Get started on the right note!

Always start on time! There’s nothing quite as frustrating as feeling that your time is not valued. Participants are taking time away from their work schedule to attend the meeting, so don’t waste their time. Likewise, don’t reward tardiness by waiting for latecomers or by backtracking, when they do arrive, to update them on what they have missed. They can check the minutes after the meeting is over.

Selected participants have all been notified of their importance at the meeting and have all been given an agenda in advance. So there really is no reason for them not to be on time. In an informal environment, setting a consequence for the last participant to arrive may deter lateness. “One company had a rule that the last to arrive was responsible…to clean up the meeting room when all was said and done” (Craig, 2011).

Starting at the scheduled time sets the pace for the remainder of the meeting.

At the start of the meeting have a three- to five- minute introduction that includes the following:

• Goal and length of the meeting
• Background of topics or problems
• Possible solutions and constraints
• Tentative agenda
• Ground rules to be followed:
  
  • Arriving on time
  • Communicating openly
  • Being supportive
  • Listening carefully
  • Participating fully
  • Confronting conflict frankly
  • Following the agenda
    (Guffey, Rhodes, & Rogin, 2011, p. 54)

Also vital at this point, is to assign one participant to take minutes, recording the proceedings of the meeting, and one to act as a recorder, listing main ideas being discussed and agreements reached on a whiteboard or flip-chart.

Have you ever been responsible for taking minutes or being the recorder at a meeting? What were some of the advantages or disadvantages that you encountered?

References:

Craig. (2011, November 10). 9 ways to start the 9am meeting on time. Retrieved from Time Management Ninja: http://timemanagementninja.com/2011/11/9-ways-to-start-the-9am-meeting-on-time/

Guffey, M. E., Rhodes, K., & Rogin, P. (2011). Business communication: process and product (6th Canadian ed.). Toronto, ON: Nelson Education Ltd.