MEETINGS

Topics to be covered

Planning a meeting

Conducting a meeting

Memo

Agenda

Minutes of Meeting

Story time

Meeting

• A meeting is an assembling or coming together of two or more persons for the purpose of transacting some business tasks

• The word 'meeting' means an 'assembly of people for a particular purpose especially for formal discussion'.

Some facts..Wharton Center for Applied Research published in Wall

Street Journal• The average CEO spends about 17 hours each week in meetings.

• Senior executives spend an average of 23 hours a week in meetings

• Middle manager spend 11 hours in meetings per week

• Senior and middle manager said only 56% of the meetings were productive

• A phone call or a memo could have replaced over 25% of the meetings they attend

–If managers conduct meetings appropriately, they can reduce the time spent in meetings by one-fourth

Objectives of Meeting

Meet to move group actions forward, called task focus

– Present information to others

– Collaborate-review,evaluate, discuss, problem-solve, decide

Social reasons

– Need to belong

– Need to achieve and make an impact

– Need to communicate, build and share a common reality

Exercise

Students of Sem II are required to conduct a meeting and discuss 'preparation for placements'.

Planning a meeting• Be specific• Create an Agenda• Prepare in advance• Meeting process

– Participation-Whose inputs do we need?, Who is needed to make a decision?, Whose consent do we need to move forward?

– The discussion management process-participative format with facilitator

– Plan discuss and assign roles-Facilitator, recorder, leader, participant (timekeeper)

– Pre and post meeting communication- advance agenda, participants, time and place, preparation of materials, list of audio/visual equipment available to presenters, requests for any special needs• Capture Key outcomes of meeting-decisions, action items,

open issues

How to lead effective meetings?

• Starting time-seriousness of the agenda, reflects significance of the meeting

• Opening Remarks- serious & positive tone, introduce new participants, discuss agenda and objective, identify time constraints

• Getting down to business : Move to the first item on the agenda

• Participation-Encourage participation from all members

• Agenda- Use agenda to keep discussion on track

• Closing- Once items are covered, close the meeting, take final comments before closing, thank the group members

Meeting is declared

Excercise

PGPGM batch is required to represent Xcellon in Management Fair-2013 scheduled on 1st April 2013. Conduct a meeting to discuss the theme and the modalities of putting up a stall in Management Fair-2013

How to Participate effectively? Arrive at scheduled time for a meeting Work on agenda Carry required documents Dress formally Participate Don't interrupt attendees/speaker Don't disturb other participants Silence your electronics Speak concise yet detailed Attend the entire meeting Conduct yourself professionally Maintain eye-contact Make notes

Why don't we participate effectively?

Fear of Evaluation

Low self image

Lack of exposure and experience

I don't know how to speak

Will it make any difference

Others are already speaking on my behalf

My contribution is not considered worthy

Exercise

Students of Sem II are required to conduct a meeting and discuss 'preparation for placements'.

Stand-up meetings

Strategic issues related to effective meetings

• To meet or not to meet

• Non verbals in meeting (Words-7%, tone-38% and BL-55%)

• What if you expect confrontation?

• Reaching rapid consensus in meetings

- Clear focus on moving forward together- Integrate with more parts of the organization

Exercise

Conduct a stand-up meeting to discuss the reflections of Sustantivo-2013. List out learnings,

to be incorporated in Sustantivo-2014.

Notice of Meeting

• The word 'notice' is derived form a Latin word meaning 'knowledge'

• The term 'notice' in relation to meeting signifies the bringing of knowledge of the meeting to the persons concerned.

Cont..• May be oral or written• Generally the rules of procedure of every

organization states the notice period required for calling both general body meeting or of smaller groups else reasonable time should be given

• Every person concerned and entitled to attend the meeting must be summoned or given notice.

• It must contain particulars relating to time day, date, time and place of the meeting

• Must be precise clear and unambiguous• Must be served in prescribed manner and in

accordance with the rules if any.

Exercise

The Convocation ceremony for SY batch is to be organized by FY batch, on 25 April 2013. You

are required to convene a Faculty-student meeting to discuss the program schedule,

assign tasks and responsibilities to attendees.

Agenda

• The matters of business to be discussed at a meeting is called agenda

• Agenda gives an opportunity to the members to come prepared on the subject to the meeting.

Cont..• It is written official document of business to be

transacted at a meeting. • Drafted by the secretary in consultation with the

chairperson.• Copy of agenda is normally enclosed with the notice

of meeting and sent to all members• Provides the potential participants with the

information needed to prepare effectively for the meeting.

• Can be attached as annexure or may be in continuation with the notice

• Each item in the agenda is numbered and it gives the number of meeting also if the meeting is in series (3.01, 3.02, 3.03)

Agenda-Exercise1.01 Announcement of venue, date, time and

guest details1.02 Inviting suggestions for programs to be

included in the ceremony1.03 Listing of tasks1.04 Discussion of administrative issues1.05 Allotment of roles and responsibilities 1.06 Discussion on handling logistic1.07 Any other matter with the permission of the

chairperson

Minutes

• It is a brief summary or record of what is said and decided at a formal meeting.

• Minutes is a record of the proceedings and resolutions passed or decisions taken at a meeting.

Cont..

• Minutes are summaries of actions taken not verbatim transcripts of the deliberations

• Personal feelings and emotions not recordedIncludes:• Classification of meeting(regular, monthly...)• Reference to minutes of previous meeting• Reports of actions on matters previously presented to the

group• Reports of actions on matters presented to the group• Place, date and time of the next meeting• Identification of people in attendance• Identification of absentees and reasons for the absence• Identification of person responsible for preparing the

minutes

Memo

• A memo like a letter is a form of correspondence.• Letters are sent outside the organization, memos are

circulated within the organization • Memos are brief written communication of internal

correspondence, also called inter-office memoranda• Organizations use the memo format for short reports.• Occasionally memo reports also contain an analysis

of data and the opinion and recommendations of the writer.

Cont..

• It is an effective means of sending information at once to many employees within the organization

• Decide the central idea or main purpose of the memorandum.

• Subordinate every fact or idea to this central idea or main purpose and show how these facts or ideas are related logically to the central theme.

• Reject any material which is irrelevant, superfluous or unnecessary for the reader's understanding of the central idea.

Standard Memorandum Format

• It consists of the captions 'To', 'From', 'Date' and 'Subject'. These captions may be arranged in different ways but either 'Date' or 'To' should be the first item. Subject should immediately precede the main body.

• The subject line must be a precise, meaningful summary of the memo's content.

• Left and right margins should be at least one inch wide.

• Do not use an opening salutation such as 'Dear Sir/Madam'.

• The memo body is single spaced. Leave double space between the heading and the first paragraph of the body and between paragraphs.

Cont..

• Enumerations focus the reader's attention on specific information

• Number the items so that they help the reader to identify specific items for response

• If there is only one major point, do not number the major point

• Do not use a closing line such as 'Yours sincerely' or 'Yours truly' at the end of the memo.

• The memo sender puts her/his initials after the type written name to indicate approval of the message

Exercise

Assuming that you are the student coordinator, write a notice for a Student-faculty meeting to be organized on 15 April, 2011 at 11:00 am in the campus. Also prepare an agenda for the same.

Layout of Business letter• Stationery• Margins• Punctuation– Closed punctuation: period follows dateline, the

end line of the inside address and the signature, comma follows all lines of inside address, salutation and complimentary close

– Open punctuation:No punctuation– Mixed punctuation: Period follows the last line of

the inside address, comma follows date line, street name(if any), the salutation and complimentary close

Forms of Layout of Letter

• Block Form

• Semi-Block Form

• Full-Block Form

• Indented Form

Sales Letter

Plan • Understand your prospect. What do they care about?

How can your product or service fulfill a need for them? • Understand the difference between features and

benefits. • Anticipate your prospect's objections and be prepared to

counter them. • Decide what the main objective of your letter is, and

develop an offer to help meet that objective. • Make sure the person you're writing to is the buyer. • Study other samples of sales letters.

Cont..

Outline • Write a headline or use a testimonial, review, or

endorsement. • Write down your lead paragraph that states your

product's primary benefit. • Write down additional benefits. • Outline objections and counter them. • State price and profit potential. • Mention special offers or discounts. • Use supporting statements such as testimonials and

statistics. • Write out the details of any offers or discounts. • Write your closing paragraph.

Cont..

Write

• Use the proper format. • Use key words. • Use the active voice. • Edit and rewrite.

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Exercise-Customer Complaint

Two week back you purchased a Cello tiffin worth Rs. 360 from an Apparel store in your locality. The lids of the tiffin were found to be unusually hard and they broke off in the first week of its use. The store owner was approached who refused to replace the product. Write a letter, complaining to the customer care department of Cello.

Exercise-Enquiry

You are a PGPGBM student and you have a query regarding the forthcoming Summer Internship Program. Write a letter to the concerned authority stating your query.

Exercise-Customer query

You wish to buy 5 Air-conditioners for your office situated at SG highway. Write a letter to Sales India, requesting for the quotation of Air-conditioners for your office.

THANK YOU