By Mrs Neha Juglaul

BUSINESS MEETINGS
INTRODUCTION
• Much of the communication that takes place in
the workplace happens in small group meetings. It
has been estimated that managers spend most of
their time attending meetings. Unfortunately too
many of those meetings are unproductive because
specific goals have not been set for the meetings.
To ensure productivity of meetings, it is important
to take great care in the planning and conducting
of such meetings.
MEETINGS
• What are meetings? – Meetings are gatherings in which
persons work together to achieve a common goal. The best
preparation for a meeting is having a specific goal that
would be best handled in a face to face situation. Meetings
provide a forum where individuals can share, discuss and
exchange information as well as analyse and solve
problems. Meetings can be conducted in one location (the
office), but because of the advancement of technology,
today meetings may be conducted on the phone, via
teleconferencing and also via the internet.
MEETINGS
• Meeting is an effective useful communication tool because it
allows
• persons within the workplace to:
• benefit from each other’s view point and opinion
• share, discuss and exchange information
• analyse and solve problems
• discuss issues of mutual interest
• exchange up to date information to make sure that everyone is
aware of current events, schedules and developments
• talk about planned events developments and exchange ideas and
suggestions for action.
CLASSIFICATION OF MEETINGS
• Depending on the topic of the meeting, meetings may be
classified as formal or informal.
• Formal meetings have set rules and procedures that must
be followed and a completed written record must be made.
In formal meetings the organisation has to ensure that
decisions taken at the end of the meeting are based on a
legal framework and that the decisions are legally correct.
It is important that persons attending such meetings be
made fully aware of the procedures which govern these
meetings.
CLASSIFICATION OF MEETINGS
• Informal meetings have no set rules (unless
some rules have been devised by the
organisation). In some cases a completed written
record can be made on completion of the meeting.
CONVENING A MEETING
• For a meeting to be valid, it is usually necessary
that the following be taken into consideration:
• The meeting is properly constituted –in the
event that members at the meeting are appointed
or elected, it is important that they be notified of
their appointment or election according to the
founding document of the assembly
CONVENING A MEETING
• The meeting be properly convened - for meeting to be
properly
• convened they should take the following procedure:
• Notices must be sent out to persons who will be attending
the meeting
• Adequate time be given before the meeting can be
convened
• A reasonable time and place must be identified
• The matters to be discussed must be communicated to the
parties involved unless otherwise stated
CONVENING A MEETING
• A quorum be formed- A quorum stipulates the
minimum number of persons who need to be available
at a meeting before it can begin. Usually the
organisation stipulates this number; however it is
necessary to establish procedure for dealing either a
situation of when there is no quorum present. In the
absence of a quorum, the meeting may be adjourned
until a quorum is reached or the total membership
present may be considered a quorum.
CONVENING A MEETING
• Motions are properly presented – A motion is
an idea for action on which the rest of the people
in the meeting vote and the organisation may
usually specify the procedure for proposing a
motion. If there is need to change the motion, than
an amendment to the motion can be proposed and
voted on. If an amendment motion is accepted, it
becomes a substantive motion and can be debated
and voted on.
CONVENING A MEETING
• Resolutions are properly approved – when a motion has been
properly approved it becomes a resolution.
• The method of voting be specified – the commonly used methods
of voting include:
• Show of hands.
• Poll.
• Ballot.
• Voice.
• Satisfactory records be maintained – it is important that after a
meeting has be conducted that satisfactory records of the meeting
be kept and made available to anybody who wishes to enquire
about the meeting in the future.
DOCUMENTING MEETINGS
• Even if the meeting is very informal, it is unlikely
that it will have no paperwork at all. Even if no
notes are made, it is still possible that everyone
will need a list of all the items to be discussed at
the meeting. This information will should be
circulated to persons well in advance of the
meeting to allow them the opportunity to
familarise themselves of the matters to be
discussed before the meeting.
NOTICE OF THE MEETING
• this document tells persons where and when the
meeting will be held. This serves as written notice
of the event. For informal meetings notice may be
sent via an e-mail or a memo. The notice of the
meeting is sent out at a suitable time to allow
those expected for the meeting enough time to
prepare for the meeting.
AGENDA
• this document tells persons what will be discussed at the meeting. The list of
items to be discussed is usually incorporated into the notice to save time.
Agendas usually contain the following information:
• Registration: this section is used mainly for taking the record of persons
present at the meeting
• Welcome and apologies: this section contains the welcome remarks made by
the chairperson followed by the announcements of the names of those who
indicated that they would be unable to attend the meeting.
• Confirmation of minutes of the previous meetings: this section allows for
members who were present at the last meeting to confirm that they have read the
minutes of the previous meeting
• Matters arising from the minutes and not on the agenda: this section
discusses matters that may arise out of the minutes but have not been placed on
the agenda. If the issue being raised from the minutes is already on the agenda
then it is left to be discussed later
• Any other business: this section that appears at the end of the agenda
incorporates any relevant and important information that needs consideration but
has not been placed on the agenda at the time it was circulated.
MINUTES
• these documents record what was discussed and the action
people agreed to take – both for future references and as a
reminder of what were discussed during the meeting. There
are different types of minutes for different types of
meetings:
• Verbatim minutes – these are used primarily in court
reporting where everything needs to be recorded word for
word
• Minutes of narration – provides a concise summary of
all the discussions which took place during the meeting.
MINUTES
• Minutes of action lists only the conclusions and the
action agreed during the meeting.
• Minutes of resolutions are produced for very formal
meetings, such as the AGM.
• Minutes are prepared for the following reasons:
• To record the decisions that is made at a meeting.
• To avoid any misunderstandings that may arise after the
meeting has been completed.
• For future reference.
• As a legal record.
TECHNIQUES OF MINUTE-TAKING
• The following conventions apply while writing minutes:
• Minutes are always written in the third person, past tense
and using reported speech. You should therefore never
write ‘I”, ‘We’ or ‘you’. The past tense is used because the
meeting has now ended, so you are writing about a past
event. As you are using reported speech, ie, reporting what
people said, you should never use quotation marks.
• Slang and colloquial expressions are not written in minutes.
Neither are strong adjectives, expletives or exaggerated
statements.
SUMMARY
• Give yourself a big pat on the back! You have acquired a great deal
of information on how to become an effective communicator. In
this topic you were introduced to meetings that are gatherings in
which people work to gather to achieve or attain a goal or
objective, and you learnt that meetings are a very important
component of effective business communications. We looked at the
different types of meetings that you could employ in today’s
business environment as well as the documents (such as notices,
agenda, and minutes) and procedures necessary to follow when
conducting a meeting. Good documentation is essential to ensure
productive and effective meetings.