DISCUSSION GROUP 5 topic how to make an effective business meeting

THUONG MAI UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF ENGLISH ????? Subject: Principles of business communication DISCUSSION GROUP 5 Topic: How to make an effective business meeting Teacher: Nguyen Thi Thu

THUONG MAI UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF ENGLISH

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Subject: Principles of business communication

DISCUSSION GROUP 5 Topic: How to make an effective business meeting

Teacher: Nguyen Thi Thuy Chung

I, Introduction

II, How to make an effective meeting

1 Before the meeting

1.1 The Organizers

1.2 The Attendees

2 During the meeting

2.1 Start the meeting punctually

2.2 Roles of things in the meeting

2.3 Overcome communication barriers

3 After the meeting

III, Conclusion

Members and Roles

Nguyen Thi Mai I; III; Video

Nguyen Thi Hong Minh II: 1 Before the meeting

Nguyen Thi Kieu My II: 2.1 Start the meeting punctually

2.3 Overcome communication barriers

Tran Thi Hai Nam II: 2.2.1 Roles of meeting leaders

2.2.2 Roles of the meeting facilitator

Hoang Thi Kim Oanh II: 2.2.3 Roles of note taker

2.2.4 Roles of timekeeper 2.2.5 Roles of participants Nguyen Thi Phuong II: 3 After the meeting

I, Introduction

Meetings are meant to be the engine of1 productivity in the workplace Meetings are where you go when you need to brainstorm new ideas, debate current problems, and make important decisions Understanding how to have effective business meetings is likely one of the most important skills employees at all levels need to learn to thrive at work And yet, according to online meeting provider Fuze, ineffective meetings waste an estimated $37 billion a year A recent study in the Journal of Organizational Behavior found that, while wasting time is typically unacceptable in all other aspects of business life, “in the case of meetings, wasted time seems to be an accepted norm.”

Meetings have earned a terrible reputation as a time suck, and it’s no wonder Most people tend to default to using meetings for one purpose: to share information While that can be essential sometimes, in reality, effective meeting strategies can help a team move work forward in a meaningful way-whether by gathering attendees to come to a decision, brainstorm new ideas, or workshop a solution to a problem

Learning how to run effective meetings is not only a boon for productivity, but good meetings also inspire greater team collaboration which can have a direct effect on the overall happiness of workers

II How to make an effective business meeting

1, Before meeting

1.1 The Organizers

a Determine what you want to accomplish

A meeting should have a purpose, such as project updates, lessons learned, or customer feedback If you can’t think of a purpose, there may be no need to meet

“Weekly or monthly” company meetings, for example, serve no purpose unless you know in advance what you want to get out of each meeting event

b Send an agenda

To have an effective business meetings, several days before the meeting, send agenda to all your members so that they can prepare themselves before the meeting The agenda must contain the purpose of your meeting and your meeting’s outline It can be summarized on a handout, written on a whiteboard or discussed explicitly at the outset, but everyone should know why they have gathered and what they are supposed to be accomplishing

c Decide who need to be there

Every business meeting has its own characteristics Therefore, only invite to your meeting the people whose input or updates you need If your meeting is meant to plan a project, invite those who have a stake in it If the meeting is to get a decision, only invite those whose opinions will be considered

That may mean that you have more, but smaller, meetings Instead of requiring a huge contingent of employees to attend a large team meeting, consider whether only a small part of the agenda pertains to them Is so, conduct a shorter meeting

on just that subject, with only the individuals whose input or buy-in is needed on that topic

d Set format, time and location, pick a time that works for all attendees

In addition to figuring out who to attend, and what you’re trying to accomplish with your meeting, you’ll want to choose a format for the meeting For example, if you need a quick decision that involves multiple people, a short telephone meeting (conference call) may suffice Questions about your meeting format may include:

Do we need to meet in person, face-to-face? Does the meeting need to be in private (out of earshot of others)? Can we do the meeting via telephone conference? Would a meeting conducted via video conference better suit our attendees?

After set a time, make sure it’s convenience so that every attendee can present in full

e Duration

Most business meetings are scheduled for a one-hour time frame However, the average adult’s attention span is only five to 10 minutes You’re better off conducting shorter, more frequent meetings, and supplementing the meeting with documentation, pre-work, or follow-ups in a different format

1.2 The Attendees

a Comment on the timing of the meeting

Those who are appointed to attend the meeting should actively contribute to the meeting time when asked An effective meeting is when all members are present and focused on the content without being distracted by any other work So make sure you choose the right time for you from which the organizers choose the most appropriate time that works for everyone

b Prepare in advance the main content of the meeting

It is important to know what the meeting is about beforehand It helps you not to be left behind during the meeting, and you take charge of your role You can even think ahead of relevant questions that might arise in the meeting A member who actively receives content, contributes ideas is an important factor to help the

meeting succeed

2, During meeting: run a meeting

2.1 Start the meeting punctually

Nothing can drain the energy from a room quite like waiting for the person in charge to show up Why do so many in positions of power fall into the bad habit of being late for meetings? Is it just that they’re so busy? Or is there a small thrill in keeping everyone waiting for them, a reminder that their time is more valuable than everyone else’s?

Time is money, of course, and all that sitting around and trying to guess when the boss may arrive is a waste of a precious resource When establishing the informal rules of an organization, employees take their cues from the person in the corner office If that person wants meetings to start on time, meetings will start on time Punctuality greatly affects the value of meetings

It Fosters Productivity: When given an exact time limit for completely meeting objectives, people are more likely to work harder to accomplish them Keeping the time limit for meetings below one hour can help increase the effectiveness by helping to maintain attention

It makes a good first impression: Imagine that you are attending a meeting with two different presenters When you walk into the first one, the speaker is already there His or her equipment is not ready and not functional, they hand you an agenda with objectives, and they cannot start exactly on time The second speaker arrives five minutes late and spends another 15 minutes setting up presentation technology Which presenter made the best impression? Most likely, none of them When you are leading a meeting, attendees expect organization and promptness If your meeting room setup relies on wires and cables and your end users spend the first 15 minutes of their presentation struggling with connectivity issues, they may

as well be presenting to an empty room Individuals can eliminate set up time and worries by using wireless presentation systems and by arriving a few minutes before the scheduled time

It shows you value attendee’s time: By starting a meeting on time, presenters are also showing that they value the time of their attendees When meetings continuously start on time, presenters build a reputation of respect, professionalism, and competence On the other hand, when the start time fluctuates, people are more likely to show up late, daydream during them, or stop attending them altogether Along with a number of other positive benefits, meetings can be an effective way to bring your team together, share updates, boost morale, and improve communications However, when they start late, presenters already set them up to be less productive and effective Starting meetings on time

is one of the top ways to ensure that they are successful and engaging

2.2 Roles of things in the meeting

2.2.1 Meeting Leader

Team leaders have a vast array of responsibilities, but meetings are one of the most crucial ones when it comes to employee morale and efficiency The leader should

be the conveyor of the meeting: they schedule it, start it, and express their desired outcome

The leader initiated the meeting for a specific purpose, but should keep in mind that it’s important to come off as approachable and open to feedback

At the beginning of the meeting, the leader should strive to follow these 4 steps to set a positive precedent and ensure everyone is on the same page:

1) Express Appreciation: Let participants know that they appreciate their participation If there is time, draw on specific contributions to make each participant feel good

2) Unite the Team: Explain why everyone belongs at this meeting People want to understand why they are important to the group Don’t leave an individual or subgroup out; you will find that you will quickly lose their participation in the meeting if you do If they feel snubbed, they might even actively work against 3) Share a Vision: Connect the purpose of this specific meeting with the larger organizational purpose

4) Provide Direction: Explain who will be facilitating the meeting and why that choice has been made If the leader wants the group to decide on the facilitator, tell them in advance that this will be their responsibility so that they come prepared to make this decision

2.2.2 The Meeting Facilitator

The meeting facilitator is in charge of facilitating the flow of the meeting, to make sure it runs smoothly and covers the main agenda items A good facilitator will make sure everyone listens, stays on topic with the agenda, knows their roles, and feels included in the process

A designated meeting facilitator will ensure the meeting progresses and goes well When a meeting goes well, everyone stays on the agenda, understands their roles, feels ownership, listens to others, and makes key and timely contributions

These are the 3 responsibilities of a meeting facilitator:

a Keep the Meeting Focused: When the group or an individual start to wander away from the agenda, rein them back in

b Reduce Confusion:

 Provide a clear and concise agenda in a timely manner

 Arrive early to the meeting to answer questions, test equipment, check on refreshments and provide direction

 Make sure that participants understand and adhere to the rules and agenda

c Keep the Leader or Others from Dominating: Seek to obtain as much valuable input as possible (including minority voices) before closing down a discussion The facilitator may invite quiet participants to speak, respectfully ask the current speaker to wrap up, or call for a vote when the group is divided (perhaps by using some of the new and innovative tools)

2.2.3, Note taker

The note taker has a neutral stance just like the facilitator The minute taker does not get involved in agenda evaluation, decision-making process, and interaction among meeting members

The primary roles of this individual are:

 Help develop and distribute the agenda

A note taker can help the manager create an effective agenda as a person who is familiar with the meeting’s minutes and previous formats used Their familiarity with the agenda will help them distribute it before the meeting, take notes and keep things on track

 Take accurate meeting notes

Minutes are the formalized outcome of those notes, documented, and distributed

to the group Note taker need to stay focused during lulls and to quickly jump to action when things rev up

 Record meeting minutes

Successfully recording minutes requires transforming meeting notes into the current meeting minutes format adopted by the group, and it’s a skill that requires more than plugging information into a pre-existing template It requires writing in

a neutral tone with unbiased descriptors that present the information in a fair manner

2.2.4, Timekeeper

The timekeeper helps the leader maintain the agenda’s order by tracking how much time is allotted for each section of the agenda Therefore, the timekeeper needs to maintain a neutral stance from the discussions so as not to get sucked into lengthy deliberation and forget to note the time

Timekeepers should have a good understanding of each meeting’s agenda They intricately monitors the allocated time set per agenda point They will also remind

the facilitator regarding the remaining time left for discussion — ensuring that the meeting is always on track

They should have reliable timekeeping devices like a physical or online stopwatch,

a phone app, or time record sheet

2.2.5, Participants

Participants are expected to interact in the discussions; listen and suggest ideas that could contribute greatly to the outcome of the meeting Because they can create suggestions and can even precede the function of a facilitator, these participants broadly determine the course of the meeting

To ensure an effective meeting, all of them should perform positively constructive actions such as:

 Before the meeting:

- Undertake any necessary preparation prior to the meeting

- Arrive on time

 On the meeting:

- Keep an open mind

- Listen to the opinions of others

- Participate

- Avoid side conversations which distract others

- Avoid conflict situations

- Ask questions to clarify understanding

- Note down any action agreed upon

 After the meeting:

- Undertake any agreed action and brief others as appropriate

2.3 Overcome communication barriers

2.3.1 The managers:

+ Select a suitable meeting leader:

The meeting leader should obviously be familiar with the meeting principals, the agenda and should be capable of facilitating the agenda of the meeting The meeting leader should be able to keep the discussion focused on the relevant topics and make sure that every attendee gets the chance to express their opinions

If the leader is ineffective, it can cause the meeting to fail in reaching its objectives; therefore, it is necessary to appoint a skilled person capable of handling the responsibilities

The leader should:

Make sure that while everyone is allowed to voice their opinions, that all their opinions are respected

Encourage the participation and the openness of the attendees

Allow participants to question points and ask questions from them for clarity as well

+ Clarity, completeness and consistency:

Clarity: clarity of message is an important principle of communication In order to make the message clear to the receivers, the message should be organized by using simple language The sender must convey the message clearly and confidently so that the receiver can easily understand the message clearly and confidently so that the receiver can easily understand the meaning of the message

Completeness: in presenting information, principle of completeness should be followed Communication becomes incomplete if partial information is presented Therefore, the sender should give sufficient information so that the message is complete

Consistency: every communication must be purposeful and should be related to a particular subject Therefore, the message must be consistent and pertinent to the purpose of communication Any message conflicting to the purpose will affect negative the communication process

+ Use simple language and explanation:

Special attention should be given in using language in communication Good communication always uses simple, direct and appropriate languages So for better communication ambiguous and complex words, misleading non-verbal cues, technical words and jargon, poetic words should be avoided The language of communication should reflect the intention of the sender Integration between the sender’s intention and the language used in communication certainly improves the quality of the communication Any controversy between them may distort the whole communication process