Training Overview

meeting-skills Effective meetings help a group achieve its objectives and minimize the common problems people have of working together. Key elements include being able to design meetings, involving the right people and implementing appropriate frameworks. In all meetings, group dynamics have to be managed to foster output and build an environment of co-operation.

Training Outline

Part 1: Pre-meeting Planning
- To meet or not to meet?
- Establishing goals, desired outcomes and the agenda
- Taking care of logistics (venue considerations, etc.)
- Identifying attendees and establishing roles and responsibilities
- Personal preparation

Part 2: The Meeting
- Establishing and communicating ground rules
- Managing the agenda to maintaining awareness of goals and stay on track
- Engaging in techniques to increase participation
- Seeking alignment of issues, getting to consensus/voting and making decisions
- Generating action plans
- Recapping key messages and closing the meeting

Part 3: Post-Meeting
- Documentation
- Encouraging follow-through
- Evaluating the meeting for effectiveness

Part 4: Group Dynamics
- Examining patterns of interaction in groups
- Handling challenging participants (e.g. disruptive, argumentative, loud) and challenging situations (e.g. awkward silences)
- Dealing with conflict (e.g. opposing views)