standard: 3-7 minutes for presentation on problem setting; 5-7 minutes for debate. It is useful to provide breaks at the rate of 10-15 minutes for every 45-60 minutes of active work. By and large, meetings longer than an hour run the risk of losing the attention of participants. Such meetings may be ineffective.
10. Set the order of issues to be solved. Questions regarding the regulations are determined by those key points on which the overall result and quality of the company’s work depends (for example, feedback from clients, reaction to advertising, information on new products, etc.).

    Divide all the questions into three groups.

11. Regular questions - according to regulations. Try to deal with regular questions faster. At first, their discussion may take up all the time. Then current issues will be added to them - people themselves will become active. But your priority, which determines the speed of movement forward, is development issues. Allocate up to 50% of the meeting time to them.
12. Current issues - according to the meeting plan: ideas that have arisen, problems, what interferes with the work and how to optimize it. In total, you can analyze no more than 5 questions. Always start with the most important things. It is better to finish with one important issue than to leave a dozen unsolved.
13. Development issues - according to the development plan.
14. Prepare the necessary documents and forms. To effectively work through issues, it is extremely important to properly prepare material for meetings and send it to everyone in advance. At the meeting itself, it is necessary to keep minutes of the meeting, where all decisions made should be recorded.
15. Determine the time for the meeting. If employees are not disciplined and are often late, I recommend holding weekly meetings in the morning, right at the beginning of the working day - timely arrival at work is guaranteed. The worst “laters” will be rehabilitated in a few days. Always indicate the end time of the meeting. Try to finish a little earlier - it becomes pleasant surprise for participants. In any case, after discussing planned issues, there should still be some time left. Then employees will have the opportunity, reason and incentive to ask their questions - that is, to be active and think. And what could be better for a manager than an active and smart employee!
16. Make sure the meeting is necessary.

    Answer yourself the following questions:

    Are the questions relevant to the meeting? Is this what we need to talk about today?

    Does the form of presentation of the material correspond to the purpose, audience, content?

    What should happen/remain in the minds of employees after the meeting?

    Is it possible to skip the meeting and achieve the same result?

    If you answered “Yes” to questions 1, 2 and “No” to question 4, feel free to hold a meeting!

• Tutorial

How often have you sat in meetings that lasted over 2 hours, trying to solve all the problems in the world at the same time? When people, flushed from the heat, losing self-control from fatigue, start trying to shout over each other in an attempt to find the right solution? When every meeting ends in nothing, and all the participants swear to themselves that they will never gather again for these meaningless meetings?

Original article: tvoyplan.com/2013/04/28/effective-meeting-rules

What makes a meeting effective?

Meeting effectiveness = value of decisions made / (meeting time * number of participants * average salary participant)

Therefore, a meeting is quite an expensive thing, which rightly earned it fear and hatred among office workers. The same emotions apply to the organizers of these meetings, including you. If you want to earn the respect of your team, you must be able to run effective meetings.

This article is dedicated to teaching you how to get the most out of meetings while minimizing the time and emotional cost of participants.

Preparing for the meeting

Is a meeting really necessary?

“Meetings are a symptom of poor organization. The fewer meetings the better.” - Peter Drucker, The Effective Leader.

• Complexity. The topic being discussed is so complex that participants need to look at visual materials together to stay in the flow of the discussion. For example, the architecture of database entities or the complex business process of verifying a loan application are discussed.
• Urgency. The topic at hand is so urgent that developing an action plan on the topic via email would be prohibitively time consuming.
• Importance. The topic being discussed is so important that its importance outweighs any possible time the group members may spend on the meeting.

There is no need to call meetings for the wrong reason. If you are:

• want to shift responsibility for the problem to the group,
• looking for listeners for your ideas or
• want to strengthen the team,

Set a clear goal and agenda

The purpose of any meeting is an action plan. Not “discuss the possibilities”, not “resolve the issue”, but “instruct so-and-so to do such-and-such by such-and-such a date.” Any other goal setting may result in the meeting having no impact.

Therefore, when scheduling a meeting, clearly list to the participants an action plan to solve what problem or problems you want to receive and send them the resulting agenda. A written agenda will allow people to ensure that they are not wasting time in pointless discussions and that the issues discussed are relevant to their area of ​​interest.

In case the allotted time is not enough for the meeting, the items on the agenda should be sorted in descending order of importance (this way you will have time to discuss the most important things) or by increasing complexity (this way you will have time to cover as many issues as possible).

Don't invite unnecessary participants

• Does he have exceptional knowledge of the subject that other meeting participants do not have?
• Does the topic being discussed affect his interests? Do his interests coincide with the interests of any other participant?
• Is this person ready for a constructive discussion?
• Would it be enough to simply inform this person of the outcome of the meeting?

Holding a meeting

• ensure compliance with all discussion rules described below
• interrupt those who violate them
• summarize the group's decision
• monitor the agenda and determine when the group moves on to the next issue

1. One says... Don't let participants interrupt each other. Not only is this a sign of disrespect, but most likely, at the moment of speaking at the same time, the participants are not trying to understand each other, which is not beneficial to the meeting as a whole.
2. ...and everyone else listens. The key to effective discussion is for everyone in the group to pay attention to what is being said in the group. Everyone should have the same “picture” of the issues being discussed. Once the group breaks up into multiple discussions or someone starts to get distracted (such as checking email on the phone or simply "zoning out"), further time will be lost until the group becomes one again. Everything that happened while someone was “absent” will have to be repeated for him, wasting everyone else’s time.
3. Get to the point! Despite the fact that when people are tired, they want to relax and talk about abstract topics, any such sidestepping wastes the time of everyone involved and distances you from reaching a solution. Gently bring everyone back to the topic of discussion.
4. Fight the problem, not the people. In the heat of discussion, participants may make comments that others may take personally. Such situations, if not nipped in the bud, will inevitably spoil the work environment, create unnecessary tension, incapacitate the affected members, waste time, and most likely prevent the group from achieving its goals. Immediately stop discussions that have gone “in the wrong direction.”
5. Record everything that is said. This can be done by you or another participant to whom you entrust the role of secretary of the meeting. Without fixation, the group will begin to forget the facts or conclusions that were produced, and the effectiveness of the process will inevitably decline. In addition, notes help the group save time by allowing the speaker to simply point to a particular part of the notes rather than having to explain in detail exactly what he or she means that has already been said. The recording should take place on a piece of paper that is visible to the whole group, or on a board hanging on the wall.
6. Take breaks. Use the Pomodoro method (work in cycles that involve a 5-minute rest for every 25 minutes of work). In my experience, meetings that last more than an hour and a half lose their effectiveness altogether due to participant fatigue. It is better to interrupt such meetings and postpone the continuation to another day.
7. If the group is no longer needed, leave. As the problem is discussed, there are fewer and fewer complex issues that require general discussion. If you understand that the problem has split into several tasks that require individual execution, there is no point in spending the total time on a group discussion - the meeting must be completed. If it is too early to end the meeting, but there are already people whose knowledge will not be needed in further discussion or whose interests will no longer be affected, let them go.

End of the meeting

Almost each of us has had to participate in various meetings more than once. And I think many have heard the following statement from colleagues: “It’s another meeting, but when will we work?” Every day hundreds of thousands of meetings are held in our country. But, unfortunately, this is the case when quantity does not translate into quality, because the principle “the more, the better” clearly does not work here. Only effectively conducted meetings can give a noticeably tangible result and influence the quality of the enterprise. I would like enterprises whose employees could join the famous lines from the poem by V.V. Mayakovsky’s “The Sitting Ones” became less and less:

You won't fall asleep with excitement.
It's early morning.
I greet the early dawn with a dream:
"Oh at least
More
One meeting
Regarding the eradication of all meetings!

Types of meetings

Meeting - meeting, meeting, dedicated to discussing some special question or several questions.

The types of extended meeting are:

• symposium— extended meeting on a special scientific issue;
• conference— extended meeting, for example, among scientists and politicians;
• congress, congress- a meeting of a wide range of participants, usually of a regional, national or international scale.

Within a particular enterprise, depending on the main task, the following types of meetings are distinguished:

• operational;
• instructive;
• problematic.

The classification of meetings may be based on other criteria, for example, frequency: planned, unplanned.

In addition, according to the nature of the meeting, they are divided into the following types:

• dictatorial- characteristic of an authoritarian type of management, when only the leader conducts the meeting and has actual voting rights, the rest of the participants are given only the opportunity to ask questions, but not express anything own opinion;
• autocratic- is based on the leader’s questions to the participants and their answers to them; as a rule, there are no discussions, only dialogue is possible;
• segregative— the report is discussed only by the participants selected by the leader, the rest listen and take note of the information presented;
• discussion— free exchange of opinions and development of a common solution; the right to make a decision in the final formulation remains with the manager;
• free- it does not adopt a clear agenda, sometimes there is no chairman, sometimes it ends with a decision, but mostly it comes down to an exchange of opinions.

By gathering together, meeting participants have the opportunity to express their point of view on the topics discussed, convey the information they possess to all meeting participants, discuss controversial issues, and consider alternative solutions. It’s not for nothing that they say that truth is born in a dispute.

But the meeting is an expensive undertaking. Keep in mind that if your organization has an hour-long meeting with eight people every day, that means one employee is getting paid just for attending the meetings. The meeting should not be considered as a way to inform employees, it is the optimal means of assessment and decision making. A collective decision has more weight than an individual decision. Therefore, a meeting is ideal where the team needs to participate in discussing a problem and finding solutions, where it is necessary to consider different points of view.

Preparing the meeting

The success of a meeting depends 90% on the quality of its preparation. Any meeting, even the shortest one, will benefit from preliminary work.

The employee responsible for preparing the event must first find out:

• purpose of the meeting,
• main issues for discussion,
• list of participants,
• place, time and form.

Let us note that in a number of organizations there is a certain procedure for holding meetings, which can be enshrined in special Regulations. In this case, the task is greatly simplified.

If several people are involved in preparing a meeting, then, as a rule, the enterprise issues an order to hold a meeting, which determines the composition of the working group and the plan for its preparation (see Example 1).

Setting the agenda

Drawing up the agenda is the task of the chairman, but its documentation falls on the shoulders of the secretary.

The agenda is drawn up only after the purpose of the meeting has been determined. In this case, the goal must be clearly formulated, have logical completeness and an unambiguous interpretation. The agenda should include a small number of issues so that they can be discussed in detail at the meeting. But, unfortunately, this requirement is not always met and the agenda is overloaded, which makes it impossible to prepare and discuss all issues in detail. The principle “less is more” applies here. Therefore, always try to get rid of minor issues that can be resolved outside the meeting.

The agenda is usually drawn up in written (printed) form . Of course, meetings can be held without a pre-prepared list of questions, but in this case they should at least be brought to the attention of the meeting participants orally. I don't think anyone would argue that a written agenda is a more effective form and allows everyone to focus on what needs to be done: before the meeting, during the meeting, and after the meeting. It is the plan for the event. Without it, meetings often turn into general discussions where participants don't focus on key issues. Many witnesses to unprepared meetings have more than once had to deal with such a situation when someone urgently requested information from their subordinates, and the rest were forced to waste time waiting. Such shortcomings negatively affect the rhythm of the discussion, and, consequently, its effectiveness.

Regarding the fact how to place issues on the agenda , there are two diametrically opposed opinions.

According to the first point of view, issues should be arranged in order of importance and complexity. The arguments here are as follows: at the beginning of the meeting, employees are more active, they are not yet tired and, therefore, it is better to discuss the most important and complex issues at the beginning.

Adherents of the second point of view believe that issues that require extensive discussion and elaboration are best addressed in the second third of the meeting, when the physical and mental performance of the participants reaches its peak. Current issues that do not require much time can be resolved first, and leave the easiest issues, interesting and enjoyable things at the end.

Based on work practice, we can recommend that readers adhere to the second point of view, because starting from more simple questions, you can set a certain rhythm, because they do not require detailed elaboration, employees do not have time to get tired discussing them - they serve as a “kind of warm-up” before working on more complex problems. When the main work is done and the audience’s attention wanes, you can move on to discussing more interesting issues that do not require tension (in the last third of the meeting), for example, about organizing a corporate event in honor of the company’s anniversary or about the results of participation in an exhibition.

We live in a dynamic world. During the preparation of the meeting, as a result of receiving more reliable and timely information, priorities may change repeatedly. What was relevant to us just a few hours ago may become completely uninteresting. Therefore, you should never treat the approved agenda for a work meeting as something set in stone. In this case, it can be recommended to develop a procedure for adjusting the agenda after its approval, which should be reflected in the Rules for holding meetings.

Prepared agenda approved by the manager, a sample of such a document is presented in Example 2. But in practice, a simplified form is often used. As can be seen from Example 3, it does not have an approval stamp (there are even design options without the signature of the responsible executor), but these forms of summons are the most common. The first form is more informative, contains information about the place, date and participants of the meeting, and has an approval stamp. Therefore, it can be recommended to use it for the most important meetings, and for working and operational meetings, the agenda can be signed by the secretary after a preliminary oral discussion with the chairman. The procedure for drawing up the agenda is fixed in the Regulations for holding meetings, if the enterprise has one.

Meeting participants

After determining the purpose of the meeting and the range of issues that will be discussed at it, you can proceed to the selection of candidate participants. To the meeting employees should be invited :

• who make key decisions on issues brought up for discussion (their opinion may be decisive);
• who, in accordance with their official duties, have certain information on the issues under consideration;
• who, due to the nature of their activities, must be familiar with the information presented at the meeting;
• who will organize the implementation of the meeting’s decisions.

You should invite people who are able to voice different points of view and at the same time are ready for fruitful interaction.

The usefulness of a meeting is inversely proportional to the number of its participants. Amount recommended by psychologists for an internal business meeting - from 6 to 9 people, this ensures high productivity, people do not get lost in the masses, and such a group is easier to control. In practice, meetings are held in both smaller and larger groups, each with its own advantages and disadvantages.

May be attached to the agenda guest list indicating their positions. This is done when organizing large meetings with a large number of participants. This is actively practiced in federal executive authorities. In commercial organizations, it is better to include meeting participants and invitees on the meeting agenda, as shown in Example 2.

In large institutions, meetings on the most important issues are prepared information on their merits , which indicates the reason and purpose for raising the issue for discussion. Along with the certificate, it may be offered draft decision .

If a large number of people, heads of branches, subsidiaries or representatives of third-party organizations participate in the meeting, then send invitations (notices) to the meeting. Typically, such a document consists of:

• appeals;
• information about the date, place and time of the event;
• agenda;
• invitations to participate;
• requests for confirmation of participation in the meeting.

Invitations (notices) are signed by the persons responsible for preparing the event. A possible design option is shown in Example 4.

The type of meeting determines the type of document that should be distributed to participants. Typically this is:

• an invitation (notice) to hold a meeting, issued on the organization’s letterhead, or
• agenda in the form accepted at the enterprise.

The agenda should be sent out several days before the event (usually 3-5 days) to give participants a chance to prepare. It is accompanied by materials to be discussed (draft reports on each issue, information materials, presented by responsible executors). Such supporting documentation can be sent out later - 1-2 days before the meeting. In this case, you should take into account the real ratio of the amount of information that needs to be familiarized with and the remaining time.

Meeting organizers not only need to send invitations (or agendas) to participants, but also encourage feedback. It should be clarified whether they will be able to attend and whether they need technical means.

Preparation of documents for the meeting (reports, information materials)

So, no one will read 10-15 pages of solid text in small print. Therefore, do not skimp on your employees and use the optimal font size - 12. Smaller text can be used, for example, for page footnotes.

Do not use too many font styles at the same time (2 are enough, for example, the most common ones - Times New Roman and Arial). It is better to highlight text fragments using different styles (italics, bold) or underlining.

Think about how many levels of headings in the text you will need, do you need to number them, how will you highlight the names of tables, diagrams and figures? All this will help the reader quickly navigate the document.

The main thing is that the formatting logic you choose is not violated within one document, and it is desirable that it be followed (even with small deviations) throughout the entire set of materials.

Participants' speeches can be supported written reports . Note that the report is one of the longest business documents. Writing it is one of the skills needed for a successful career. Therefore, we will give several fundamental recommendations for drafting the text of the report. It should be:

• as brief as the content and purpose allow;
• understandable (simple, not confusing);
• logical;
• structured.

Very often, the purpose of writing a report is to influence readers in some way: to persuade them to accept a certain point of view, change their own opinion, or take specific actions. The report should be addressed to a predetermined group, contain convincing arguments and anticipate possible objections.

In addition to the reports, they are preparing for the meeting information materials , which speakers use. It’s not for nothing that the Russian proverb says: “It’s better to see once than to hear a hundred times.” There are a large number of visual aids. For example, two simple graphs can be more effective than one complex one, and they are easier and faster to construct. Modern computer technology allows you to include in a report many graphic images right down to color illustrations.

Preparing the premises

The room intended for the meeting must be prepared in advance.

It needs to be ventilated or the air conditioning system turned on a few hours before.

Chairs should be carefully arranged, and their number should be 1-2 more than the planned number of participants and invitees. After all, during a discussion it may be urgently necessary to invite one of the employees. Then they will have somewhere to sit.

There should be writing utensils on the tables (pens, pencils and sheets of A4 paper or convenient A5 or larger notebooks). The use of stationery with branded symbols is encouraged.

Mineral water and glasses are placed on the tables, which are placed upside down on napkins, and their number should be 1-2 more than those present.

If marker boards are used for clarity, it is necessary to provide several multi-colored markers, as well as pre-soak the so-called “eraser” with a special liquid.

If you use technical means, you must install them in advance, familiarize yourself with the operating rules and check their functionality, and be sure to provide the ability to connect laptops. When using slides, make sure they are available at the meeting and place the projection screen so that it can be seen by everyone present.

More exotic equipment may be required. For example, at food enterprises it is possible to conduct a tasting of a product and compare it with competitors' products. In this case, it is necessary to provide disposable tableware for each participant.

Some companies do not allow cell phones to be brought into meetings for safety reasons. In this case, it should be possible to store them with the manager’s secretary.

Holding a meeting

If the agenda is busy, then We recommend establishing discussion rules . He disciplines the participants and helps the chairman control the progress of the meeting. A sample agenda for a meeting to discuss one issue might look like this:

• opening remarks (time limits for the course of the meeting and the approximate time of its end are specified) - no more than 10 minutes;
• main report - up to 30 minutes;
• questions to the speaker - no more than 2 minutes. every;
• co-report, message - no more than 10 minutes;
• questions to the co-speaker - no more than 1 minute. every;
• speeches - 5-7 minutes. each;
• speaker's response - no more than 5 minutes;
• answers from co-speakers - no more than 3 minutes. every;
• information during the meeting - no more than 3 minutes;
• reading the draft decision - no more than 3 minutes;
• summing up the meeting - no more than 10 minutes.

Maximum duration Meetings should not exceed three to four hours a day. Based on the psychophysiological characteristics of a person, it is recommended to take a break after 1.5 - 2 hours of work for 15 minutes.

The specific time of the meeting is determined by the chairman. In this case, human biorhythms should be taken into account. Thus, ergonomic studies have found that the best time for making decisions is late in the morning. Psychologists recommend holding most meetings in the afternoon. According to the theory of biorhythms, a person has two peaks of performance - between 9-12 hours and between 16-18 hours. Although long meetings at the end of the day can force people to make quick and not always optimal decisions. Success does not depend on the length of the meeting, but on how active all its participants are.

On average, the duration of meetings at an enterprise ranges from 30 minutes to 2 hours. You should try to keep the meeting as short as possible, as much as your goals allow. It's no secret that in many companies, meetings on issues that could be discussed in 20 minutes turn into a long 2-hour discussion. The world has accumulated a lot of experience in rational and even original solutions to this problem. For example, in some Japanese corporations, employees go into the lobby, and the meeting is held there, standing up. There is no doubt that such discussions fit within the time frame recommended by experts - an hour, a maximum of one and a half. It’s hard for me to imagine this form of holding meetings at Russian enterprises - we are still far from Japan in terms of business organization, but we still have everything ahead.

• informative and operational meetings should not exceed 20-30 minutes, and problematic ones - 1.5-2 hours;
• discussion of one complex issue should not last more than 40-45 minutes;
• after 30-40 minutes of work, participants’ attention begins to weaken;
• after 70-80 minutes physical fatigue appears;
• after 80-90 minutes negative activity develops - conversations and extraneous activities begin;
• If the meeting continues without a break for more than 2 hours, then participants appear who agree to any decision.

Documentation of the meeting

The most important thing begins right after the meeting. After all, its effectiveness will depend on the implementation of the decisions made. To do this, it is necessary to draw up a protocol in which decisions are recorded in writing, indicating responsible executors and deadlines for completing the task. Typically, at the end of the meeting, the chair summarizes the discussion and briefly announces what action needs to be taken, by whom, and when. It is the protocol that documents the agreements reached and indicates the directions for future work.

The minutes are a mandatory element of the final stage of the meeting. The minutes record the progress of the discussion of issues and the decisions made. The protocol reflects the activities of joint decision-making by a collegial body or group of workers.

Depending on the type of meeting and other factors, the following may be drawn up: protocol forms :

• full a protocol that contains a record of all speeches at the meeting (it records the issues discussed and decisions made, speeches of participants, questions, comments, etc.);
• brief protocol, which contains the names of the speakers and short notes about the topic of the speech, the decisions made (without details of the discussion).

The decision on what form of minutes to take at a meeting is made by the head of the collegial body or the head of the organization.

At its core, the minutes are a summary of the meeting. It can form the basis for discussion of issues raised at the next meeting. From this document, those absent from the meeting will be able to glean valuable information (this may include key executives who were not invited to the discussion). Therefore, when drawing up a protocol, it is necessary to include the following points:

• date and time of the workshop;
• participants;
• agenda and its execution;
• decisions made;
• planned actions;
• responsible executors;
• period of execution.

The minutes are kept during the meeting by the secretary, who takes notes (stenographs) or tapes the speeches of the meeting participants. The main professional quality of a secretary should be the ability to listen, which is currently an undervalued quality. Most people in a meeting often start talking at once. Of all the words we use, only a small part carries objective information that is worth recording in a document. Many people frame their thoughts with words that express how they feel about the audience or how they feel about the group. To extract the essence from such a stream of words requires significant concentration of attention, as well as knowledge of the organization's basic business processes. We will give a number of recommendations to those who record:

• perceive facts and ideas, not just words;
• listen to words about actions: completed, proposed or approved;
• mark words that would talk about possible changes;
• do not hesitate to clarify with those present if you did not catch or understand a decision made during an active discussion or an upcoming action;
• Summarize the previous one before moving on to the next discussion point. In this case, as a rule, the chairman asks to read the draft decision aloud and, if necessary, makes adjustments to it (it should be noted that if a working group, then it is she who must prepare the draft decision), and the secretary’s task is only to fix decision taken in the draft protocol.

The design of the protocol has a number of features. If it lasted several days, then the start and end dates of the meeting are indicated through a dash. The protocol number is serial number meetings of the collegial body since the beginning of the year.

Protocol signs chairman and secretary. On particularly important occasions, speakers should endorse protocol, visas are affixed on the left margin of the document, at the level of the recording of the speech.
The materials submitted for consideration are filed with the protocol: certificates, reports, projects, etc., which are drawn up as appendices.

As a rule, the time allotted for preparing the minutes depends on the type of meeting and should be enshrined in the local regulations of the enterprise. Usually the minutes are finalized within a few hours after the meeting or the next day, while the secretary, chairman and everyone present have fresh memories of the discussion.

A copy of the minutes must be sent to all meeting participants, and an extract from the minutes must be sent to those responsible for specific issues who were not present at the meeting. which would include only the information necessary to complete the order. Sample registration of an extract from the minutes of the production meeting is given in Example 5. The timing of sending copies of the minutes to meeting participants or extracts from the minutes must be determined in the local regulations of the enterprise.

Usually, copy of the protocol is done by making a photocopy of the original minutes signed by the chairman and secretary of the meeting. In this case, in the upper right corner of the document is placed stamp "COPY", and not “CORRECT COPY”, as is done in many organizations, and at the end of the protocol a certification entry is made in accordance with GOST R6.30-2003: when certifying a copy of a document, a certification note is placed below the “Signature” detail “True”, position of the person who certified the copy, his personal signature and transcript of the signature (initials, surname), date of certification(See Example 6). In this case, the person who has the right to certify copies of protocols must be vested with such powers locally regulations enterprises, for example, this may be reflected in the Office Management Instructions.

A copy of the protocol (as well as an extract from the protocol) is allowed certify with a seal organization, determined at its discretion. But, as a rule, copies of documents (on extracts) used within the organization are not stamped. Therefore, it is not present in our Examples 5 and 6.

If you are making a copy of a multi-page protocol, then the photocopied sheets of the document must first be bound, and the certification in this case is made on the reverse side of the last sheet of the document. In practice, multi-page copies used only within an organization are not bound.

Control can be timely and to the point. Responsibility for time-based control is assigned to the office management service, and substantive control is exercised by the immediate supervisor. At the next meeting, you can inform employees about the implementation of the decisions of the previous meeting.

In accordance with Art. 5 of the List of standard management documents generated in the activities of organizations (2000), the following are established storage periods for protocols :

• minutes of the collegial executive body of the organization (collegium, council, directorate, Management Board, etc.) - constantly;
• protocols of scientific, expert, methodological, advisory bodies of the organization (committees, commissions, councils, etc.) - constantly;
• minutes of meetings with the head of the organization - constantly;
• minutes of meetings of the organization’s labor collectives - constantly;
• minutes of meetings of structural divisions of the organization - 5 years EPC;
• protocols general meetings shareholders, shareholders - constantly.

Most protocols have a permanent shelf life, which determines the importance of working with this type of document in an enterprise. Therefore, it is important not only archival storage, but also the organization of operational storage of protocols at the enterprise in accordance with the approved nomenclature of cases.

Electronic document management and meetings: what do they have in common?

Enterprises increasingly feel the need for effective management. This is what the implementation of systems is aimed at electronic document management(SED). We draw your attention to the fact that many EDMS contain a module designed to automate the document flow that accompanies meetings of collegial governing bodies. It is able to effectively solve the following tasks:

• planning and preparing meetings;
• providing the manager with convenient means of analyzing previous meetings;
• monitoring the implementation of decisions made following the meeting.

In one form or another (depending on the specific software), the following functions can be implemented:

• formation of a draft agenda;
• sending messages to executors responsible for preparing draft decisions;
• receiving draft decisions and certificates from responsible executors;
• preparation of a package of documents for the meeting;
• distribution of a package of documents to meeting participants;
• sending out invitations, agendas;
• preparation of minutes of the meeting;
• monitoring the implementation of meeting decisions.

If the EDMS implements a full-fledged unit for automating control over the execution of orders, then it allows you to generate the necessary reporting. As a rule, you can make selections by:

• F.I. O. the manager who gave the order;
• F.I. O. responsible executor;
• deadline for execution of orders;
• overdue orders.

Proper use of EDMS is designed to make our work easier and free up time for solving problems that machines are not yet able to cope with.

* * *

Considering that CEO If a large enterprise spends on average 17 hours a week, an executive director - 23 hours, and a middle manager - 11 hours a week participating in meetings, the effectiveness of their conduct can free up a lot of useful time and energy. And your contribution to this noble cause can be significant!