CONDUCTING PRODUCTIVE MEETING I: Participation/Participant I

Managing an Institution can be complex and tasking. Arising from this and because of the enormity of the responsibility Leaders usually delegate tasks to subordinates and sometimes to a group of staff.  When and where a group is assigned a task to perform, the group would have to have sa eries of discussions usually during […]

Managing an Institution can be complex and tasking.

Arising from this and because of the enormity of the responsibility Leaders usually delegate tasks to subordinates and sometimes to a group of staff.  When and where a group is assigned a task to perform, the group would have to have sa eries of discussions usually during meetings so as to address the assigned task.  Meetings are held in organisations, not just to address or execute task but to also review activities, plan activities, share knowledge and or experiences to mention but a few reasons.  Public, private and or nongovernmental organisations have reasons to form a committee and have meetings.

While on a career journey, one would definitely have cause to attend / participate or lead / chair a meeting. There are various debates for or against meetings. A school of thought believe meetings should be few as they believe meetings are for not very productive people. Another school of thought argues that a good meeting is very productive and beneficial to the organization. I would like to agree with the proponents of meetings being beneficial, as it is often said that “History is written by people who attend meetings, stay until the end, and keep the minutes” (Author, Unknown).

This article will be in three parts and will focus on how to get the best out of meetings, whether as a participant, conduct of a meeting and how to lead or chair a productive meeting.

In this episode, we shall discuss the mechanics of meetings, types of meeting, conduct of meeting, attributes of a good meeting and ethics to be observed during a meeting.

There several types of meetings within an organisation.  Some of the meetings are statutory while many are regular meetings.  Meeting such as Annual General Meeting, Extraordinary General Meeting,

Board Meeting, Executive Council Meeting (State, Federal and Local Governments), Parliamentary Meeting, Court Ordered Meeting etc. are somewhat statutory and therefore compulsory. Conducts of these meetings are guided by law.  The procedures and mechanics of these meetings would not be subject of our discussions.

Other meetings such as Departmental Meetings, Operational Meetings, Project Meeting, Taskforce Meeting, Recruitment Panel Meeting, Promotion/Performance Review Meeting, Disciplinary Committee Meeting, to mention but a few.  These are the types of meetings that employees would come across in the ordinary course of working in an organisation.  They are the meetings we shall discuss in details for the benefit of our readers.

 

MEETING PARTICIPANT

Upon receipt of an invite as a meeting participant, one needs to respond on availability or otherwise, for the meeting. If available, one should set a meeting reminder to be reminded of the meeting periodically. One could set reminders to be alerted at least 3 days before the scheduled meeting, on the morning of the meeting, and 30 minutes to an hour before the meeting. A reminder set to go off on the meeting day should consider one’s proximity to the meeting venue, and should thus reflect appropriate timing, to ensure one does not arrive late for the meeting.

If one is unavailable for a meeting, one should inform the conveners of the meeting or organisers and reschedule (if possible) or propose a proxy to attend if the meeting cannot be rescheduled and attendance is compulsory.

Once meeting invite has been accepted, the participant needs to determine his or her contribution from the proposed meeting agenda, and prepare accordingly.  Whilst preparing for the meeting, the participant should research the subject matter, and gather enough information to confidently address any concerns or questions that may arise during the meeting.

Before leaving for a meeting, one should make sure that he/she brief colleagues on his/her absence from work, and hand over any pending transaction that ought to be concluded in one’s absence. Also, one should trigger the out of office automatic response feature on one’s email before leaving for a meeting.

There are several professional actions expected of participants in a meeting.  These include, but not limited to the following:-

Arrive early: Make sure you arrive early for your meeting to enable you to settle down well, and refresh your memory with research earlier conducted.

Introductions: At the beginning of a meeting i.e during ‘onboarding’, ensure you introduce yourself properly and confidently.

Agenda:  Usually a list of items or issues to be discussed or deliberated upon during a meeting are usually circulated ahead of the meeting for review and possible inputs from participants.  Endeavour to critically study same and note any suggestions for amendments.

Terms of Reference:  Meetings are usually called upon setting up of a committee to discuss and trash out issues.  The main purpose of a meeting is usually contained in a document called Terms of Reference or the Instrument setting up the committee.  Operational and or Departmental meetings may not have terms of reference as these are regular day to day meetings.

Committee:  As stated earlier, meetings are held between three or more persons.  A group of people organised as a committee may be ad hoc, i.e set up for a specific reason/purpose upon completion of the task/assignment the committee is dissolved.  Other committees may be said to be standing committees in which case the group or committee exists in perpetuity.

We would continue the discussion on this subject in the coming weeks so as to ensure that justice is being to the subject matter at hand.

“Recite: In the name of thy Lord who created man from a clot. Recite: And thy Lord is the Most Generous Who taught by the pen, taught man that which he knew not.”