Meeting Management Skills: How to Plan and Lead Effective Meetings

good morning and welcome to lectures on soft skills by binod mishra presently we are in the group communication skills part and in that part the previous lectures we have discussed about various group communications and today we are going to talk about meeting management

skills now as human beings we have been watching in the previous lectures that it is our tendency ah to collect or together in groups now before we come to meeting management skills let us

see what actually are meetings earlier we talked about group discussion and there we saw how group discussion helps people to show their leadership skills and other related skills but then since most of you are either in the organizations or going to join organizations

you have often heard people say that a good amount of a professional time today it is spent in meetings sometimes people often get varied about these meetings which are at times held periodically periodically and at other times meetings are

organized sometimes in a fortnights sometimes in a months sometimes after two months but then meetings have become a part of todays organizations now do you really think that if you are invited to a meeting you have something to do or what actually are the purposes behind

a meeting we shall discuss the various functions of a meeting and your role as an individual in the meeting and wow actually meetings can be made useful because time and again you have heard people saying that we spend a lot of time on meetings

so the first thing is ah that time is very important but before we come to know how to make use of time let us talk about are the various functions of meeting and then when now now what is a meeting a meeting is actually a a gathering of so many people i mean more

than two or three ah depending upon the number of the people ah that will discuss later but then meeting is actually a sort of organized gathering it is a sort of organized gathering organized gathering and that gathering is for a specific purpose

now what are the various purposes that meetings ah have to ah have the first is that whenever a meeting is called it has certain aims and objects now meetings may be called to share some information information sharing and there are several advantages of meetings also that

we shall also discuss but then you have some new piece of information and you are an organizational head or say a unit head you want to circulate that information in the group and in the group meaning there by in your unit which you are heading

so meeting ah has a function of information sharing you will find that whenever ah you are inducted as a new member in an organization again you are totally new to the organization you do not know anything about the organization but then ah since you have to work in the

organization you also are expected to understand what the organization deals in what are the objectives of the organization and what is your role so initially ah you will also be expected to get some training and this training also

can be one of the objectives of a meeting so suppose nowadays you find that every now and then organizations are changing new and new things have been launched new practices are being followed and as we are in a multicultural global world where every moment there is a

change so it is quite mandatory for our members of all ah the employees of an organization to understand what their roles are and how they will fit in their roles so for that meetings can also be organized for the purpose of training but remember sometimes in an organization

or say in a particular unit there is a problem and that problem needs a solution some decision has to be taken so sometimes meetings can also be called to solve a problem because as we have said earlier groups have more resources because it is a

collection a people who are from diverse backgrounds diverse experiences so one of the major functions of ah meeting is to solve a problem sometimes you will also see ah that our organization has ah landed itself in a crisis and in that critical are also some meeting will be called

in order to find out what can be the relevant solution at that are because as employees of an organization it becomes our prime responsibility to understand the problems that the organization is going through hence a problem solving also is the function of meeting so problems are

there so problems will be solved only when so many people are there and in this situation somebody i mean your leader ah will call a meeting to discuss over how to tide over a critical situation on other occasions you will find ah that a

work is in progress or a work has ah finally been solved because of some reasons of the other so in order to understand in order to take a stock of the situation in order to understand the problem that is actually impeding the process of a certain product or certain

policy so a meeting is once again called to plan so meeting is also called to plan so planning for planning planning new things sometimes you will find ah that you ah as an organizational head ah have come across such a problem where your customers or where

people who are the shareholders ah they have some problems and in a way there has been a conflict of interest ah there has been a very conflicting situation in order to overcome that once again a meeting is called so meeting is called to plan to receive if a new products

suppose nowadays you will find ah that so many new products are being launched ah earlier you know ah if if you take an example of ah the modes of transport earlier from one place to another you use to hire a rickshaw i mean if you are you are going for very short distance

nowadays there have been several new things which have replace that for example are the e rickshaw that is the new thing imagine when it it could have been launched for the first time but before launching it could also have seen whether it is feasible so meaning there

by if you are going to launch a new product first you have to demonstrate first you have to ah announce [am/among] among the internal members the specifications of that product because some way or the other when you demonstrate it you come to know about its lapses or what

new things can be added but the overall function of every meeting is to make a decision this is a once again a different a question that many meetings sometimes and just a in a discussion and there is no decision but primarily all meetings finally ah have to come to a decision

now when meeting in so important we have to understand how to conduct a meeting and what are actually the various skills that are required in order to make the meeting effective in order to counter the allegation that meetings waste a lot of time and in order that meetings

be meaningful now what are ah these and how can we go forward as i have said earlier that there are usual complaints ah that meetings sometimes you will also ah get surprised when you get a notice for the meeting earlier we have talked

about ah notice ah and we have talked about ah minutes of the meeting when we are discussing writing session but since ah this is a part of the speaking section and this is a part of the group communication here we are discussing what it makes to call a meeting and how a

meeting can be made meaningful now the complaints which are there most of the time are are that most of meetings do not come to a decision simply they are a waste of time and then we start finding the reason many people all ah at times attribute that

it was because of a poor planning because sometimes ah you get are the notice of a meeting ah two hours before three hours before now in such a situation you as a member who is going to participate in the meeting ah are at loss to understand what may be the

ah agenda even if the agenda sent you are not totally prepared sometimes meetings also fail ah because of poor leadership we have talked about ah the various skills that are involved in leadership now on several occasions meetings do not come

to a proper decision or implementation because of the poor leadership even as employees we also ah do not at times participate imagine if ah the number of meetings is ah too many i mean suppose if you have a weekly meeting every now and then people who start ah thinking

it as a routine affair and then sometimes they go there half heartedly sometimes they are disinterested and that is why the participation level is also less and meetings do not come to a valid conclusion now when you plan a meeting now why why does

it happen because the person who call the meeting perhaps was not aware of the proper planning we can understand that there can be emergency meetings of course ah that that cannot be excused but if meetings are organized a at a very short notice or call that a very

short notice then the meeting will not have any proper outcome so in order that the meeting be made effective let us try to answer and let us ask ourselves also because you ah sometimes you may be in the position of a leader or the head or the in charge of a particular

unit and you may also be ask to call a meeting so it is better when you call a meeting so before calling a meeting you should ask yourself certain questions so that meetings cannot ah end in a fiasco when i say fiasco i mean ah a meaningless meeting you know all meetings

have to come to certain a decisions ah certain out comes but then it totally depends upon how we organize it so let us ask ah yourself the question why this meeting meaning there by ah is it not possible ah to stop the meeting and have only a discussion now there are several

questions involved into it first is why are you calling this meeting ask yourself what is the reason behind this meeting then if you are if you if you satisfy yourself ah by getting the proper regents of meeting ask yourself who are the people

ah that should be call for the meeting because meeting ah is very important earlier we said it is time and the time is not only of one person the time is not only of you but other people also may be everyone is not at the particular location everyone is not in the

particular area so there are people who are who can be the part of the meeting they can they also may have to travel from a long distance so ask who are the people whose presence is important in the meeting there is no need at to call people unnecessarily or without

any objective for a meeting then again comes the question of time when when should the meeting be held where where should the meeting take place and what now these are the questions that will actually give you proper reasoning as to why meeting should be call why should

the meeting be call you will have some reason who are the people i mean people who are part of that people who actually can help a lot in the decision making process now when for that you will have to check the calendars you will also have to think about

the time of the people i mean people who are part of the meeting because every one may not be free at the time that you are going to call a meeting and then where what would be the appropriate location and then what i mean what other things are required for

the meeting in in some way is of the other as we have talk earlier ah and agenda is always circulated because the agenda gives the members the first hand information about the items that will be discussed in a meeting now when you are going to decide about all

these wh questions the first is check calendars now what will be the suitable date usually a date which can have the convenience of the members who can be the part of the meeting that will be the most suitable date and in order ah to understand the convenience of

the people you will have to check the availability of the people i mean there may be a person who might be very important to this meeting who might be knowing about ah the particulars of a particular department and his presence is very important but he is out of the town

so it is always better to take his or her convenience first and then also take other peoples ah convenient time for that it is not needed that you should call all of them telephonically ah you can pass on message through electronic mails as it is a very feasible

nowadays so decide the suitable time and then think about a venue now when we think about the venue there are several things now what do we mean by venue the place where meetings can take place ah it is it is not essential

that if you are in mumbai and you are going to call ah meeting in a say pune now if it is possible you can call a meeting even if you if you feel that some people are located a nearby you can think of a common place where all these people can gather but then if you

feel ah that you have to call a series of meetings it is always better to change venues but keeping into consideration that it does not entail a lot of cost fine now when you think about the appropriate timing of the meeting many people may have different

views some people would laugh to have the meeting in the first half say in the fonun some would like to have the meeting in the afternoon but then see to it that you do not keep a meeting ah say in the evening after seven pm or or something like that everyone

is a professional everyone has certain work and we have to make a balance between our work and personal life so these are the points that should be taken into consideration when you have decided the venue and now you have circulated the information or the notice about

the meeting now it becomes your duty to check the venue well in advance when i say check the venue well in advance what do i mean i mean if the room is a accommodating i mean can it accommodate all these people you have call for the meeting were different ways

sometimes the the meeting can be ah for a people who are only six or seven in number sometimes it can be twenty in number so you have to decide whether the room can accommodate apart from the room you also have to see the gadgets you also have to see even before meeting

you have to see whether a proper electricity electrical facilities are there ah whether if it if your organizing this meeting during summer you have to ensure ah that ah there are proper coolers or acs working fine more over you also have to see before announcing

that the agenda is well prepared and systematic again when you are going to make the meeting effective you are also to see that every member suppose it is a meeting which has got a say ten members twenty members at every seat there is a proper pad pen and if it is you know

convenient to provide everyone ah with mike if the number of ah participants are too many but if the number is small there is no need more over you also have to think about refreshments and all ah the total ribbons upon ah your investment and for your capability and as

well now when you start the meeting see to it that you follow the agenda somebody will be appointed as the ah leader or the secretary somebody ah as secretary will write the minutes as we have talked earlier so you appoint somebody

to take or to record but remember while recording ah the person who is recording must to know that everything should not be recorded because when there is a meeting sometimes ah while discussion goes on some unusual unpleasant situations also arises but that should not

be a part of the minutes as we have discussed now start the meeting on time when you when you start the meeting please start the meeting on time ah sometimes you may find that not all people have gathered but there if the time ah for the meeting ah has been announced

it is better to i am ah start the meeting in time some people may be late ah follow the agenda allow full participation please see as leader it is your responsibility to allow that everyone participates in the meeting for that you have to have certain amount of

control as a leader an if you follow the democratically you will find that every member in the meeting ah participates in the meeting sometimes the discussion ah deviates in a way it is your responsibility as a leader of the meeting or as the head of a particular

unit or whatsoever to see that the meeting doesnt get side tract please see that the meeting is finished well in time while people are taking notes they also have to see that you are you they they are using a very positive and constructive language ah and the tone

i mean the language used that has to be very official it should not have a sort of informality and here should to be taken that the meeting is task oriented or task centered now when the meeting starts as a member of the meeting as a participant in the meeting

ah you should wait for your turn to speak as a leader if you are a leader you should see that somebody who is not speaking or not participating you should try to encourage him and while asking him to ah say something the language used even even you may get angry

at times but you should not show your anger you can say well mister x what is your opinion on this matter and as employees all of us should try our level best to see ah that meeting is effective it is meaningful ah some ah sort of eticates also have to be maintained ah

such as nowadays we are always ah in ah an age where cell phones dominate most of the time so care should be taken not only by the leader but by individual members also that they should switch off their cell phones during meeting and they should not huge satirical

language sometimes you will find ah that the meeting continues for along the time ah because apart from ah the agenda items something more also comes into a discussion so when things go off the hand and when ah the leader does not seem to have a control

over a domineering person as one of the participants you can ah you can always ask a is the meeting over may i know if the meeting is over so that will give a message and the meeting will be concluded now after the meeting is concluded please thank the leader and once the meeting

is over please see ah that whatever things you have discussed they are summarized ah but remember has secretary taking ah down the notes will see ah that no unusual uncalled for the behaviors are recorded and ensure please arounds that the minutes will be circulated

to everyone ah all the members of the meeting ah so you have certain important roles as a leader if you are ah leading or heading the meeting now when you are going to conclude the meeting you have to take into consideration that when

you have heard everyone you should summarize and whatever came out of the meeting and in this specifications of the meeting they have to be identified and if you feel that some action ah is to be taken you have to assign the responsibility to some people you can

also ah tell them a a deadline you can also provide ah deadline or give a time limit for the task to be taken into consideration to be furriest you can make the tasks easier by setting deadlines and do decide a proper follow up action

ah since we are living in an age ah where we have to work in one capacity or the other in organizations we have to understand these skills that are required to make a meeting effective it is always better that so many people meet and the discuss and they finally

come out with some conclusions on which some action has to be taken but sometimes there are also difficulties and here comes as again i will i will a repeat ah the role of leader so it is the leaders responsibility to create a balance and to ensure that everyone has

participated ah the leader when finds that two people in the meeting they actually disagree and the disagreement level goes to the point of a conflict it is now the leaders responsibility that by being neutral he can try to save the discussion ah not by using the harsh language

but in a very polite in a very convincing in a very persuasive language i mean somebody ah you you you sometimes also come across some people who are late for the meeting so it is better not to say anything but you know people who are late to the meeting they will

themselves realize that they are late sometimes the leaders also say ah we ah started ah without you ah and and these things have taken place or these things have been discussed it is up to the leader how to conduct a meeting but the conduct of a successful and effective

meeting depends not only on the leader but also on the participants of the meeting ah a proper balance between the members and the leaders may result in the fruitful discussion and hence the meeting can be considered to be suggestive and meaningful you have many

meetings to attend but please see that you attend not only as a mute spectator and as a listener but as an active participant because your participation will ensure and lead to the success of a meeting thank you very much