Meeting Management

Meetings are an integral part of any business or work environment, and as such it’s important for you to understand what a meeting is and how to use to your advantage. While they form the basis of much communication, particularly in the building industry, they can also be time wasters, taking you and others away from productive tasks and producing little of value themselves.

Because of their paradoxical nature, Meeting Management is the ideal course to ensure your meetings are never counter-productive. Objectives include establishing:

• The type of meeting
• Setting goals of meetings
• How to control meetings
• Meetings to be avoided

Early morning meetings, ‘15 minute stand-ups’, can set the tone for the day and can be used to discuss safety concerns and day-to-day project management issues. Problem solving meetings are often face-to-face and may require preparation – for example, production of supporting photographic evidence of defective works.

Other meetings that will be necessary throughout the life cycle of a project include:

• Commencement meetings
• Status meetings
• Team briefs

Understanding the type of meeting to be avoided aids in developing a profitable meeting strategy - time wasting meetings include:

• Meetings with defunct objectives
• Meetings that have no action points
• Meetings which could be replaced by direct status reports

Designing and running a meeting involves a variety of skill sets, from preparation through to message delivery. But a meeting shouldn’t begin and end with the meeting itself, there will also need to be follow up work done.

There will need to be a clear agenda set to focus minds on important objectives, and a strong chairperson will keep meeting participants on track and ensure the meeting is held according to its ‘rules’. The best meetings are clear and concise, and meetings that need to be held regularly should have a set time, place, and duration.

Two main roles need to be assigned for meetings to be successful:

The chair facilitates the meeting, keeping the agenda on track and bringing the meeting to valuable conclusion with action points assigned.

The minute taker will keep meeting records, including decisions and outcomes.

Conducting and participating in successful meetings necessitates the avoidance of disruptions, ensuring full participation by all, producing an engaging and meaningful agenda, and making certain that required action points are outcomes of the meeting.

With meetings essential to good working practice and value adding productivity, the Meeting Management course is required CPD by all. Blueprint CPD will help you increase your effectiveness, whether in a capacity where you are calling and running meetings or as an active meeting participant. The CPD points you gain will help you confirm your effectiveness in meetings of all levels and types.