Organising meetings

Organising a successful meeting takes time and planning. Try to allow plenty of time to

plan and publicise the meeting and ask others to help. There are a number of elements to

consider when planning a meeting.

Purpose

What is the central purpose of the meeting? Why is it important for members to be there?

Thinking about the purpose will enable you to clarify what needs to be covered and keep

control of the agenda. If the purpose is advertised clearly then this will help generate

attendance and support for the meeting. Think about inviting non-members; this is not

always appropriate but it can build support for issues and offer an opportunity for

recruitment at the same time.

Time and place

Think about when would be the best time for a meeting. Ask departmental representatives

what they think. If your campaign is aimed at a particular group of people, such as parttimers

or contract research staff, then check with someone from that group to ensure that

you plan the meeting for a time when they will be able to attend. Consider whether your

campaign would be best served by one large general meeting or meetings held in specific

departments – how are you going to involve the greatest amount of people? Consider the

dates of other meetings that you may need to feed into, for example: local committee,

general, or college/university meetings. The venue needs to be comfortable and accessible

for everyone. If the meeting will involve people from other sites consider rotating the

venue.

Duration

Don’t make the meeting too long. Let people know in advance when it will end so they

know what they are committing themselves to.

Refreshments

Always a good idea, particularly if you are going to be holding your meeting at lunchtime.

When you plan your campaign you should have built in specific resources for this type of

event. Think about how you are going to organise the refreshments. You need to make

sure that people are paying attention to the subject being discussed and are not being


side-tracked on how they can balance their plates and coffee at the same time! If you

provide food then give people time to sort themselves out at the beginning before you

start the meeting.

Involvement

Involve as many people in organising the meeting as possible. You could, ask people if

they would be willing to, for example: bring refreshments; photocopy and distribute the

agenda; help to set up the room; talk about an experience or concern they have had

related to your campaign; take notes and write up a report; or, very helpfully, bring along

colleagues, particularly new members of staff.

Agenda

Members need to know that the issues covered at the meeting will be relevant to them and

that they will be able to discuss issues that are important to them. You need to decide

whether you want this meeting to be specifically about your campaign or whether you are

using your campaign as an issue to get members along to hear about other associated

issues as well. Make sure that you are clear about the issues to be discussed in your

publicity.

Remember:

􀂄 Don’t put too many things on one agenda.

􀂄 If you have a lot of information to present, involve a number of different people.

􀂄 Ensure that there is alternation between presentations and discussions.

􀂄 Leave plenty of time for discussion.

􀂄 Make sure the discussion has a purpose. It helps if there is something you want

members to decide, advise you on, plan, or help you with.

􀂄 There’s no point in making decisions unless you intend to implement them.

What will implementing the decisions involve? Leave time in the meeting to

discuss implementation plans and to identify who will take responsibility for what.

􀂄 Write an agenda with approximate times for how long each item will take. Think about

what the meeting will feel like for participants.

􀂄 Decide who will facilitate the meeting.

Speakers

Inviting a guest speaker to your meeting can make the event more interesting to your

members. If you do decide to do this, then make sure that this is included in the publicity.

If the person is a guest speaker from outside the college or university then make sure that

someone is assigned to look after them. Make sure that they know when to turn up and

Ask them for a commitment to attend the meeting – people will judge the importance of

the meeting on what you tell them. If you are easily put off, they’ll think it doesn’t really

matter. Being persistent about getting a commitment lets them know that their presence is

important.

Facilitating the meeting

Most workplace meetings can be fairly informal and this is often more comfortable for

everyone. However, informality sometimes means that it’s comfortable for people who are

already in the know, but not for newcomers. It’s important to make sure that everyone

knows who everybody is, knows any conventions you observe about how discussions are

conducted, understands what is being discussed, and is encouraged to participate. If you

have a lot to say or have a strong opinion, you may want to ask someone else to facilitate

the meeting. The facilitator should intervene as little as possible and refrain from comment

on the issue under discussion. If it is going to be a large meeting it might be helpful to use

an aid for the facilitator – someone who can keep an eye on the time and check that all of

the people that have indicated that they would like to speak have been asked to do so.

On the day:

􀂄 Start the meeting with introductions.

􀂄 Make sure everyone can see an agenda.

􀂄 Give a brief overview of the meeting and explain what it is for.

􀂄 Explain any jargon or abbreviations.

􀂄 Leave plenty of time for discussion and encourage everyone to participate, ask for

contributions from people who are quiet or new.

􀂄 Keep to the times on the agenda.

􀂄 Don't let one or two individuals dominate the dialogue.

􀂄 Deal with one agenda item at a time.

􀂄 If appropriate, make sure that at the end of a discussion the group makes a clear, firm

decision.

􀂄 Make sure that everyone understands what implementing their decisions will involve –

ask members to do something specific in support of the decision they have made. This

is your chance to ensure that the membership realises that they are the ones that will

make the campaign a success. Don’t let them leave the meeting thinking that they can

leave it all up to you!

􀂄 Make sure that important issues and decisions are noted.

􀂄 At the end of the meeting explain what will happen next and when they will next be

involved


Checklist

􀂄 Think about the purpose of your meeting.

􀂄 Work out the best time to hold a meeting.

􀂄 Make sure that the venue is accessible to as many people as possible. If you have a

multi-site university or college then consider running meetings on all sites.

􀂄 Be aware of the time it will take to hold the meeting. Don’t let it go on too long.

􀂄 Think about refreshments and how they will be handled in the meeting.

􀂄 Make sure that there is a clear agenda.

􀂄 Give people clear responsibilities for specific tasks – is someone assigned to inviting the

guest speaker and looking after them on the day? Does someone have responsibility for

coordinating publicity?

􀂄 Make sure that the person facilitating the meeting knows what needs to be achieved at

the meeting and is aware of the time the meeting should last.

􀂄 Give someone the responsibility for chasing up volunteers after the meeting. If people

offer to help then make sure they are given something to do, otherwise they might not

offer in the future!

􀂄 Think about publicity after the meeting. Make sure that the decision taken at the

meeting are fed back to those that could not attend.
 
FONTE: http://www.ucu.org.uk/media/pdf/0/5/org_meeting_1.pdf

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Esse post dá algumas dicas de como preparar reunião, como por exemplo: local , equipamentos, pauta , ata.