Meeting for Success

Many say that meetings are one of the major time wasters in business. Outcomes are sometimes not qualified and the costs, in terms of man-hours and lost opportunities, are significant. This happens when there are no defined objectives, preparation is inadequate, behaviour in the meeting is unproductive (or worse) and agreed actions insufficiently defined for follow up.

This course can change that. Learners discover how meetings can be turned into a sensible investment of time and money. Step-by-step we work through how to achieve effective results. Learners get involved in the issues around planning and conducting meetings, whether as chairperson or participating members. They develop questioning skills, learn how to encourage others to listen and act, and review the merits of face-to-face, conference calls or video conferencing.

Well-run meetings have clear agendas, are kept to time and chaired with discipline and fairness and can be a joy to attend. That is what learners will demand after attending this course.

This course is designed for anyone who has to go to meetings and wants to get the most from them.

This course will help learners to :

• Be able to clearly think through and prepare for meetings
• Run effective meetings, achieving their objectives
• Probe others for relevant information
• Better manage decision making
• Ensure agreements made are effective and workable
• Gain the commitment of others to take action
• Model assertive behaviour and address destructive practices
• Act as an effective chairperson and participant

Both days will be interactive with a number of activities to enable learners to practice new skills and develop their knowledge.

• The structure and process of meetings
• Concepts around setting up and running meetings in a variety of environments.
• Define why the meeting should happen, and who should attend
• Avoiding the ‘meeting for meetings sake’ mentality

• Structuring the meeting
• Administrative issues
• Creating a process or procedure for the meeting
• Setting ground rules and establishing roles during it
• Establishing how decisions will be made and recorded for meeting minute
• Core communication skills – talking and listening – linked with the areas of over or under participation
• Productive and non-productive conduct.
• Dealing with negative impacts of behaviour in meetings
• Models of assertiveness and Transactional Analysis theory
• Dealing with difficult situations and influencing others
• Remote meetings – skills applied to virtual meetings and things to consider when hosting these
• Action planning

Want this course as an in-house event, tailored to meet your exact needs?

Contact us for a bespoke detailed course outline