Meetings

One of the myths of management is that meetings are a gigantic waste of time. This is because, for the most, they are disoriented and disjointed and never stick to the subject. Most people prefer to make decisions on their own or perhaps to have a hallway session with somebody else and come to some kind of conclusion.

However, the well-run organization has a specific set of meetings for the purpose of communication and decision. These will add a great deal to the possibility of success if a few simple rules are followed: First, the meeting must have an agenda. If a topic is not on the agenda, do not talk about it. This teaches people to get their thoughts in ahead of time. Second, the meeting must have a start time and a finish time. These have to be adhered to religiously. The chairperson of the meeting is in charge of the meeting; if senior people are attending, they have to recognize this and defer to the chairperson. Presentation to the meeting should be prepared and rehearsed in advance, be concise and give all the participants the opportunity to have their questions answered.

For a typical organization, I would suggest the following program: Weekly staff meeting should be help for each function, in which status is reviewed, action items are covered, and problems are assigned for corrective action. For the organization as a whole, there should be monthly Executive Committee meeting, attended by senior people representing every area. Plan to cover everything in an hour and a half. The Finance Committee should meet once a-month; the board of directors, quarterly. The Procedures Committee should meet on a planned basis. The Integrity Board should meet once a month and take action. When a problem arises that requires action, a special team may be put together. This team should have regular status meetings every day at 8 A. M. For 45 minutes. The team members go over what is going on, what is supposed to happen, and what happened yesterday until they get the problem solved, congratulate each other, and do not meet anymore.

Meetings are a valuable part of an organization’s management style. Only poorly managed meetings are not useful.

Sum up the information you’ve learned from the text.

Дата добавления: 2015-08-17