Types of meetings: protocol, structure and content

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

It is unthinkable to imagine the work of any organization without business communications. Properly built communication between employees allows you to smoothly and quickly solve the tasks.

There are many types of meetings in organizations, and each of them has its own characteristics and tasks. Knowing such nuances will help facilitate the discussion of business issues. This article will tell you about the types of meetings, help you understand why they are held and how they are recorded in office work.

Goals of business meetings

The main goal of holding any kind of meetings and meetings is to develop specific constructive solutions to pressing problems and consider pressing business issues. Also, during the collective meeting, the staff has the opportunity to share opinions, ideas or make a proposal on the best solution to problems with higher managers.

Any kind of business meetings allows you to see a comprehensive picture of the situation in the organization, to determine its strengths and weaknesses. It should be noted that when participating in this formatbusiness communications is a rapid adaptation of new employees of the company or enterprise.

Tasks

The following tasks of all types of meetings can be distinguished:

• solving current problems and issues;
• integration of the activities of departments in accordance with the strategic goal of the company;
• assessment of the company and its individual structural divisions;
• maintaining and developing company policy.

In order to understand in what format to hold such a business event, you need to decide which of the above tasks will correspond to it, and after that you can understand which classification it will belong to.

Types and classification

A meeting, as a type of business communication, can have a different form of holding, which determines its subject matter and the list of officials present.

The main classification of meetings should be highlighted:

1. Region of ownership. Here we can distinguish such types of meetings as administrative (which provide for the discussion of problematic issues), scientific (seminars and conferences, the purpose of which is to discuss topical scientific issues), political (providing for a meeting of members of any political parties and movements) and mixed types.
2. Scale. Here, international ones are distinguished, where specialists from other countries or foreign partners are involved, national, regional, as well as city.
3. Regularity. In any meeting format, there can bepermanent or periodic.
4. According to the location - local or traveling.

And also all types of meetings can be divided as follows:

1. Instructive, providing for a directive format of conduct, where a superior leader conveys information directly to his subordinates, which then diverges and is transmitted along the vertical of power. Most often, in the course of such business communication, orders of the CEO are heard, which can significantly affect the course of the enterprise, and these can also be norms of behavior or important innovations.
2. Operational (control rooms). The purpose of this type of meeting is to obtain information about the state of affairs in an organization or enterprise. The flow of information in this case is directed from subordinate subordinates to the heads of departments or the general director. Basically, at the operational meetings, issues on the implementation of road maps, planned activities, strategic and operational plans are considered. An important difference between the operational (dispatch) meeting and all the others is that they are held regularly and have a fixed list of participants. It is also worth noting that during the meeting there may be no agenda.
3. Problematic. Such a meeting is convened in case of an urgent need to make a decision to complete tasks in a short time or to solve a global problem for the enterprise.

In addition to all of the above, one can separately single out one of the most popular types of productionmeetings - planning. As a rule, such an event is held daily or once a week, at which the head of the department and direct performers are present, who receive tasks for the day and discuss the progress of their implementation.

The topic of the meeting of the personnel of the enterprise at the meeting can be any kind of issues that arise in the course of the enterprise, and the course of the discussion can be devoted to changes in the external environment in which a particular organization operates.

Organizing a meeting

Any kind of meeting, regardless of its format, requires careful preparation for it, since its effectiveness depends on this moment. Initially, you need to determine the following points:

• target;
• discussed issues;
• setting tasks for staff (based on functionality and subordination);
• steps for completing tasks.

Today, most meetings are conducted in a very mediocre manner, because of which their meaning is lost, and the tasks assigned can be performed poorly. Therefore, it is extremely important to think through the entire course of such business meetings and build a working discussion in such a way that it does not just take time, but has a feedback from the team.

Meetings

It should be noted that large firms and organizations seeking to gain a certain market share and develop their company with the goal of making big profits make a big betto discuss important issues precisely through meetings. From the practice of successful managers, you can form the following set of rules on how to prepare for a meeting:

First, the list of participants is determined. It should be clear who to invite to the meeting and what role he will play at it. It often happens that the invited persons may not understand the issue, and are invited "just in case", but at that moment they could do their job duties and not waste time.

It is important to prepare an agenda. If the meeting is scheduled, then an agenda is developed in advance, which indicates the issues to be discussed, and also determines the main speakers. It is important to remember that this document should be sent to those responsible for the preparation of information and those who will be present so that all participants can prepare reports, proposals and additional questions. If necessary, the agenda may be adjusted.

Main and strategic issues should be brought to the fore of the meeting. Speakers of such issues must necessarily be persons (heads of departments, sections, workshops) who are personally responsible for the implementation of any strategic activities of the company.

Important points

It is important to remember that any meeting has two main stages - the preparation for it and the actual holding. The first stage includes determining the relevance of conducting a businesscollection, tasks, main and secondary goals are indicated, a list of participants and speakers is formed, reports, presentations and a report are prepared according to the topic or a previously defined agenda. The second stage involves the implementation of the previously planned course of the meeting, listening to reports and discussing current and strategic issues.

If during such business communication it is necessary to decide what and to whom to do from employees, then we can single out the third stage - decision-making. As a rule, decisions are made by the chairman, who chairs the meeting, based on his own discretion or by discussion or collective voting.

Sample meeting plan

With a clear plan in front of them, any manager can conduct a meeting efficiently and effectively, which will allow you to get feedback from the staff and set the right tasks for them. This plan may include the following:

• greeting speech;
• listening to reports and summing up for a certain time period (quarter, week, half year, month);
• coverage of current issues relevant to the firm;
• hearing suggestions for troubleshooting (brainstorming);
• assessment of the proposed options and discussion of their implementation;
• accumulation of options;
• voting for the adoption of one or another option;
• determining boundaries during problem solving (determining who is responsible, timing, methods and methods).

Recording

Bigsome types of meetings need to be fixed on paper (document), which is called a protocol. Keeping this kind of documentation allows you to legitimize the decisions made. And also, thanks to the protocol, you can always track the progress of the implementation of activities, and in case of failure to complete the tasks, determine who is responsible for this.

The puncture, as a rule, is conducted by the secretary of the leader who is the chairman of the meeting. However, this function can often be performed by other workers as well.

Functions and tasks of the secretary

Before the start of business meetings, the secretary should be familiar with the list of invitees and the list of issues discussed. However, it is worth noting that if the meeting is held on a regular basis, then it is this official who collects all the documentation (lists, plans, agenda, etc.) and helps the manager prepare for the meeting.

At first and if necessary, the secretary may ask the persons who appear to fill out a registration sheet, where their full names will be indicated. and position. This will be needed when drafting the protocol. Next, the secretary announces the agenda, which marks the beginning of the meeting. Further, when those present begin to discuss issues, the secretary records the progress of this event. At the end of the meeting, this official prepares the finished version of the minutes, after which he signs it with the chairman and sends everything to the persons involved.

It is extremely important for the Secretary, when compiling, to pay dueattention to the appearance of the minutes of the meeting. It must include a header, venue, list of attendees, issues discussed and decisions made.

Conclusion

From the above information, it becomes clear that holding meetings in enterprises is extremely important. However, it is always worth remembering that high-quality preparation for such events carries more than 50% of the key to success in covering information, setting goals and their high-quality implementation.