Organise Meetings

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Organise Meetings
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Organise Meetings

• Key Points
• A clear purpose is essential for a good meeting.
• Different types of meetings serve different
  purposes.

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Reasons for meetings

• Do the meetings you attend always have a purpose?
  Do you ever spend time during a meeting saying to
  yourself, 'Why am I here?' or 'What's the point
  of all this?
• For a meeting to be effective, it must have a
  purpose. The meeting should have a measurable
  outcome, so the purpose needs to have a focus.
  Your purpose will be determined by your goals and
  objectives What do you want to achieve?

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Organise Meetings

• There are a number of reasons for holding
  meetings.
• However, at the simplest level, meetings are held
  to give information, to get information, a
  combination of both of these objectives, and to
  make decisions.

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Organise Meetings

• A meeting is not always the best option.
• Legislation dictates certain requirements for the
  conduct and composition of meetings.

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Organise Meetings

• To help clarify your purpose, you should ask
• what do I intend to achieve at this meeting?
• what would be the consequences of not holding
  this meeting?
• how will I determine whether it has been a
  success or failure? 

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Organise Meetings

• Are the following appropriate purposes for
  meetings
• We need to discuss the new publishing list.
• I've called this meeting because we haven't had
  one for a while.
• We need to decide whether we are going to enter a
  new market.

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Organise Meetings

• I would like to know where you are at with your
  projects.
• Let's talk about the new title that's coming out
  in a couple of weeks.
• I'd like to give you some information about the
  proposed relocation of the office.

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Organise Meetings

• Is a meeting the only option?
• Whether or not you decide to have a meeting will
  depend on what you are trying to accomplish.
  There may be other ways to meet your needs, for
  example, if you wanted to give information, you
  could use email, a memo or a report instead.
• If you are thinking of holding a meeting, you
  need to consider
• Cost
• Time
• Participation

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Organise Meetings

• Work out a costing for a face-to-face meeting of
  the ValleyView 'On the Move' project team based
  on the following
• The meeting requires the attendance of
• Stephanie Nutalie, Project Manager (35.85 per
  hour)
• Marcia Ferguson, Instructional Designer (42.92
  per hour)
• Jay Van Den Berg, Editor (29.93 per hour)
• Jacinta Del Rio, Marketing Executive (31.14 per
  hour)
• Martin Horgan, Accountant (29.89 per hour)
• Christine Smith, Graphic Designer (30.42 per
  hour)
• Tim Tran, Editorial Assistant (19.40 per hour)
• Angus Smissen, General Manager (50.43 per hour).

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Organise Meetings

• The group meets for about one and a half hours,
  and uses the board room at 100 per hour to cover
  rental, lighting and heating. Morning tea is
  provided at a cost of 3.50 per head.
• Does your costing suggest there may be a better
  way of doing things, or are these costs
  justifiable?

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Organise Meetings

• In the following scenarios, assume cost is not a
  problem and everyone is available and has time to
  prepare.
• Would a meeting be appropriate?

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Organise Meetings

• Stephanie is the Project Manager for the 'On the
  Move' team. She has a half-formed idea for the
  direction of the project, and she knows that the
  editor has some ideas as well. She wants the
  opinion of other team members and wants to get
  the concept fully developed.

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Organise Meetings

• Would a meeting be appropriate?
• Yes.
• Stephanie wants to develop an idea and needs
  input from the team

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Organise Meetings

• Vanitha Vismartali, the Accounts Clerk, is very
  concerned about the issue of computer-related
  health problems. She has done some research and
  she thinks all ValleyView staff should be made
  aware of the findings. However, Vanitha is very
  shy and quietly spoken

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Organise Meetings

• Would a meeting be appropriate?
• No.
• In this case it would be more for the
  information to be distributed in the form of a
  report or email., as it is most likely that
  Vanitha would be more persuasive on paper than in
  person

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Organise Meetings

• It is Wednesday afternoon and the Sales and
  Distribution Manager, Geoff Ryder has just had a
  meeting with Norta Diessen, HR and Finance
  Manager, about the increase in requests for
  reimbursement of travel expenses. Geoff has told
  Norta that he will get some ideas for reducing
  these expenses from his team, and get back to her
  on Monday. The sales reps are mostly 'on the
  road' Wednesdays and Thursdays and the
  distribution officer has appointments with
  clients on Thursday, so Geoff was thinking of
  holding a meeting on Friday.

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Organise Meetings

• Would a meeting be appropriate?
• Yes.
• Geoff has a deadline to meet, and there is no
  time to send out a memo or email then compile
  the responses. The time restriction limits other
  methods of obtaining ideas.

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Organise Meetings

• Greg Murphy, Executive Assistant, has been told
  by Angus Smissen, the General Manager to call a
  meeting for all staff because he, Angus, hasn't
  seen them for a while.

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Organise Meetings

• Would a meeting be appropriate?
• Yes.
• The boss has told Greg to hold a meeting, so Greg
  had better call a meeting! However, he will need
  to extract an agenda from Angus

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Organise Meetings

• Types of meetings
• Once you (or management) have decided on the
  meeting's purpose, you need to select an
  appropriate meeting structure to achieve your
  purpose. Critical to this choice is the amount of
  decision-sharing responsibility you will allow
  your participants to have. Will you call for
  delegates? Will you ask attendees to devise
  specific recommendations?

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Organise Meetings

• There are many different types of meetings that
  serve different purposes and are structured in
  different ways.

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Types of Meetings

• Inaugural meetings
• Annual general meeting
• Extraordinary general meetings
• Directors' or board meetings
• Section/department meetings
• Specific interest groups
• Conferences
• Seminars and workshops
• Ad hoc committees
• Regular or standing committee

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Organise Meetings

• Legal requirements of meetings
• Many meetings have underpinning legal
  obligations. These may be as general as obeying a
  police officer's order to disperse, or as
  specific as requiring a particular type of notice
  to be given for an annual general meeting.
• The body of law pertaining to meetings has
  evolved in both common law and special Acts of
  Parliament since the time of King Henry VIII.
• If an organisation has a constitution and
  replaceable rules or Articles of Association,
  these must be complied with. Failure to do so may
  be an infringement of law.

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Organise Meetings

• Australian meeting laws
• Most organisations are required by law to hold
  some meetings. They are bound by particular
  legislation, and the legislation dictates certain
  requirements for the conduct and composition of
  meetings. In Australia, these are the legal
  priorities

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Organise Meetings

• Statutory requirements
• For example, Australian Corporations Act 2001
  http//www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/
  ca2001172/index.html regulates all companies.
  This legislation contains provisions relating to
  meetings.
• Many other pieces of legislation contain
  requirements for the conduct of meetings.
• Statutory requirements include Acts of Parliament
  relating to strata titles, corporations,
  incorporation, workplace relations, cooperatives
  and friendly societies

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Organise Meetings

• Common law
• Common law and recognised meeting procedure apply
  to all company meetings unless the company's
  articles of association contain provisions which
  exclude common law principles.
• There are also various Acts of Parliament in each
  state that provide rules of incorporation, rules
  relating to registration, and other specific and
  general requirements for the notification periods
  and conduct of meetings and elections.

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Organise Meetings

• Corporations law
• The Corporations Act 2001 is the uniform
  legislation that regulates companies in
  Australia. It provides the base that
  organisations use to develop their own acceptable
  meeting conventions.
• Part 2G of the Corporations Act 2001 contains
  regulations that provide instructions about how
  to conduct
• the annual general meeting
• the statutory meeting

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Organise Meetings

• meetings of boards of directors
• creditors meetings
• procedures for winding up meetings
• meetings of debenture holders
• meetings of holders of prescribed interests.

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Organise Meetings

• Why is it necessary for a company to hold an
  annual general meeting? 

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Organise Meetings

• Invalid meetings
• There are some circumstances that may render a
  meeting invalid for example, the attendance of
  any person at a meeting who is not entitled to be
  there can render a meeting legally invalid. None
  of the proceedings from that meeting may be
  enacted.

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Part 2

• Developing an Agenda

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Developing an Agenda

• Key points
• An agenda is much more than a list of things to
  be dealt with at a meeting.
• An agenda is more than a list of things to do.
• Meeting participants should have an opportunity
  to contribute to the agenda.
• The order of items on the agenda should be
  carefully and logically planned.
• Content of the agenda will depend on the type of
  meeting being held.
• Altering the agenda is possible but not
  recommended

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Developing an Agenda

• Why an agenda is important
• An agenda is much more than a list of things to
  do. An agenda is a meeting program designed to
  enable all important and relevant points to be
  dealt with in good order and good time.
• An agenda is also a form of courtesy. It informs
  the chairperson and participants of the refined
  purpose of the meeting. This gives them time to
  prepare for the tasks, and enables them to make a
  meaningful contribution.

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Developing an Agenda

• A well planned agenda can
• provide a logical guide for business and
  discussion 
• bring harmony and efficiency to a meeting 
• help restrain participants from speaking out of
  turn. 
• Imagine a formal meeting without an agenda. What
  could happen? Make a list of six possible
  situations or outcomes

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Developing an Agenda

• Planning the agenda
• Every participant should have an opportunity to
  contribute to the agenda. Planning an agenda may
  be as simple as posting a notice on a bulletin
  board and allowing participants to write down any
  items they want to discuss. In some cases, the
  agenda may be drawn up in the first few minutes
  of the meeting however, for a formal meeting, an
  agenda should be included with the notice of
  meeting.

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Developing an Agenda

• There are three important consultative tasks you
  should undertake when planning a meeting agenda
• include the questions and concerns raised at the
  last meeting and in the period before the next
  meeting
• consult with the executive and chairperson
• refer to the minutes of the previous meeting and
  include all those items which required follow-up.

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Developing an Agenda

• With formal meetings, such as an annual general
  meeting (AGM), the agenda should be distributed
  with the notice of meeting. How would you call
  for items for inclusion on a formal meeting
  agenda?

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Developing an Agenda

• Sequencing the agenda
• A formal agenda schedule is commonly used because
  it is practical and efficient. However, you may
  be required to alter the sequence to include
  specific items such as those which arise from the
  previous minutes or general business

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Developing an Agenda

• Sometimes you may put items that require minimal
  discussion at the start of the meeting. Groups
  often work better when they can move from simple
  to more complex items in a meeting. However, if
  you are running out of time and have placed
  decisions which require a lot of discussion and
  effort at the end of the agenda, the pressure may
  cause tempers to flare and hasty, ineffective
  decisions may be made

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Developing an Agenda

• Content of the agenda
• If your agenda is too brief or too vague, you
  will deprive participants of the opportunity to
  be well prepared.
• It is useful to include a brief reason why each
  topic has been included. This should be a simple
  explanatory note to help keep everyone informed
  and on track and guide the contribution
  participants make. 

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Developing an Agenda

• Agendas for formal meetings such as AGMs and
  board meetings will generally
• have more detail 
• use formal language 
• have a more structured layout 
• contain cross-references to other meeting
  documents. 

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Developing an Agenda

• Agendas for less formal meetings such as ad hoc
  committees or department meetings will
  generally 
• be more brief 
• use less formal language
• contain jargon and concepts specific to the
  meeting participants

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Developing an Agenda

• An agenda may contain these headings
• Welcome 
• Sequencing of agenda 
• Attendance/Apologies 
• Minutes of previous meeting 
• Correspondence 
• Reports, such as Report from the Chair, Report
  from the Treasurer
• Business arising from the correspondence

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Developing an Agenda

• General business Topics for discussion/resolution
   
• General business Topics for information 
• Other business
• Next meeting
• Closure of Meeting

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Developing an Agenda

• Discussing the agendaRead this scene, which
  shows discussion of a meeting agenda
• JAY We're going to have a bit to talk about at
  this meeting, aren't we?
• STEPHANIE Well, I think so, seeing it's our
  first meeting. We need to work out a timeline for
  our current jobs and discuss opportunities for
  expanding our future.
• JAY Hmm. What about discussing how we're going
  to meet in the future?
• STEPHANIE Good idea. We'll talk about sharing
  note taking duties and the chair as well. Heck,
  we haven't even got a proper name yet!
• JAY Now that's an important point! Anything
  else?
• STEPHANIE I think that's about it, although some
  of the others might want to bring up other issues.

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Developing an Agenda

• Formatting the agenda
• spaces for notes
• suggested time allocations 
• draft motions 
• statements of action required 
• the name of each responsible agent
• A 'chairperson's agenda' is a version prepared
  for the chairperson and minutes secretary. It
  contains additional space for making notes both
  prior to and during the meeting.

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Developing an Agenda

• Tips for formatting agendas 
• Agendas should have a layout and format that is
  consistent and appropriate for all meetings of
  the same type. To make your task of developing
  regular agendas easier you could prepare a
  template document from which all agendas will be
  developed. Your template should be designed with

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Developing an Agenda

• a font that is easy to read 
• a hierarchy of heading styles, so participants
  can easily see which items are most important 
• plenty of white space 
• very little use of bold or italic text
• no underlining (underlining is now used to
  indicate hyperlinks). 

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Developing an Agenda

• It is also useful to
• number the agenda items 
• star items if necessary 
• provide an estimate of the time allotted to
  discussion of each item 
• clearly indicate starting time for the meeting,
  the time of any known adjournment and the
  finishing time 
• schedule breaks (morning tea, lunch)

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Developing an Agenda

• Altering the agenda
• In a formal meeting, the chairperson cannot alter
  the order of the agenda without the consent of
  the meeting participants. A motion to suspend the
  standing orders to allow the altering of the
  agenda must be put and carried before the
  sequence can be changed. Similarly, the addition
  of other items for business requires
  notification.

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Developing an Agenda

• The legal requirements of formal meetings do not
  allow resolutions to be passed on items of
  business without notice. They do, however, allow
  for discussion and time for the meeting to decide
  whether to place the item on the agenda for the
  next meeting

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Part 3

• Meeting Style and Structure

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Meeting Style and Structure

• Key points
• Effective meetings foster teamwork and promote
  positive communication.
• A meeting should have clear goals.
• A meeting should follow appropriate meeting
  conventions.
• A meeting should have an effective chairperson.
• Communication may be synchronous (same time
  same location, or same time different
  location).
• Communication may be asynchronous (different time
  same location, or different time different
  location).

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Meeting Style and Structure

• Managing effective meetings 
• Meetings can have many benefits.
• Benefits
• A group of people together can achieve a lot.
  They can
• discuss/develop issues
• communicate effectively
• make decisions
• share decision-making

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Meeting Style and Structure

• encourage common goals and objectives
• share achievements
• motivate each other
• review progress.

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Meeting Style and Structure

• However, sometimes a meeting can be a waste of
  time and money, because
• nothing gets decided 
• the participants don't stick to the subject 
• preparation has been inadequate 
• the chair is ineffective 
• nobody listens 
• participants are long-winded 
• the meeting goes too long 
• nobody participates. 

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Meeting Style and Structure

• In order to make a meeting effective you will
  need to
• make sure you have prepared for the meeting 
• choose the right venue 
• have competent executive support 
• ensure the meeting runs to time 
• keep accurate records of the meeting 
• report the outcomes to the appropriate people 
• ensure participants stick to the subjects 
• follow-up to ensure that all the tasks generated
  by the meeting are completed

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Meeting Style and Structure

• Choose the right venue for the meeting. 
• Our staff meetings are currently held in the
  board room. It's a very formal room, and we all
  feel a bit lost and intimidated around that big
  table. Our meetings are subdued. Because we need
  some new ideas for a project at our next meeting,
  I'm going to hold the meeting in the courtyard.
  The freer, less formal environment should allow
  us to relate in a more relaxed manner.

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Meeting Style and Structure

• Public debate
• In debating, the object is to defeat your
  opponent's point of view. The order of debate is
  always opened by the person supporting the point
  to be debated. The opener is also called the
  protagonist. Then an opposer speaks. The right to
  speak then alternates between those who support
  the opening speaker and those who oppose that
  speaker.

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Meeting Style and Structure

• Standing orders
• Standing orders contain information about the
  role and conduct of meetings for a specific
  organisation. They may specify the rules of
  debate, how elections will be conducted, how
  committees will be formed and so on. If you are
  familiar with the standing orders for your
  organisation, you can confidently apply them to
  any meeting you chair. A reference to the
  standing orders can be used to prevent or
  terminate inappropriate behaviour in meetings

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Meeting Style and Structure

• An effective Chair
• The person who controls the meeting is referred
  to as being 'in the chair', and is usually
  referred to as the Chair.
• Terms such as 'Chairman' may also be used,
  although this has generally been replaced with
  the gender-neutral terms 'Chairperson' or 'Chair'.

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Meeting Style and Structure

• The role of the Chair is to serve the meeting's
  purpose by preserving order and ensuring
  proceedings are conducted properly. The Chair is
  required to facilitate decision-making and the
  transaction of business by
• outlining issues 
• clarifying motions and amendments, especially
  after prolonged debate 
• guiding and regulating debate 
• moving the discussion forward 
• keeping the group focused 

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Meeting Style and Structure

• progressing through the agenda systematically,
  ensuring all items are covered 
• summarising progress at regular points during and
  at the conclusion of the meeting 
• putting each motion to the vote 
• overseeing the vote and declaring the result 
• ensuring the minutes are complete and accurate. 

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Meeting Style and Structure

• Meeting options
• Synchronous communication involves the
  participants meeting at the same time. They may
  be in the same location, communicating
  face-to-face in an office or meeting room, or in
  different locations, communicating by telephone
  or videoconference.
• Asynchronous communication involves participants
  communicating at different times. Location
  becomes irrelevant to this type of communication,
  which often involves the use of collaboration
  software

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Meeting Style and Structure

• Synchronous Meetings Same Time Same Place
• Advantages of synchronous meetings
• Face-to-face meetings
• Participants 'get the whole story', including
  body language, tone of voice and overall
  atmosphere. This helps people to make informed
  judgements.

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Meeting Style and Structure

• Serendipity when people are gathered together,
  they will talk about what interests them. Often,
  valuable information can change hands and
  problems can be resolved immediately (or to put
  it in technical terms, knowledge moves from tacit
  to explicit). People often prefer face-to-face
  meetings because they can get so much
  accomplished in the breaks!

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Meeting Style and Structure

• Disadvantages of synchronous meetings
• Face-to-face meetings
• Cost, particularly if participants have to
  travel.
• Risk, where participants have to drive long
  distances.
• Administrative time and cost (arranging a time,
  venue and so on).
• Key participants may not be available

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Meeting Style and Structure

• Synchronous Meetings Same Time Different
  Location
• When participants are spread over a geographical
  area, they can be brought together in a number of
  ways.
• Videoconferences may be held in a room with
  special facilities to transmit sound and images,
  or the meeting can be transmitted to a desktop
  computer if an organisation has the right
  software. See ValleyView Library for a list of
  conferencing software. 

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Meeting Style and Structure

• Advantages of videoconference sound and visual
• Allows participants to 'get the whole story', as
  in face-to-face meetings.
• Time and cost savings.

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Meeting Style and Structure

• Disadvantages of videoconference sound and
  visual
• Quality can be variable.
• Timelags can be frustrating.
• The chairperson must be careful to ensure that
  participants at all locations are included in
  discussion.
• A purpose-specific room and equipment are
  required.

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Meeting Style and Structure

• TeleconferenceTeleconferences are conducted
  using a telephone link-up that allows everybody
  to speak to everybody else. They are simple to
  organise and relatively cheap to conduct. For a
  teleconference involving several links you might
  want to consider using a teleconference service
  such as Conferlink.
• For information on their services have a look at
  their website. Conferlink also provides services
  for video and multimedia conferencing

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Meeting Style and Structure

• Advantages of teleconference sound only
• Time and cost savings.
• Meetings must start on time and end on time.

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Meeting Style and Structure

• Disadvantages of teleconference sound only
• No visual cues.
• Need tight protocols so everyone has an
  opportunity to participate

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Meeting Style and Structure

• Collaboration software
• Meetings using collaboration software may
  incorporate sound, visual and shared work on
  documents and chat rooms (written or oral). This
  type of communication is generally used when
  participants are dispersed by geography or time,
  but will increasingly replace or augment
  face-to-face meetings

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Meeting Style and Structure

• Advantages of meetings using collaboration
  software
• Perceived convenience, as participants need not
  leave their workstations

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Meeting Style and Structure

• Disadvantages of meetings using collaboration
  software
• Participants may be interrupted (by phone calls,
  or visitors to their workplace).

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Meeting Style and Structure

• Live chat/whiteboarding Live chat allows someone
  from one computer to type a message and have the
  text appear instantly on someone else's computer.
  It is good for quick messages but not useful for
  complicated discussions. Whiteboard applications
  allow people to simultaneously view and annotate
  a document on their computer screens without
  leaving their workstations. Participants can also
  talk to each other while they refer to the
  document.

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Meeting Style and Structure

• Asynchronous communication different time same
  location or different time  different location
• Asynchronous communication is often managed using
  collaboration software, such as
• bulletin boards and threaded discussions 
• desktop/non-real time conferencing 
• workflow/process management 
• email 
• group calendaring 
• scheduling and group document management

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Meeting Style and Structure

• Advantages of different time same location or
  different time different location (asynchronous
  communication)
• Time and cost savings.
• Participants need not leave their workstations.
• Can allow for a larger audience to participate.
• Can have secure password access.
• Can be searchable.
• Allows for 'persistent' information (information
  is stored).

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Meeting Style and Structure

• Disadvantages of different time same location
  or different time different location
  (asynchronous communication)
• For participants used to speaking, written
  communication at meetings may be a challenge.
• Protocols must be established to minimise
  irrelevant or offensive materials.

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Meeting Style and Structure

• Some systems are used inappropriately, for
  example, email is often used for the transport of
  data via attachments, when shared document
  systems would be more appropriate.
• Need a critical mass of users before these
  systems are effective.

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Part 4

• Setting Up a Meeting

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Setting Up a Meeting

• Key points
• Identify the participants.
• Arrange a time and venue to suit most
  participants, especially key players.
• Select a venue with appropriate facilities.
• Arrange catering, parking and any other
  technology requirements such as teleconference
  links well in advance.
• Notify the participants.
• Provide participants with the agenda and other
  relevant information in advance

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Setting Up a Meeting

• Identifying participants 
• Meetings take many different forms and serve many
  different purposes and the attendance will vary
  accordingly. Some formal meetings, such as an
  AGM, may have specific attendance requirements.
  These will be set out in the organisation's
  constitution or articles of association and must
  comply with relevant legislation.

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Setting Up a Meeting

• For some meetings the participants will be easy
  to identify for example, a workgroup meeting
  would involve all the members of that workgroup
  a department meeting would involve all the staff
  of that department.

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Setting Up a Meeting
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Setting Up a Meeting

• In other cases it might not be so easy to
  identify the participants. A good way of choosing
  who should be involved is to analyse the agenda
  and see who needs to be there. Participants
  should be those who
• have a thorough knowledge and understanding of
  the issues to be dealt with 
• have the power to make a decision
• are able to implement a decision or take the
  project to the next stage

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Setting Up a Meeting

• are representatives of a group that will be
  affected by decisions made at the meeting
• are committed to solving the problem
• have time to participate
• are willing to listen to other views. 

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Setting Up a Meeting

• How many participants? 
• Only invite the people who need to be there.
  Generally, a smaller meeting of informed key
  people will produce better outcomes than a larger
  group. A meeting of four to seven people is
  ideal, 10 is okay, but 12 should be the limit. 

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Setting Up a Meeting

• Arranging a date and time 
• There are several things to consider when
  selecting a date and time for a meeting

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Setting Up a Meeting

• Time is allowed for preparation
• business and pleasure are kept separate
• the majority of participants or key players will
  be available
• there is no indirect discrimination against
  members or potential members of the group
• the most suitable days and time are chosen

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Setting Up a Meeting

• Read this scene.
• Work out a suitable day and approximate time for
  the meeting.
• STEPHANIE Oh, my weekend went way too quickly!
  What's on my task list for this week, Jay?
• JAY I've had a few enquiries from members of the
  'On the Move' team. They're wondering if there's
  going to be a meeting soon.
• STEPHANIE Yes, we're going to have the meeting
  next week. Who's going to be where and when?
• JAY Well, Marcia is not available after 10.30
  next Monday morning, Chris is going to be
  interstate from Wednesday for a week, Martin is
  not here Monday afternoon and Thursday, Jo only
  works Monday, Thursday and Friday, Kim isn't
  available after 2 pm and Anna is at the other
  office Tuesdays and Thursdays. Everybody else is
  ready when you are.

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Setting Up a Meeting

• STEPHANIE Groans Did I really want to come
  back to work?
• JAY I don't suppose we can do it the week after?
• STEPHANIE Ahhh ... no. We've really got to get
  cracking on this project.
• JAY How long is the meeting going to take?
• STEPHANIE Probably about an hour or so.

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Setting Up a Meeting

• Venue 
• The right venue can have a profound effect on the
  success of a meeting. The purpose of your meeting
  will influence your choice of the venue. A formal
  meeting should be held in a formal venue as this
  will encourage formal behaviour

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Setting Up a Meeting

• Meetings should generally be held in an area
  which is
• private
• free from interruptions or distractions (but not
  free from information)
• comfortable (but not too comfortable!)
• capable of alternative furniture configurations
• equipped, as necessary, with equipment such as
  wall clock, laptops, multimedia projector, phone,
  fax, videoconference or microphone
• in a convenient location for all participants
• neutral if you are resolving a conflict you
  need a location that gives no advantage to any
  group or individual
• cost-effective.

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Setting Up a Meeting

• Room set-up 
• The room arrangement will to a large extent
  depend on the purpose of a meeting. Participants
  talking with each other will need to make eye
  contact. If the purpose of the meeting is to give
  information, participants should face the
  speaker, usually at the front of the room.

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Setting Up a Meeting

• If it is a decision-making meeting, the
  participants should face each other. The usual
  protocol for formal meetings is that the
  chairperson normally takes the head of the table,
  with the minutes secretary at their right.

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Setting Up a Meeting

• There are several common room arrangements used
  for meetings, such as
• U-shape
• amphitheatre
• classroom
• theatre
• round table
• basic boardroom.

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Setting Up a Meeting

• Catering for meetings 
• Talking can be thirsty work. If the meeting is
  going to be a long one, organise water and
  glasses for all participants at the meeting
  table.
• If tea breaks are scheduled, organise tea or
  coffee at a refreshment centre, or set up an urn
  in an accessible part of the room.
• If meals are required, specify light finger food
  and provide napkins for participants. A meal that
  is too heavy will make the participants drowsy.

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Setting Up a Meeting

• Notifying participants 
• Usually, a regular meeting will take place at the
  same time and location on each occasion. This is
  an advantage for the participants because they
  know to plan for that time slot in their
  schedules. For an informal meeting, a telephone
  call or email message is usually all that is
  needed.
• For both formal and informal meetings, the
  purpose of giving notice is to allow the
  participants time to prepare and consider their
  contribution and response.

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Setting Up a Meeting

• Notice of meeting
• If you are organising a formal meeting, you are
  required to give 'due notice' or 'notice of
  meeting'. Under law, the notice of a company
  meeting is critical. Without 'due notice', the
  meeting may be rendered 'null and void'
• Your company is incorporated in Australia and
  publicly listed on the Australian Stock Exchange.
  The Corporations Act 2001 indicates that for such
  companies, a minimum of 21 days notice of
  meetings of the company's members is required.
  Your company's constitution indicates a minimum
  of 28 days notice of meetings of the company's
  members

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Setting Up a Meeting

• Preparing participants 
• Participants will be able to contribute more
  effectively if they are well prepared. They need
  to know
• the subject and purpose of the meeting
• the agenda for the meeting
• what is expected of them, for example, 'I would
  like some ideas' or 'Please bring your latest
  sales figures'
• the time and place of the meeting, and how long
  it is expected to last.

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Setting Up a Meeting

• Rescheduling or cancelling a meeting
• By law, once formal notice has been issued for
  meetings required by statute, the meeting must be
  held it cannot be cancelled.
• For less formal meetings, good manners and
  courtesy should be your guide to cancelling or
  rescheduling. Communicate any changes to
  participants immediately. This can be done by
  email, phone, memo, internal mail, mail or
  hand-delivered message.
• Don't forget to cancel or change the room,
  equipment and catering arrangements.

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Setting Up a Meeting

• Preparing and sending out papers 
• Standing committees often receive routine
  reports, and special reports may also be received
  from time to time. These reports may
• provide information only
• give findings
• suggest solutions to a problem and offer guidance
  on the results which would flow from their
  adoption
• recommend a specific course of action.

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Setting Up a Meeting

• Reports need to be collated, recorded and sent
  out with the agenda and minutes of the previous
  meeting. This gives the participants time to
  think about issues to be discussed or
  recommendations made in the reports, so the
  meeting time can be used in constructive
  discussion and decision-making

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Setting Up a Meeting

• Dispatch of papers 
• It is important to call for papers in time for
  them to be collated and sent to participants with
  the notice of meeting and agenda.
• To ensure that participants have enough time to
  read the papers before the meeting, it is a good
  idea to organise the dispatch of the papers so
  that participants receive them several days
  before the meeting. Use a courier service if the
  papers are too late for regular mail. Follow up
  with a phone call or email to participants
  letting them know the papers are on their way.

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Setting Up a Meeting

• Papers that are not sent out with the notice of
  meeting and agenda may be tabled late. Late
  papers can be distributed at the meeting, but
  this does not allow participants time to consider
  the issues properly. This can be managed by a
  policy decision to defer motions on tabled papers
  until the following meeting.

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Part 5

• Meetings in Progress

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Meetings in Progress

• Key points
• The Chair needs to have a good understanding of
  meeting procedure.
• The Chair needs to have a good understanding of
  substantive and procedural motions, amendments
  and voting.
• The Chair needs to have a good understanding of
  human behaviour and communication.
• Minutes are a record of who attended a meeting,
  what was discussed and what was decided.
• Minutes must be accurate.
• Outcomes of meeting recorded in the minutes need
  to be reported

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Meetings in Progress

• The role of the Chair 
• The role of the Chair is to enable the meeting to
  achieve its goals by preserving order and
  ensuring proceedings are conducted in a
  productive manner. The Chair's role also includes
  maintaining morale and maximising effective
  participation. This involves different techniques
  for different meeting purposes

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Meetings in Progress

• The role of the Chair 
• The role of the Chair is to enable the meeting to
  achieve its goals by preserving order and
  ensuring proceedings are conducted in a
  productive manner. The Chair's role also includes
  maintaining morale and maximising effective
  participation. This involves different techniques
  for different meeting purposes

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Meetings in Progress

• Different techniques for different meeting
  purposes
• There are different techniques to suit different
  meeting purposes, for example, if a meeting is
  designed to
• present ideas, the Chair coordinates the
  presentations through introductions, time
  management, creating room for interpretation,
  giving explanations and summarising where
  necessary
• generate ideas, the Chair's role is to facilitate
  the discussion and ensure that all members have
  an opportunity to participate and contribute
• solve a problem, the role shifts to discussion
  management by keeping the group on track and
  refusing to allow unproductive comments and ideas
  to dominate

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• Some guidelines for Chairs of formal meetings 
• Be objective, quick thinking, calm and
  disciplined.
• Be consistent.
• Ensure you have a good grasp of task and
  group-related behaviours.
• Start on time and keep to timelines. 
• You may not leave the meeting. 
• Make sure a quorum is present.
• If you have a video link, appoint a moderator at
  the other site to manage the process.

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• A formal motion needs a mover and a seconder
  before discussion takes place.
• A mover and a seconder are required for amending
  a motion.
• Keep discussion to the point.
• Ensure all participants have a chance to speak,
  and that they speak through the Chair
• Put the motion to a vote and receive and announce
  the result.
• Use one voting method and be consistent (for
  example, aye or nay, raising hands).

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• Allow dissenters the right for the dissent to
  carry their names.
• In some meetings you have the casting vote as
  Chair.Summarise discussion for each item and
  decisions made. (This makes note-taking much
  easier for the secretary.)
• Ensure all items on the agenda are dealt with.

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• Task
• Task-related behaviour includes
• giving directions
• giving information and opinions
• seeking information and opinions
• problem solving
• reality testing
• summarising.

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• Group-related behaviours
• These behaviours include
• encouraging participation
• helping communication by listening effectively
• mediating
• relieving tension
• monitoring group behaviour.

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Meetings in Progress

• Quorum
• A quorum is the minimum number of persons or
  proportion of the membership required to be
  present at a meeting. Without a quorum, any
  business transacted is not valid. A quorum must
  be present throughout the meeting. If members
  leave during a meeting and a quorum is no longer
  present, the Chair should close the meeting. The
  meeting is then said to have 'lapsed'. The quorum
  is detailed in the terms of reference,
  constitution or articles of association. It
  should be of a 'commonsense' size large enough
  to conduct business with an adequate spread of
  responsibility, experience and representation
  or a specified proportion of members

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• Amending a motion
• An amendment is a minor change to a motion.
• Casting vote
• This is a vote made by the Chair when the votes
  'for' equal the votes 'against'

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• Specific powers of the chair 
• The Chair has a lot of influence on the
  proceedings of a meeting. The Chair may
• call on speakers to withdraw their remarks or
  apologise if they make offensive statements
• order the removal of any person who persists in
  disorderly conduct
• accept or reject motions from the floor, but the
  grounds for refusal need to be made clear to all
  participants
• .

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• ensure that each speech is kept to five minutes
  or whatever time is specified in the standing
  orders, or to enable the discussion to be
  completed in the allocated time
• make a final ruling on points of order and
  general procedures

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Meetings in Progress

• Functions of the minutes
• Minutes are not only a record for those that were
  at the meeting, but are an important source of
  information for those who were not there. They
  also perform four essential functions
• constitutional
• historical
• executive
• progressive.

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Meetings in Progress

• Minutes should be detailed enough to provide
  solid information for anybody who wishes to
  research an issue at a future date. The notes
  taken during the meeting will become the minutes.
  While parliament and the law are required to keep
  a verbatim transcript of proceedings, this is not
  necessary for other meetings. Your meeting notes
   perhaps supplemented by a tape recording
   should include all vital information and be
  fairly full. Then those notes need to be turned
  into minutes. Taking good notes makes recording
  the outcomes of the meeting much easier

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• Procedures for minute takers
• Prepare a skeleton minutes template, possibly
  with draft motions for the procedural items.
• Arrive early to distribute papers and check the
  venue and catering.
• Check for quorum and advise the Chair if
  necessary.
• Read and record apologies and note attendees.
• Perhaps read the minutes of the last meeting.
• Perhaps table copies of correspondence.

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Meetings in Progress

• Carefully note discussion as it occurs. (You can
  always prune later.)
• Carefully note when participants arrive and
  leave.
• Write the exact wording of all motions amendments
  and resolutions .
• Write up the minutes as soon as possible after
  the meeting.
• Alert participants to any tasks assigned to them
  (even though they were at the meeting and know
  what happened).

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• Tips for note taking
• Prepare
• Develop Shortcuts and abbreviations
• Write up your notes as soon as possible
• Watch and listen carefully

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• It's the minute taker's job to make the written
  record of a meeting
• clear Tease out the thread of the meeting
  discussion and write simply, varying your
  sentence construction. Be sure to record all the
  vital information.
• consistent Use the same terms throughout, for
  example, Bill Jones remains Bill Jones, not
  William Jones or W Jones or Mr Jones.
• neutral but interesting. This is not always easy.
  Your attitude to the subject matter will come
  through, though, so taking an interest in what is
  being discussed will help. Keep documents neutral
  by avoiding lots of adverbs and adjectives.

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Meetings in Progress

• What needs to be recorded?
• who was there
• what has been decided
• what action is needed
• who is going to take that action
• when the action is going to be taken (deadline)
• any other motions that the Chair wants recorded

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• What does not need to be recorded?
• petty arguments
• personal attacks
• any discussion 'off the record' (unless the Chair
  approves).

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• Circulating the minutes
• The minutes of the previous meeting should be
  circulated with the notice for the next meeting.
  Minutes are circulated to all meeting attendees,
  including guest speakers and those 'in
  attendance'. Minutes should be circulated to all
  members of the group whether or not they attended
  the meeting. Minutes may also be circulated to
  other staff or committees for information.

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Meetings in Progress

• Recording outcomes
• Decisions must be reported and the minutes of
  meetings are part of that reporting process. How
  do these decisions get reported?
• Outcomes may be reported in different ways and by
  different media (print or online), such as
• annual reports
• other business reports
• articles for publication, either internal or
  external
• websites on the Internet for external users to
  view
• .

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Meetings in Progress

• via the organisation's intranet for internal
  notification
• emails
• summaries for presentations or conferences
• tender documents and contracts
• media releases
• speeches

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