Meetings
()
About this ebook
The meetings secrets that experts and top professionals use.
Get results fast with this quick, easy guide to the fundamentals of business meetings.
Includes:
- Why have meetings?
- Prepare well for meetings
- Chairing a meeting
- Taking minutes
- Giving a presentation
- Taking part in a meeting
- After the meeting
Martin Manser
Martin Manser is a professional writer and researcher. He is responsible for ‘The Penguin Wordmaster’ and ‘The Guinness Book of Words’.
Read more from Martin Manser
Useful Verbs and Tenses Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Useful Grammar of English Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Useful Dictionary of Nouns With Prepositions Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUseful Dictionary of Verbs With Prepositions Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Useful Dictionary of Adjectives With Prepositions Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUseful Dictionary of Derived Words Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Mindpower Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Useful Dictionary of English Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBest Loved Prayers and Words of Wisdom Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Best Loved Hymns and Readings Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Best Loved Christmas Carols, Readings and Poetry Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Crossword Companion Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsChristian Christian Names: Baby Names inspired by the Bible and the Saints Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSaints: The definitive guide to the Saints Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUseful William Shakespeare Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEphesians: Word Come Alive Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Ultimate Bible Fact and Quiz Book Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUseful Thesaurus of English Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Christian Quotations Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDaily Guidance: A Book of Daily Bible Readings Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUseful Charles Dickens Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUseful Jane Austen Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Acts: Word Come Alive Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings1, 2 & 3 John: Word Come Alive Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJohn's Gospel: Word Come Alive Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to Meetings
Related ebooks
Effective Minute-Taking: Tips to Improve Your Meeting-Recording Skills Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I Love Meetings: 7 Rules for Effective Meetings Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEffective Meetings Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5High Impact Meetings: A Guide to Greater Productivity Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEffective Meetings in 7 simple steps Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsYour Easy Guide to Taking Minutes with Confidence Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEssential Meeting Blueprints for Managers: Effective meetings made easy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMeeting of the Board Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBusiness Execution Standard Requirements Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUsing an Art Technique to Facilitate Leadership Development Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Online Meetings Handbook: The New Rules for Personal and Team Success Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCovert Processes at Work: Managing the Five Hidden Dimensions of Organizational Change Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHow to Manage Coworker Related Stress At Work Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Value of Teamwork Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSpeaking with Strategic Impact: Four Steps to Extraordinary Presence & Persuasion Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSales Organization Design A Complete Guide - 2020 Edition Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAutomotive Paints and Coatings Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsManaging meetings Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings3 Steps to Success: Presentations Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHow to Become a Successful Conference Speaker Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSuccessful Meetings: How to Plan, Prepare, and Execute Top-Notch Business Meetings Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Unleash Your Meeting Potential™: A Comprehensive Guide to Leading Effective Meetings Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUnleash Your Meeting Potential™: A Comprehensive Guide to Leading Effective Meetings Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsManaging Business Meetings Effectively Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRunning a Great Meeting In a Day For Dummies Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Quick Win Presentations 2e: Answers to your top 100 Presentations questions Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPresenting Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGreat Speakers are not born Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Business Communication For You
How to Win Friends and Influence People in the Digital Age Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Think Faster, Talk Smarter: How to Speak Successfully When You're Put on the Spot Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Talk to Anyone: 27 Ways to Charm, Banter, Attract, & Captivate Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5On Writing Well, 30th Anniversary Edition: An Informal Guide to Writing Nonfiction Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Talk Like TED: The 9 Public-Speaking Secrets of the World's Top Minds Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Get to the Point!: Sharpen Your Message and Make Your Words Matter Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High, Third Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Talk Less, Say More: Three Habits to Influence Others and Make Things Happen Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How To Start A Conversation And Make Friends: Revised And Updated Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Robert's Rules Of Order Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The First Minute: How to start conversations that get results Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie: Summary and Analysis Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Storyworthy: Engage, Teach, Persuade, and Change Your Life through the Power of Storytelling Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Emotional Intelligence 2.0 by Travis Bradberry and Jean Greaves: Cheat Sheet Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5You Can Negotiate Anything: The Groundbreaking Original Guide to Negotiation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Crucial Conversations Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High, Second Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5EQ Applied: The Real-World Guide to Emotional Intelligence Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Art of Public Speaking Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Personal Finance for Beginners - A Simple Guide to Take Control of Your Financial Situation Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Emotional Intelligence Quick Book: Everything You Need to Know to Put Your EQ to Work Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/52600 Phrases for Effective Performance Reviews: Ready-to-Use Words and Phrases That Really Get Results Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Communicating at Work Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5
Reviews for Meetings
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
Meetings - Martin Manser
1.1
Know your purpose
It may seem unnecessary to discuss the purpose of meetings, but it is a question that has probably occurred to you when you are in the middle of a long, boring meeting: ‘Why am I here? What are we actually achieving?’ So before the meeting starts, you need to work out what you want to achieve during the meeting.
Asking ‘What is the purpose of this meeting?’ is probably the most important question that you can ask as you plan, prepare for or go into a meeting: what is its aim? What exactly are you trying to achieve? One thing is certain: if you don’t know the purpose of your meeting before you begin it, it’s unlikely that you’ll achieve a purpose while the meeting is taking place and before it ends. Further, how will you know if the meeting had been successful if you don’t know what you’re aiming to achieve?
Here are some possible aims of meetings:
▪ to give information, e.g. to inform colleagues of progress or introduce new products or services
▪ to review progress on a project
▪ to negotiate details of a contract
one minute wonder Think of the next meeting you are to attend. What is its purpose?
▪ to negotiate arrangements, e.g. financial or in politics
▪ to discuss a proposal for a future project
▪ to assess and evaluate different strategies or ways of dealing with a problem or a dispute
▪ to review and approve a certain course of action or a set of accounts
▪ to come to a decision on a proposal and agree what to do next
▪ to choose new members of a committee, board, leadership group, etc.
▪ to listen to or give a talk or presentation on a subject
▪ to develop a sense of team identity and encourage more effective teamwork
Keep the aims of your meeting simple and clear.
1.2
What can go wrong in meetings?
If we look at some of the things that can go wrong in a meeting, then we can learn from mistakes.
▪ inappropriate time of meeting, e.g. just before the end of the day
▪ the meeting is called at short notice
▪ poor or no agenda
▪ unclear purpose of meeting
▪ spending time during the meeting reading background reports
▪ not having enough copies of papers or reports for all participants
▪ participants arrive late
▪ wrong people present
▪ people who have authority to make decisions are not present
▪ unclear roles
▪ noisy venue; room too hot or too cold
▪ seating unhelpful for discussion
▪ some people talk too much; others talk too little
▪ participants are not prepared
▪ no follow-up from previous meeting
▪ participants do not reach conclusions or decisions
▪ participants do not decide actions or who is responsible for them
▪ poor or no chair
▪ discussion is in too much detail
▪ meeting goes on too long: no breaks
▪ new people present but no one introduces them
▪ participants use jargon that is not known to all participants
▪ participants do not really listen to one another
▪ participants talk to each other during the meeting
▪ distractions during the meeting, e.g. mobile phones ringing
▪ participants not being open to change their minds
▪ participants misinterpret others’ comments
▪ disagreement or conflict becomes personal
▪ too many people are talking at the same time
▪ technical issues
▪ decisions poorly communicated after the meeting
Most of these can be solved by:
▪ better chairing of the meeting
▪ better preparation before the meeting.
case study Larry was called in to solve the problems at the company. He was present at a meeting of the Senior Management Team (SMT). He asked them for the agenda of the meeting and was told there wasn’t one. He asked them for the actions decided at the previous meeting and was told that no minutes had been taken. It was hardly surprising that the company was in a complete mess. Fortunately, Larry knew members of the SMT well, so he could make changes easily and put structures in place, so within a few months the company was making good progress.
Most of the problems with meetings can be solved by better preparation.
1.3
Calculate the cost of meetings
Let’s stand back and look at how much meetings actually cost. Suppose there are eight managers in a meeting that lasts three hours. How much do you think the meeting will cost?
Suppose each manager’s salary is £30,000.
£30,000 ÷ 48 (52 weeks in the year minus 4 for holidays) = £625 per week.
£625 ÷ 5 = £125 per day. So £125 is what each manager receives as gross pay per day, before tax or other deductions.
Now let’s work out the hourly rate of pay received. Managers may be in the office for seven hours but how many of those are actually productive? Let’s say five so we have £125 ÷ 5 = £25 per hour: this is the amount of gross pay that a manager is paid per hour.
But we need to multiply £25 by approximately 3 (some colleagues have suggested 2.7; others have suggested 5) to account for general business expenses. We need to think not only of the salaries of those concerned but also of the general costs to the company or organization of each individual’s time. Someone has to pay for electricity, cleaning, buildings and employees’ insurance, and government taxes. These could be allocated to each individual. Such general business expenses are referred to as overheads.
Time is money
Benjamin Franklin (1706–90), American statesman, scientist and author: Advice to a Young Tradesman (1748)
one minute wonder In a meeting, I sometimes think that I’m in a taxi and I’m watching the meter go up minute by minute for the fare I will be charged. I can see that time costs money. In the same way, meetings cost money.
£25 pounds x 3 = £75. So £75 is the cost per hour of one manager. Now suppose the meeting lasts three hours and eight managers attend it, then the cost of the meeting is £75 x 3 ×8 = £1800.
This figure is probably higher than you thought.
It also has certain effects: suppose seven managers are waiting for one manager who is 10 minutes late. The amount of money that is wasted while waiting for the late colleague is £88, i.e. £75 ÷ 6 (for 10 minutes) x 6 colleagues = £75.
Suppose also that during the meeting the chairman says that time did not allow them to circulate the