BSBADM502 Manage Meetings Online Tutoring

Manage Meetings

1.When you develop an agenda, how is it used? Identify at least 3 reasons.

The agenda is significantly important to be developed in the meetings. It must be developed and used as follows
⦁ The agenda is developed before conducting the meeting so that if any amendments are needed, the agenda can be edited and used by the management team of the meeting.
⦁ The agenda must be developed a few or more days before so that it can be used by sending it to the members and they can prepare themselves for the meeting.
⦁ Furthermore, the agenda is used to compare the intended decisions and the actual implementation of the decisions via the meeting.

2. How would you determine if the items to be included in an agenda are in line with the stated meeting purpose? Include at least 3 reasons.

The stated purpose of the meeting must be in line with the items of the agenda to ensure effective meetings. This should be determined as follows:
⦁ Well-structured meeting agenda helps in determining if the structure of the meeting is properly followed with accurate period and time gaps for each of the meeting items.
⦁ Checking transcribed meeting notes for ensuring either they reflect the accurate and true implementation of the meeting agenda or there are some major differences is another way of determining this linkage. If the transcribed notes of the meeting are the same as the meeting agenda, then the meeting is regarded as effective.
⦁ Ask meeting participants at the end of the meeting that any difference they feel in the meeting agenda or actual meeting structure. If the participants point out any aspect which was discussed the same as in the meeting agenda, then that means the meeting was not effectively made in line with the meeting agenda.

3. What factors need to be considered when deciding on the structure of meetings? Identify at least 3 reasons

The factors that need to be considered while deciding the structure of the meeting are as follows:
⦁ Purpose of meeting: The purpose of the meeting is the main factor that helps in the decision of the structure either it is a general meeting to be held annually or just an informal meeting of the team designed to motivate the members and share progress.
⦁ Participants of the meeting: The structure of the meeting also depends on the participants of the meeting. For instance, if the participants of the meeting are the team members or staff members then that meeting structure might be informal with general discussions on progress or for the motivation of members. Moreover, if the participants are board members or shareholders, then the structure of the meeting would be formal to follow the legal requirements as well for their profits and business.
⦁ Size of the meeting: Another important factor that needs to be considered while deciding the meeting structure is the size of the meeting. This implies that how many participants will be suited best for the meeting and then the structure can be decided either to be formal or informal. For instance, for an organizational meeting, all the stakeholders need to be invited or not.

4. Indicate the style and structure (formal or informal) of meetings appropriate for each of these meeting purposes.

5. How can meeting participants be identified and notified of an impending meeting in accordance with organisational procedures? Name at least 3 reasons.

The identification of the meeting participants depends on different forms of meetings and their differing purposes. Therefore, the identification of participants of the meeting varies from one meeting to another. For instance, some of the formal meetings in the organizations have specific requirements for attendance and identification of participants. Their identification of participants and attendance is set out according to the association articles or constitution of organizations that need to comply with the relevant legislation. There are some other meetings for which the participants are easily identified such as workgroup meeting that involves the workgroup members. Another example is the department meeting that identifies the participants from the staff of that specific department.
The meeting participants can be notified regarding an impending meeting according to the procedures of the organization via
• SMS or email
• Email, invitation or memo
• Word of mouth
• Advertisement or newspaper
• Poster or bulletin on noticeboard

6. List and describe three different types of meetings. The description should include the structure and typical arrangements for each meeting type, and any special considerations.

The three different types of meetings are:
⦁ Management meetings
The management meetings include the decision making of managers at various levels. These meetings may take different forms that depend on the organizational structure. For instance, some of the meetings will include middle management whereas some other meetings will include the team of senior management or will involve both the groups. The minute taking principles of such meetings will follow the general principles of format and style based on group preferences and established practices.
⦁ Annual General Meeting (AGM)
The structure of the annual general meeting is formal, and it is held on an annual basis. The directors meet the shareholders in AGM. These meetings might be open to the scrutiny of media and require very careful planning and thought.
⦁ Departmental meetings
These are one-off or periodic meetings that are attended by all the staff of the department for addressing and discussing the issues of department i.e. objective setting, performance revival, etc. It is very usual to take minutes of such meetings.

7. List five types of meeting papers that might be dispatched to attendees prior to a meeting.

There are various types of meeting papers that are dispatched to the attendees before the meeting that depends on the agenda and the type of meeting.
Some of the types of meeting papers are:
⦁ Agenda: The chairman (or under the chairman’s instructions) prepares this meeting paper by outlining the details about the topics that would be discussed in the meeting.
⦁ Notice: The participants are informed in advance regarding the intention of calling a meeting via this meeting paper.
⦁ Policy documents: The information is provided regarding a specific topic that might be discussed in the meeting through these documents.
⦁ Minutes: A truthful and accurate representation of the happenings in the last meeting is provided through the minutes of the meeting.

8. Why do meeting papers need to be dispatched within designated time lines?

The meeting papers need to be dispatched within the designated timelines because the participants must have time for reading the papers before the meeting. If the meeting papers are dispatched before several days then the participants can have enough time for reading the papers in a detailed manner. On the other hand, if the meeting papers are sent late to the participants or not sent with the meeting notice, then the participants would not be able to go through them and get enough time to properly consider the issues of the agenda. Moreover, they will not have enough time to consider the information designed in the meeting papers. The participants also need to be familiar with the papers because some meetings require certain actions from the participants in the meeting. If they did not get the papers before the meeting, they would not be able to participate as decided on the papers. Furthermore, the participants get time to read the papers if they get them early and they can give opinions on the content and actively participate in the meeting. Therefore, the meeting papers need to be dispatched within the designated timelines.

9. Explain the role of a chairperson in a meeting. Identify at least 3 areas of responsibilities.

A chairperson in a meeting is the highest authority. The roles and areas of responsibilities of a chairperson in a meeting are provided below:
⦁ The agenda of the meeting is prepared either by the chairperson or in its supervision by outlining the details of topics that would be discussed in the meeting. It also outlines the meeting purpose and reminds the participants that why they are in the meeting. It also provides a summary of key recommendations and decisions that were made during the meeting.
⦁ The chairperson also authorizes and arranges the meeting papers distribution. It also directs the meeting by clarifying the roles of participants and establishing the rules for the meeting by ensuring accountability. It also keeps a check that the meeting must be focused on the items of the agenda. The chairman also closes the meeting on time.
⦁ The chairman also ensures that the committee of management is working properly, and full participation is being made in the meetings by relevant discussions for effective decision making.
⦁ The chairman also seeks informal and direct feedback from the participants as the meeting ends so that the shortcomings can be addressed.

10. What legal and ethical requirements can apply in meeting situations? Outline at least 4 examples.

The ethical and legal requirements might be necessary for some of the meeting situations. For instance,
⦁ The legal requirements are sometimes set by the laws of the organization. Such as the governmental meetings are being regulated by the laws of the state. Some specific legal and ethical set of rules are also stated in the code of ethics and legal documents of organizations.
⦁ For the ethical requirements, the participants are made aware of codes of practice and their responsibilities conducting ethically by the organizations. For instance, most of the organizations have their expected behavior from participants and codes of practice that the meeting group designs and communicates to other members.
⦁ The legislations of associations or companies must be considered while organizing public meetings. For instance, the Occupational Health and Safety applies to the activities of organizations that would also be considered in the meetings.
⦁ Moreover, the meeting participants want the meeting outcomes and their decisions to be accepted willingly and acted upon them. This might not occur if any unethical practice is perceived or associated with the meetings. Therefore, this is another ethical requirement for the meetings of organizations.

11. What can a chairperson do to ensure meetings they conduct are focused, time efficient and achieve the desired outcomes? Identify at least 5 reasons.

A chairperson has various roles to perform that include time-efficient, focused, and outcome-oriented meetings. The chairperson can ensure all of these by the following aspects.
⦁ The chairperson can assign certain tasks among the participants of the meeting and lead them to make the meeting time efficient.
⦁ If there is active participation by the members of the meeting, then the chairperson can analyze the meeting is focused on.
⦁ Moreover, when a member or participant speaks in the meeting, the chairperson can check if the discussion is relevant to the agenda of the meeting provided to them. Then the meeting is being conducted in a focused manner.
⦁ The chairperson can also get feedback from participants at the end of the meeting to ensure that the meeting was outcome-oriented and will help in improving the issue of agenda.
⦁ The chairperson can also ensure the outcome orientation and focus by comparing the outcomes decided on the agenda and the decisions achieved regarding outcomes at the end of the meeting.
⦁ Furthermore, if the participants are following the time from the agenda and speaking within a specific time given to the required topic and utilize time by wisely speaking, then the chairperson can ensure that meeting is time efficient.

12. What actions can a chairperson take to help resolve conflict between meeting participants? Identify at least 4 actions.

There are also such cases in which tensions and conflicts arise in meetings due to personality issues, professional differences, and many other reasons. So, the role of the chairperson is to resolve the conflict among the meeting participants. The actions that the chairperson can take are:
⦁ The chairman can depersonalize himself from the issue and move it to objective discussion tactically. So that the participants do not think that chairperson is more inclined or in favor of one party rather than the other. In this way, the conflict will not be increased further instead it will be resolved.
⦁ If any conflict arises in the meeting, the chairperson can take action to shift their focus from conflict to research by questioning and taking them back to the agenda of meeting and rational thinking.
⦁ The chairperson can remove or reduce the perceived threat that would help in resolving the conflict in the meeting. For this purpose, the chairman must understand the issue properly because the perception of threat might also be wrong.
⦁ The chairperson can also identify the common goals of participants so that their focus from conflicting views can be shifted towards their common goals to resolve negative conflict in the meeting.

13. How can a chairperson encourage active participation from attendees at meetings? Identify at least 5 methods.

The Chairperson has a key role in the meeting and encourages the attendees to actively participate, be it a verbal or tactical encouragement in the meeting. Some of the methods are described below.
⦁ The chairman can smartly prepare the meeting at that time of the day when the participants feel energetic by some break. Moreover, the meeting time can also be designed in such a way as not to make redundant for the participants.
⦁ The chairperson can also use the tools of participants engaged in the meeting by some activities or cross-questioning for encouraging active participation.
⦁ The persuasion power can also be used by the chairperson by being friendly, showing respect, and avoid arguing for encouraging the active participation of members.
⦁ The chairman can use excellent negotiation skills by first taking the issues that are least important and should be ready for compromise as negotiation implies give and take rule.
⦁ Drive smoothly to the outcome by taking the meeting participants on board by offering a few choices and taking votes.

14. What information (3) and method of recording (2) should be covered when briefing the minute-taker?

The information that should be covered include
⦁ Main agenda of the meeting
⦁ Topics and discussion contents that will be covered in the meeting
⦁ Final decided outcomes of the meeting
Furthermore, the methods of recording that should be covered are:
⦁ Audio recording
⦁ Meeting transcription (typing on laptop)