In business settings, people spend an inordinate amount of time and energy in meetings. Regardless of whether the setting is a corporate organization, a non-profit entity, or a small business, meetings are a common way for individuals to come together to share information or to make decisions. In Kirkpatrick’s (1987) book, How to Plan and Conduct Productive Business Meetings, he seeks to dissect the meeting and then reconstruct it in a more productive manner; Kirkpatrick (1987) also provides insights into areas of communication and into how I can create more productive meetings in my workplace.
Summary of Book According to Kirkpatrick (1987), “this manual has only one objective: to help you conduct more productive meetings” (pg. x);
…show more content…
When participants argue during meetings, it causes a distraction and thus can lead to loss of productivity. Kirkpatrick (1987) offers the advice to handle this type of conflict by clarifying objectives early on in the meeting (pg. 87). In this way, the leader can refer back to the objectives when participants get off track. Also, when conflict begins, Kirkpatrick (1987) states to “emphasize the points of agreement, or frankly ask that personalities be left out” (pg. 92). In this way, the leader can begin to diffuse the emotional conflict associated with much conflict.
Critical Review
Kirkpatrick’s (1987) book is a well-written step-by-step manual to create more productive meetings. One of the book’s strengths is that it is easy to read and offers specific insights for leaders to use when hosting a meeting. As a weakness, the book is over-simplified and does not address the dynamics that sometimes occur in group settings. This being said, however, Kirkpatrick accomplishes his objective: how to host a productive meeting, assuming, that is, that the reader follows the guidelines outlined in the book.
“Kirkpatrick is an author, consultant, teacher and speaker” (Kirkpatrick, 1987, pg. 293). He is also an educator, and as such, he used a plethora of resources and evidence in his book to support his positions on hosting productive meetings. For instance, he uses an expert on time
26. What can managers do to encourage useful conflict during a meeting to lessen inhibition about disagreeing and make the conflict less personal? Involve others in collaboration
In order to participate effectively it is important to prepare for a meeting in advance where ever
In an organization, meetings take place on a regular basis. Today’s organizations are built around people, so interaction among team members, inter-team, inter-department etc. are very common. The meetings cost organization in terms of time, money, and manpower utilization. Hence, effort is made to make the meeting process more effective.
Acknowledge the participants when ideas are spoken. Thank them for their input. Allow participants to put something on the agenda either before the meeting or for the next.
that an industry that is replete with policies, procedures, and protocols for just about everything, often offers no guidance for among its must ubiquitous of activities. Perhaps we need a lofty name – meetingtitis? I have had the opportunity to review hundreds of sets of meeting rules and guidelines, mostly from other industries. As you might expect, many appear to be prepared by the Department of Redundancy Department. In the box below, are the Meeting Rules posted on the wall of the Portland, Oregon-based mobile apps start up Urban Airship. While some of the rules may be perceived as “edgy” and a challenge to your current culture, I find them refreshing and believe they are all worthy of an honest conversation.
“Assess the relationship between agenda management and the group dynamics that occur in meetings and how this relationship influences the realization of goals, the accomplishments of tasks, and any impacts on participants” (Eanes, 2015).
4. Report electrical hazards. Many fires start in faulty wiring and malfunctioning electrical equipment. Never attempt electrical repairs unless you are qualified and authorized.
The meetings should have specific written agendas that are distributed ahead of time for review. The meetings should have a PowerPoint presentation that will guide the meetings pace and give the attendees an organized place for the information they are receiving. Also, the meeting should be closed to the outside to omit interruptions.
In the video, “The Ineffective Meeting” I recognized that the person who scheduled the meeting was not present at the scheduled start time, which appeared to be their custom. This resulted in the other participants treating the recurring meeting as a waste of time and resources. The participants had negative group roles instead of the progressive positive group roles of facilitator, harmonizer, record keeper, reporter and leader. Also, there was no clear defined structure to the meeting as related to topics and roles of the participants. At one point the meeting’s agenda was mentioned, however it appeared to not have been distributed to the entire team. This in turn resulted in team members not been fully prepared for the meeting.
To orientate any new group in a group work situation, a set of activities classified as Ice-breakers are facilitated by a group leader. As the inherent purpose of these activities is to promote participation, enhance familiarity and develop cohesion they are designated to be interactive and fun. The purpose of this report is to discuss the ice-breaker activity “Two Truths and a lie”, I facilitated during my blended delivery workshop, to demonstrate my skills as a group leader. This report will outline the following aspects of the group activity conducted i) description of the size and composition of the group ii) overview on the systematic approach taken to plan the activity iii) analysis of the conceptual reasoning behind choosing this ice-breaker activity iv) analysis of my leadership style and the adult learning principles applied v) evaluation of the challenges faced and the action plans to address those challenges.
The modern business meeting comes in many shapes and sizes. There is the large quarterly information transmission meeting, where staff cram into the organization’s largest room to watch executives display Power Point slides. There is the regularly scheduled weekly, biweekly or monthly staff meeting. There are individual project planning meetings which are often weekly and interdepartmental and discuss the state of a particular project. While there are various types and permutations of the business meeting, all meetings aim to transfer information, discuss/make decisions and/or resolve issues.
Meetings can be beneficial if they are organized correctly. A meeting needs to have a purpose. An agenda should be created so that everyone in attendance knows what to expect. The individual who is in charge of planning the meeting has a very important job when it comes to preparing an actionable meeting. Tasks need to be assigned as well as deadlines for those tasks to ensure everything that needs to get done will get done.
There have been many instances in which one attends a team meeting to i assess project assignments, instead the conversation drifts to a discussion about last night’s game winning 3-point shot. Weekly meetings progressively become more inconsistent and ineffective.The three most frequently reported problems with meetings are getting off the subject, not having an
Support enhanced administration hone: Perhaps an inconspicuous advantage of casual gatherings is that they urge supervisors to get ready, arrangement, compose, and control in a more expert style. Troughs who fathom the force of the casual association perceive that it is a "check and adjust" on their utilization of power.
Our meetings occur once a week, to check in on what has happened in the company and with our clients. The meetings can be tedious and tiring at times. Very little has changed from week to