(Meeting Leadership) Meeting is an input form of communication in a business organisation. It provides a forum for making key decisions and a mean for coordinating activities of people and departments.
Meetings are money and time. Surveys suggest that managers spend between one fourth and one half of their work week sitting in meetings or preparing for them, and that one third of that time is wasted. For this reason, it is important to identify the purpose of a meeting as it will help you to identify the kind of meeting to prepare.
Four purposes of Meeting:
*To inform – to get or to give information
*To form – to make a decision or to solve a problem
*To perform – to complete a task
*To conform – to maintain a routine or a standard image
Types of Meeting:
There are basically two types of meeting and each type has different characteristics
Formal:
The rules of conduct of such meetings are laid down in the Constitution or Standing orders
A quorum (i.e the minimum number who should be present to validate the meeting) must be present
A specified amount of notice must be given to members
A formal record of each meeting must be kept
Informal:
Informal meetings are not restricted by the same rules and regulations as formal meetings
Strict agendas may not be used especially in brain-storming or discussion sessions
Informally documented notes are taken
Formal meetings are quite rare in the day-to-day working of an organisation. Instead you are more likely to participate in semi-formal meetings. Such meetings have a chairperson and an agenda and minutes are also written.
Seating Arrangements
The location of doors, windows, aisies, visual displays and comfort centers, such as telephones, rest-rooms and refreshments, affects interaction. Being aware of this will also help you determine the best seating arrangement for your group. The seven most common arrangements are the conference, U-shape, circle, pod, classroom, chevion and theater styles. Each of these is diagrammed above.
Leadership Styles
Chairpersons or leaders fall into three main categories – managers, facilitators and controllers. If you are to make the most of yourself as a chairperson, it is necessary to consider into which category you fall, how much use you make of categories that are not your norm, and how flexible you are in using the category style appropriate to the situation.
1. The Manager
Basically the manager is to see that members perform in the required manner and produce the required results, although in many cases the manager sees himself or herself as the only one with the knowledge, skill and expertise to make an effective decision.
2. The Facilitator
The facilitator sees himself or herself as the encourager of the members. He or she is very interested in the process of the development of the members into a working team, capable of solving problems and making decisions with the minimum of intervenation.
3. The Controller
The controller looks at the people’s process, encouraging the quiet members, holding back the overactive, separating the fighters, and so on. If there are rules or procedures for the conduct of the meeting, the controller sees his or her role as ensuring that these are followed and may need to keep order to ensure this.
Member Problem Types
As a chairperson, your task is twofold to control the task so that the objective is achieved effectively, and to be concerned for and responsible for your members. However most of the time, human problem arise and you must be skilled to deal with them effectively. Some of the members who exhibit disfunctional behaviour are described below and the types of control you should take.
1. The Aggressor
The contributions made by these types of member are using aggressive words, tone or manner or a combination of these. The aggression may be directed at you or the other members and can take the form or criticism of a person and his or her views.
Control:
This behaviour must be controlled as soon as it occurs. Reactions by the members to the aggression will vary, ranging from the attack being ignored to a full-scale retaliation. If there is obvious retaliation you must take positive action to step this before it escalates.
2. The Recognition Seeker
This member continually draws attention to himself by a large number of contribution and/or lengthy contributions in the belief that it will produce an image of importance. Frequent interventions are not relevant because speaker has no real knowledge, views or opinions on the subject.
Control:
The principal strategy is by interruption, to turn a question to another member, who is likely to speak.
3. The Comedian
The Comedian instead of making a worthwhile contribution comes out with a joke, quip or humorous remark. This can be a contribution to ease the members’s strain and tiredness but an excess of this starts to interfere with what is after all the serious meeting. It is easy for the joker to become a bore nuisance and a time-waster.
Control:
There is a danger that the comedian can disrupt the meeting. You can then ask whether he has anything relevant to contribute.
4. The Dominator
The person makes contributions so lengthy that others have no time to speak.He makes contributions in a loud voice that overcome quieter speakers and always states opinion or information in an over-positive manner.
Control:
You can break into the contribution at the earliest opportunity and direct question to another member whom you know has something to say.
5. The Withdrawer
A normally contributing member is seen to stop making contributions and physically withdraw from the discussion. The withdrawal may be due to something you have done or not done- he has been ignored when making contribution or the contribution has been criticized unjustly. He will avoid contributions by keeping his head down so that eye contact cannot be made with you.
Control:
If the withdrawal has been doe as a result of something you have done, you must apologize in someway and bring the member in. You can also comment on the withdrawal and ask if anything can be done to resolve the reason.
6. The Blocker
The blocker’s contributions have little or nothing to do with the meeting and often made by interrupting others. The proposals of others are met with disagreement without reasons being stated.
Control:
Have a post-meeting discussion with the blocker to try to determine the reasons for the action. If the blocks are disagreements without reasons, insist on reasons being given. If the blocks are irrelevant contributions, either thank the contributor and move on or ask for the relevance on the topic under discussion.
7. The Under-Contributor
This member sits during the meeting making either no contribution or so very few, in such a non-assertive manner that they become irrelevant. The reasons may be : he knows nothing about the subject being discussed or he is by nature quiet who does not like or find it difficult to contribute.
Control:
The approach will be to direct a question at the member. Prior to the meeting, if the quiet member has expert knowledge, arrange with the member to introduce a subject and perhaps lead the discussion on the subject. If you have no success, consider whether the member should be there at all.
8. The Devil’s Advocate
This member can be relied on to say “Yes, but let’s look at the other side of the problem…”. This member wakens others to other possible solutions, views or opinions. If this approach is used at the times when it is appropriate, it is a valuable behaviour. However this types of behaviour may become a nuisance at an unappropriate time and delays the decision-making process.
Control:
If you become aware that the advocacy is being introduced in the latter way and for recognition-seeking reasons, a strong line should be taken and the contribution stopped by turning a question to another member.
9. The Disgressor
Disgressions or red-hearing are usually subjects raised which have no relationship to the subject under discussion, often a member recounting an experience of some personal nature or describing something which he has heard. The disgressor is often long-winded and ignored interruptions even by the chairperson!
Control:
Often all that can be done is to allow the speaker to reach the end of the story, then intervene. The intervention can comment on the importance of that has been said so as not to upset the speaker. Then a question can be directed at another member.
10. The Side-Talker
This is when one member continually talks, either in an audible whisper or in normal tones, to neighbour members. Frequent side-talk of this nature interferes with the continuity of the discussion and disturb the listening by yourself and other members.
Control:
If it is only one pair of members, stop the discussion and ask if the members have some relevant point to make about the subject. If there is wider side-talking occuring, raise the question that there seem to be issues not being cleared and request the members to raise them.