A meeting is a gathering of people who alone can do nothing, but together can decide that nothing can be done!
Types of meeting
Brainstorming: aim to devise and discuss possible solutions.
Assessment meetings (meetings Status): The purpose of examining the progress of activities.
In decision-making character meetings: they are designed to operate decisions.
How to run a meeting
Criteria by which to organize and manage a meeting
Criteria by which to organize and manage a meeting
- Must be clearly defined, a priori, the objectives of the meeting and who should participate.
- There must be an agenda of the meeting, which present precisely the points to be discussed.
- It is advisable to avoid digressions that lead the discussion on the agenda topics not covered.
- The duration of the discussion of each agenda item and the total meeting time should be fixed and should not be continued beyond the deadline.
- Define a person who is responsible for conducting the meeting.
- During the course of the meeting, or the person in charge of the meeting, or someone assigned by him you will have to fill out a “meeting report”.
- If the meeting is taken any decision must be also defined who has the task of formalizing and timing to make it operational.
- After the conclusion of the meeting a summary report must be filled out, which must include the maximum of information gathered during the meeting and must be approved by one of the participants other than the editor.
- If you can set the date, time and place of next meeting
Logistics
When you organize a meeting where people have to physically move and attend the logistics can determine the end result.
The meeting place, the availability of means of transport, the size of the room, tables and participants available
The media (pens, paper, and water) must be prepared to avoid interruptions during the meeting. As well as visual aids.
Who does what
President: convene the meeting, the leads, keep the discussion focused, it stimulates the contribution of all present when needed;
Secretary: takes notes, takes minutes, send the draft of the minutes for approval and its final version;
Faclitatore: it aims to stimulate discussion without giving personal contributions to them.
Meeting notes content
- General informations
- Date, place, title of the meeting …
- Topics (agenda)
- Names of the invited participants and the ones displayed
- Intervention content for subject matter
- The list of documents interchanged between participants
- Decisions made by those responsible for implementation and their operating times
- Name of the editor and approver of the minutes and related dates
How to write a meeting agenda
How to write a meeting agenda
The agenda can also be very concise, two or three points, but the important thing is that each point contains an object and a verb
Example:
– present project A
– discuss solutions to problem
– approve proposal Y
– Choice of supplier for…
even a generic term such as discuss may be appropriate in some cases.
Ways to write incorrect agenda items:
– project B
– situation xyz
– product abc
Web meetings can save time and money and they are also really effective if well organized and managed. There are various solutions and combinations of tools you can use to set up a web meeting
- One of the most effective tools is WebEx. This web conferencing tool allows to o video conference with both phone lines and computer connection, video conference, screen sharing, presentations.
- Join me is a simple tool that with little or no cost allows to share screens
- Google Hangout is the free solution provided by Google that allows you to do pratically everything with a free tool provided by Google. A Google account is needed but it’s free.
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