Effective Business Meetings The PPT helps to inform audience regarding effective business meetings and how to engage people of different hierarchy into successful business meetings. More emphasis is on business correspondence.

1. Effective
Meetings
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2. Effective Meetings
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3. Is This Your Meeting??
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4. Or Is This Your Meeting?
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6. Elon Musk says “Meetings are What Happens When People Aren’t Working”
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One business reporter called
meetings “the black holes of
the workday”; another
complained that “longwinded
colleagues consume all
available oxygen, killing good
ideas by asphyxiation.”
However, if meetings are well
run, workers actually desire
more, not fewer, of them

7. Why Concern Ourselves With
Meetings??
1. They’re Expensive
2. They Keep Us From
Important Every Day
3. They are essential
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8. Meetings Should Use Employees’ Time Effectively
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9. https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/fresh-look-number-effectiveness-cost-meetings-in-us
What Do People Think About Meetings?
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10. Doodle’s 2019 State of the Meeting Report collected data off of 19 million meetings in the
US and UK.
It found:
•44% said “Poorly organized meetings mean I don't have enough time to do the rest of my work”
•43% said “Unclear actions lead to confusion”
•38% said “Bad organization results in a loss of focus on projects”
•31% said “Irrelevant attendees slow progress
•26% said “Inefficient processes weaken client/supplier relationships”.
Source: https://meeting-report.com/
But Folks Also Said This:
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11. Many Types of Meetings
• Project Meetings – to discuss shared project tasks and progress
• Status Meetings – to keep team members and leaders informed
about items they need to know
• Emergency Meetings – to inform of sudden or disruptive changes
• Decision Meetings – to learn or to change behaviors and set direction
• Company Meeting – to inform employees
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12. Two Fundamental Rules on the Decision to Hold a Meeting
1. Face to face meetings should be limited to those
that are needed.
2. There should be reciprocity. All participants should
gain a benefit.
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13. Think it Through Do it Yourself Email Call or Video Meet
Meeting Decision Tree
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14. Don’t be the Pointy-Haired Boss (PHB)
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15. Best Human Practices
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1. Be mindful of room comfort!
2. If possible, hold your meetings in the morning – people tend to be most alert around
10:00 a.m.
3. Consider taking emotional and professional checks before starting the meeting
4. Include rest breaks
5. Consider that the average adult attention span is probably less than 20 minutes
6. For team or breakout meetings, keep it to no more than eight (8) persons for greatest
productivity – less is more
7. Ban electronic devices
8. Remember the introverts!

16. EFFECTIVE MEETINGS
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While meetings rank high on employee lists of top time-
killers at work, respected business leaders take action to
never let a meeting go to waste.
• Amazon’s Jeff Bezos places an empty chair at meetings to
represent the customer’s place in the room.
• Virgin Group founder Richard Branson stages meetings in
nontraditional spaces—like poolside or at a park—to
foster creativity.
• Stanford management professor Bob Sutton holds “stand
up” meetings without chairs to keep gatherings brief and
on-point.
• Former Apple chief Steve Jobs ejected individuals from
meetings to weed out unnecessary participants.
What other steps can managers take to make meetings more effective?

17. Clear Purpose
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18. DETERMINING THE PURPOSE OF MEETING
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No meeting should be called unless it is important, can’t wait, and requires an
exchange of ideas.
In a global poll, 77 percent of respondents stated that they preferred face-to-face
meetings for deal-making and mission-critical decisions; however, more than two-thirds
liked to brainstorm and discuss complex technical concepts in person.
If people are merely being informed, it’s best to send an e-mail, text message, or
memo. Pick up the phone or leave a voice mail message, but don’t call a costly
meeting. To decide whether the purpose of the meeting is valid, consult the key people
who will be attending.
Ask them what outcomes they desire and how to achieve those goals. This consultation
also sets a collaborative tone and encourages full participation.

19. SELECTING MEETING PARTICIPANTS
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The purpose of the meeting determines the number of participants. If the meeting purpose is
motivational, such as an awards ceremony for sales reps of cosmetics giant Avon, then the number of
participants is potentially unlimited. However, for high-stakes decisions, consultants recommend limiting
the session to three to six key executives.
Other meetings may require a greater circle of stakeholders and those who will implement the decision.
Let’s consider Timberland’s signature employee volunteer program. Company leaders might meet with
managers, employee representatives, and community leaders to decide how best to “green” a community
center, improve school grounds, or frame houses for families of tornado victims.

20. • Know your desired outcomes before you start and design
the agenda to accomplish them.
• Limit objectives
• What do you want people to learn?
• What will people be prepared to do afterward?
• What needs to improve or change?
• RECIPROCITY, RECIPROCITY, RECIPROCITY – Always
remember it’s about learning/acting on
problems/understanding issues
1. Have Specific Objectives or Purposes for the Meeting
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21. 2. Develop an Precise Agenda
• Design your agenda to resolve issues
• Keep it short and on point – Don’t overload it
• Be mindful of your agenda language – use words like “determine,
select, decide, choose”, not “discuss, review, information or
recap”
• Send it at least 24 hours in advance
• Include study materials or read them together before the meeting
starts (Bezos ‘cold start’)
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22. 22

23. 23
Event: English Works! Tech Camp: Bridging the Digital Divide – Empowering the Youth of Sindh and Balochistan
Time: 10:00 to 4:00 pm
Venue: Beach Luxury Hotel, Karachi
Primary Audience: 100 Karachi and 50 Dera Allah Yar English Works students
Agenda: 10:00 - 10:10 am
Tech Camp Opening -
Opening Remarks by U.S. Consulate Karachi
10:10 - 10:50 am Media Literacy by U.S. Consulate Official, Karachi
10:50 – 11:30 am Session by U.S. Consulate Official, Karachi (Elizabeth Freshman
Session A Session B Session C
11:45 – 12:30 pm To be Decided (TBD)
Creating a FB/Instagram
for Business Page/Account
by Nadia Patel (timing still
not confirmed)
Blockchain and Crypto
by Munazzah Naseer
12:40 - 1:55 pm
"Using Applications/Games to
Enhance Cognitive and Critical
Skills" by Sajid Siraj
"AI Tools and Earning
Online"
by BNB Chain
Digital Journalism by
Abdullah Jamal
1:55 - 2:55 pm Lunch and Namaz Break
3 - 3:45 pm TBD
3:45 - 4 pm Networking and Group Picture

24. Involving Others
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25. 3. Encourage Full Participation
• Have a facilitator/chair manage the discussion
• Encourage everyone to participate and spend much
of your time discussing the merits of various
options or solutions to problems, rather than the
supporting information
• Encourage minority views
• Ask probing questions to ‘prime the pump’
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26. 4. MeetingArrangements
• Ensure that everyone can hear and is included – don’t park them far
away
• The leader should not sit at the head of the table – sit in the middle
• Provide snacks and take breaks
• Ensure the right people are there and others aren’t
• Stray thoughts? Park ‘em!
• Use a White Board to consolidate group thoughts
• Designate a note taker (or do it yourself), get copies of all notes and
create and send a composite action list within twenty-four hours
• Action items should have due dates and person responsible
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27. Participating in Productive Meetings
• Participation is Everyone’s Responsibility
• Leaders should actively encourage it by:
• Involving reports by assigning reports, duty to develop agendas, lead meetings
• Asking reports to identify and solve problems collectively
• Employees should live the organization’s values
• There is an unwritten quid pro quo (if you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours) in
organizational life
• Strive to develop themselves and contribute to solutions
• Actively take on projects for the good of the group
• Raise business concerns in meetings that you feel in private
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28. Meeting Minutes
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29. MINDFUL MEETINGS
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30. This Happens a Lot – Doesn’t It?
Leaders Should Listen
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31. While Employees Should Do unto Others . . .
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32. Thanks!
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