Meetings
Choosing the Right Channel
Channel Choice
Deciding how to communicate a message is important.
Channel Decision Tree
Channel Decision Tree.
- E-mail — message can be sent clearly and accurately — quickest form of sending a message
- Phone — message that requires an immediate response or might need clarification or elaboration that could be lost in translation through e-mail
- Face-to-face meeting — message needs to involve multiple people or requires dialogue (sometimes on a recurring basis)
Meeting Purposes
Meeting Purposes
Meetings can be used to:
- Share information
- Solve problems
- Plan
- Brainstorm
- Motivate
Need the Basics
Need Basics
Whatever their purpose, you need to know some basics about conducting an effective meeting.
When Meeting Is Best Method
When Meeting Is Best
A way to determine whether a meeting is the most appropriate method of communicating a message is to consider if you want to address a group about:
- Information
- Advice
- Concerns
- Problem solving
- Decision-making
Meeting Cross-Talk
Meetings allow for cross-talk to discuss these types of issues, whether within an organization or with outside agencies.
Steps Once Meeting Is Decided
Meeting Planning Steps
Once you have decided that a meeting is the most appropriate method of communicating, the next steps are to:
- Define the purpose of the meeting
- Decide who should be invited to participate or be a part of the conversation
- Decide where and when the meeting should occur
- Plan for capturing (recording) meeting information
- Send out an agenda so attendees can be prepared to discuss pertinent topics
- Be flexible based on availability of attendees, information, or other considerations
Running the Meeting
Running Meeting
Running the meeting requires that a few simple rules be followed, but not to the extent that the meetings are rigid, predictable, and non-productive.
Foundation for Success
Meeting Success Foundation
As long as you:
- Start and stay on time
- Follow the agenda
- Understand group dynamics
- Follow up with well-formatted meeting minutes
…your meeting will have a good foundation for success.