Meeting Management Tips for Groups
For most groups, meetings are the only times to get all groups members together to discuss business and inform members about upcoming events, activities and opportunities. Members times are valuable, and you must spend time wisely.
Meeting Resources: "How to" for Special Situations | 7 Tips for Effective Meetings | Sample Agenda
BEFORE THE MEETING
- Decide if you really need to meet. Never have meeting just to have a meeting.
- Decide who should be invited (All members? Special guests? Advisor?)
- Invite special guests.
- Reserve a room/location.
- Create an agenda. Click here for a sample agenda.
- Create handouts, if needed.
- Order light refreshments (you can charge them to your club account at The Huddle!). Please remember that you must have approval from the Facility Manager before bringing food into the facility.
- Reserve A/V equipment, if needed.
- Make photocopies of agenda and other pertinent documents.
- Remind members of meeting (via email or other means). This would be a good time to distribute the agenda.
AT THE MEETING
- Arrive at the meeting early with a smile.
- You should want to be there!
- Start the meeting on-time.
- Waiting for others may seem to be a good idea; however, how would you feel if you were on time and had to wait 10 minutes for a few people who were late?
- Begin the meeting with a prayer.
- Rotate the prayer leader from meeting to meeting. Be sure to give everyone a chance to lead!
- Have the secretary keep detailed minutes of who arrives at what time (for latecomers only).
- This information will be valuable as the semester progresses.
- After the meeting is called to order, be sure to announce what will be the latest time you will end the meeting (i.e. establish a time limit).
- This will help ensure you will have attendees' attention for the entire time.
- Stick to the agenda.
- Once you start straying from the agenda, people will get confused, frustrated, and eventually lose interest.
- Make everyone a part of the meeting.
- If members seem to be losing interest, ask them for their input on an issue.
- After decisions have been made, restate the decision.
- This will ensure members will understand what was voted on and what the outcome was.
- Announce the time and place of the next meeting (be sure to have a meeting room reserved!).
- End the meeting by thanking everyone for attending.
AFTER THE MEETING
- Clean up the room.
- Collect agendas/other paperwork left behind.
- Meet with anyone who needs to discuss an unresolved issue.
- Ensure that minutes are distributed within 48 hours (via e-mail is the most effective way).
- Add any unfinished business from the meeting to the next meeting's agenda.
- Meet with your advisor (or other officers) to review your effectiveness in running the meeting. Review strengths and weaknesses.
SPECIAL SITUATIONS -- HOW TO DEAL WITH...
- Latecomers
Don't insult them; let them take their seats and feel welcome (they probably have a good excuse which you don't know about). If necessary, talk to the member after the meeting in private.
- Debate
Debate is healthy to an organization--it shows that people care about an issue. If not handled properly, though, these discussions can turn threatening. If you sense a heated topic will be discussed, briefly review the ground rules, for example:- The chair will recognize all speakers.
- Each member may only speak on the issue... (twice).
- Each speech/comment may not last longer than... (1 minute).
- Out of Control Attendees
Every now and then, a member of the group will have a strong opinion about an issue. This is not bad. Once you get three or more of these opinions clashing in the middle of a meeting, you may have a problem. One way to handle this is to call for a five minute recess. During the recess:- Pull the group of debaters aside.
- Initiate an activity (prepared in advance) for the rest of the members in attendance (ideas could include: brainstorming for a collaborative event, ice breaking activity, or just a simple five minute rest room break).
- While you have the attention of the strong opinions, ask them if they are willing to accept the other point of view. If not, suggest to them that the issue being discussed will be tabled until a future date.
After the break, be sure to gather the group back to assembly and explain to them what has been decided.
NOTE: You should make every effort to allow the discussion to resolve itself. Try not to intervene and call for a recess unless absolutely necessary.
SEVEN WAYS TO MAKE YOUR MEETING MORE EFFECTIVE
- Have your constitution available as a reference.
- Your constitution should detail how your organization should operate--everything from the purpose of the club to the vote needed to approve who will be the next Pizza Party Chair.
- Create and Use a Meeting Reference Sheet.
- Have the secretary (or whoever records minutes) use the sheet to record the business of the meeting. The template should help guide the meeting, while also assist with note taking.
- After roll call, make a note of how many members are in attendance, and then compute a few fractions (for voting purposes). As you will discover, having these in front of you will make tallying and calculating votes much easier during the meeting. To make things even easier, you can download the Voting Calculation Worksheet.
- If you will be discussing a major issue, have the key players provide a handout which describes their key points. Generally, meeting attendees rather see business items on paper, rather than hear someone speak, take notes and interpret them all at once. Allow people to make presentations, but also provide a reference sheet which answers common questions.
- After major decisions have been made, reiterate how important the decision is to the group, and how the group has now embraced this point as the opinion of the organization.
- Create a set of "Meeting Ground Rules," and review them at the beginning of each meeting. Such rules could include:
- Treat others with respect.
- Value differences of opinion.
- All discussion at the meeting stays within the meeting.
- Make an effort to reach a group decision.
- All debates must begin with Active Listening (i.e. restating what the previous person stated before you present your point of view).
- Include a special segment such as "Pass the Gavel," "Pass the Bible," etc. This would be a time to pass around an object to every member in attendance. This is an opportunity for people to do one of the following: reflect on something from the meeting, reflect on a personal struggle you are experiencing, ask to pray for someone, etc. Activities such as this one help build group unity.
Sample Meeting Agenda
The following is a standard agenda for a club meeting. Feel free to
use this format, or create own which is unique to your needs. If you
need assistance in creating an agenda for your meetings, contact the
Student Activities Office.
I. Call To Order: The Chairperson says, "The meeting will please come to order."
II. Roll Call: Member say "present" as their name is called by the Secretary.
III Reading of
the Minutes: The Secretary reads a record of the last meeting.
IV. Officers'
Reports: Officers give reports to the group when called on.
V. Committee
Reports: First come reports from "standing" or permanent committees,
then "ad hoc" or special.
VI. Special Reports: Important business previously designated for consideration at this meeting.
VII. Unfinished
Business: Introduction of new topics.
IX. Announcements: Informing the assembly of other subjects and events.
X. Adjournment: The meeting ends by a vote, or by general consent.
For more information regarding developing a more effective and efficient organization, contact the Student Activities Office.
