2. Housekeeping
Assignment #2 Questions
Labs next week: bring a copy of your fact sheet for peer review
Guest lecture on Monday - no PowerPoint!
Practice speeches - start week of March 11
Second half of ALES 204
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3. Lecture Outline
1. How to write a business letter
2. What are meetings?
3. How do meetings work?
4. How can you make meetings better
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9. 11 million meetings/day in the U.S.
62 meetings/months for average
professionals
37% of employee time spent in meetings
professionals estimate 50% of meetings are a
waste of time
31 hours a month lost to unproductive
meetings
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10. Professionals admit to...
Daydreaming (91%)
Missing meetings (96%)
Missing parts of meetings (95%)
Bringing other work to meetings (73%)
Falling asleep (39%)
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11. Professionals complain that...
They don’t know why they were invited
The presenter reads from the PowerPoint slides.
Meetings last too long
The flow of the meeting is disturbed by technology
No problems are ever solved
Employees are told what is wrong, but no chance to input
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12. A meeting is:
A group of people thinking
purposefully together to
Exchange and evaluate
information
Solve problems
Resolve conflicts
Inspire
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15. Types of meeting
Less formal More formal
• Water cooler • Annual Planning
• Stand ups • Shareholder’s
• Daily or weekly meeting
updates • Board meeting
• Monthly planning • Parliamentary
meeting
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16. Rules of order
Increased use of formal meeting procedures (rules of order)
Informal Formal
Robert’s Rules of Order
Parliamentary Rules of Order
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17. Robert’s Rules
of Order
Used by 85% of organizations
in the U.S.
Rules determine:
who can speak
what type of motions can be
put forward
how many people are
needed to make a decision
the process to make
decisions
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20. The Chair
should:
Communicate the purpose of
the meeting
Direct the conversation during
the meeting and make sure that
timing is respected
Give the group a sense of
security
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22. The Agenda
The Chair is responsible for
setting the agenda (written
program)
Agenda set in advance
Chair gets agenda items from
meeting participants
Sends out agenda before
meeting
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23. Agenda should include
Time/Venue
Who will not be able to attend (absences/regrets)
Minutes of previous meeting
Matters arising from previous meeting
Other items to discuss
Reports from sub-committees
Guest speakers
Date/venue for next meeting
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24. Date and time
Agenda items
Follow up
Discussion items
New business
Next meeting
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25. Tips:
Most difficult items should be placed in the middle third of the
meeting
No longer than 90 minutes
Allocate time for each item
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26. Opening the meeting
Start on time
State purpose of the meeting
Make introductions
Announce procedures and timings
Discuss one item at a time
Finish on time
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27. Managing the meeting
Diverting tangents
“That’s an interesting idea, but I don’t think we’re advancing our
goals.”
“We’re talking about a new topic- do we want to swap out an
agenda item to continue discussing it?”
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28. Managing the meeting
Getting to the right input:
Manage dominant personalities
Give credit for ideas
Manage quiet members
Don’t dismiss ideas or take sides
Look out for disparaging comments
When questions are asked of you- turn it back to the group
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29. Managing the meeting
Aim for consensus
Make a note of open items
Summarize the action items at the end of the meeting
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30. Example
A meeting turns into chaos because of a poor chair
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQW1fEwYZVA&feature=fvwre
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31. The
Administrator
Assists the chair in planning
the meeting
Takes care of the logistics for a
meeting (i.e., room, time, food)
Takes minutes during the
meeting
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33. Title
Chair
Meeting agenda
Discussion items
Summary of
discussion
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34. List of minute elements
Title of Group / project
Date / location / time
Present: List all those present.
Apologizes: List all those who gave apologizes.
Review of minutes from last meeting. Include date and time that
minutes were accepted
Discussion items
Action items
Other business items
Date, time, chair of next meeting
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46. Why meetings fail
The meeting is unnecessary
The meeting is held for the wrong reason
The objective of the meeting is unclear
Lack of preparation
The wrong people are there
Lack of proper control
Poor environment
Poor timing 46
47. Remember
Every meeting is unique
A meeting’s success judged by the actions which result
Managing the meeting is everyone’s responsibility
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48. Shake things up
If a meeting isn’t necessary, don’t have one.
Try different and “new” types of meetings
Look for and provoke sources of legitimate conflict
Take notes
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49. Take away
Meetings are important form of
communication
Don’t waste participants’ time
Know your role
Take responsibility for the
productivity of the meeting no
matter which role you play
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