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Meetings are vital for management and communication. Meetings create new ideas and initiatives.

Meetings are far more powerful than the written word, e-mails or telephone conversations. 55% of meaning and feeling are carried in facial expressions and body language.

Board or Senior Management Meetings

Decide at least a month in advance the time, place and date of the meeting and who should attend.

If you share an Outlook diary try and select a date convenient to all participants.

Prepare the agenda

Collect the minutes of the previous meetings

Update the status of the action points raised from the last meeting. Be prepared to name and shame.

Collect relevant management reports

Distribute the agenda, minutes, action points and management reports at least 5 days prior to meeting. Don’t let someone have the excuse of saying they haven’t read a particular report.

Note – A Board meeting is used for compliance purposes as well as to discuss and improve current and future business strategy.

In a small business it is recommended to hold a Board meeting quarterly. In a larger business then maybe 6 times a year. Remember they are expensive so make them worthwhile.

Don’t always appoint the same person to take minutes. It will produce their version of events and they may edit out anything they don’t agree with so it might be worthwile sharing the task. Minutes should include what was discussed, actions agreed and decisions made.

One off or brainstorming meetings

(usually only one point on the agenda) are immensely powerful for team building, creativity, decision making and problem solving. The most important thing being what happens after they end. They are usually more relaxed and less structured than normal meetings. The idea being to get ideas out of people’s heads and onto paper

As stated earlier meetings are expensive so run them well. Don’t allow preaching and instructing, let everyone present have a chance to air their views even if it means taking turns and going round the table. Some people are introvert and will be uncomfortable giving their views to a large number of people so try and make them as comfortable as possible. Don’t talk over them, let them finish.

Try not to assume you are right and they are wrong, concentrate on the facts. Understanding others’ perceptions, interpretations and values, and how they compare to our own, is far more valuable than simply trying to sort out if something is true or not true, right or wrong.

After the meeting try and check that all attendees felt that it took care of their needs. That they were satisfied their points were listened to. Write up the minutes within 48 hours and ensure all participants have a chance to add or edit them.