Notion of a business meeting

companies use business meetings to review company information or establish new operating principles. Most meetings are directed by management, and time is spent helping employees understand the company financial health or operations.

a Formal or informal deliberative assembly of individuals called to debate certain issues and problems, and to take decisions. Formal meetings are held at definitetimes, at a definite place, and usually for a definite duration to follow an agreed upon agenda. In a corporate setting, they are divided into two main groups (1) Organizational meeting: normally a regular meeting involving stockholders (shareholders) and management, such as a board meeting and annual general meeting (AGM). (2) Operational meeting: regular or ad hoc meeting involving management and employees, such as a committee meeting, planning meeting, and sales meeting. A meeting is typically headed by a chairperson, and its deliberations are recorded in a written form called minutes. Under corporate legislation, two main types of meetings are general meetings and special or extraordinary meetings. Such meetings must have a minimum number of members (called quorum) present to make the legally operative. Decisions (called resolutions) are made on the basis of number of votes the assenting and dissenting parties can muster. Under the doctrine of collective responsibility, decisions taken at these meetings bind all members whether present or not. However, a dissenting minority may apply to a court to have an already adopted resolution set aside if it is deemed illegal, iniquitous, or ultra vires.

Planning a business meeting

Businesses can ill-afford to waste time due to poorly structured meetings. Every minute wasted is a minute that could have been used at work. As such, it is incumbent upon the person calling the meeting to plan all aspects, including the agenda and where meeting attendees will sit. This will also help to make sure subsequent meetings are efficient and well attended.

Step 1

Determine meeting attendees to select room size.

Step 2

Book the room and location on the date of the meeting. Consider the number of people in attendance and presentation equipment needs.

Step 3

Create an agenda. This is perhaps the most important part of planning a meeting. Start with the end in mind and work backwards. For instance, if the purpose of the meeting is to vote on the next work project, begin with the vote and determine what information meeting attendees need to have before the vote can occur. The agenda should start with a quick objective and goal reminder, followed by the time frame allotted to each presentation--along with the presenters name--and then end with the next meeting time and date.

Step 4

Invite meeting attendees and provide them with the tentative agenda asking for feedback and/or changes to the agenda two days before the meeting. Also provide instructions for presentation materials.

Step 5

Send out a confirmation for the meeting time, place and location, with the updated agenda. Stress the meeting time and provide presentation materials to meeting participants. Also include contact information (cell phone) if anyone has an emergency or needs help finding the meeting location.

Step 6

Arrive 30 minutes early and stick to the meeting agenda. On the day of the meeting, be sure to arrive prepared. Follow the meeting agenda and designate someone to help keep track of time.

Reputations in business are built or demolished based on how well a person conducts himself during a meeting. Although the culture of an organization contributes to the expectations of each meeting participant, savvy businesspeople will carefully follow a handful of etiquette guidelines to make sure that every meeting is a successful one.