Running and Effective Meeting essays

Running and Effective Meeting essays The key to getting anything done in a large group is using meetings, and without structure, leadership, and communication, nothing will get accomplished. Running an effective meeting requires a great deal of planning and preparation in addition to having strong leaders; however it is very simple to run once you have all the components of making your meeting great. The first that any meeting needs is a facilitator. The facilitator is not a dictator, nor even a director, which is a common misconception. Instead they just keep the group on task, encourage full participation, present information, plan and design the meetings, help resolve conflicts, and bring up important issues. While this may seem like a lot, the facilitator need not be alone in the work, just facilitate the meetings. The more people that try to take charge, the less efficient they will be in doing so. The next step to a great meeting is preparation. Being prepared helps everything run smoothly and allows for more things to get done. Before anything else, define the purpose of the meeting. If there isnt a good reason, it will just be a waste of time which doesnt help for the motivation of the group. Next decide what type of structure you want to have, and stick to it. If it is going to be formal/parliamentary procedure, dont design the rest of the meeting to follow an informal path. Its also important to have an agenda because the structure mandates things to stay on topic. In addition it helps from an organizational standpoint, making sure everything that needs to get addressed does. Hand out this agenda as well as any other pertinent information ahead of time, so people can come prepared. If possible, it also helps to arrange the seating so that members face each other, so no one feels left out. The final thing every meeting needs to be successful is communication. Communication is they key for everything getting done, so it is crucial ...