What do formal meetings involve

Home Topics Policy. What is formal meeting like? What is the purpose of a formal meeting? What are the different types of formal meetings? Planning Meetings — Groups will gather together to plan what to do and how to do it. Where does a formal meeting fit into the organisational management? How do formal meetings impact on organisational goals? What terms are used in managing formal meetings? Where can I find more information about formal meetings? Agenda for a meeting.

Comments are closed. It is important that the full implications of such representation are realised by the individuals concerned as they are not merely speaking for themselves. Meetings outside the workplace may include members of the board of directors or other interested parties. If maximum contribution is to be forthcoming from all participants, the purpose of the meeting should be recognised by all. The most tangible expression of this is the agenda which should be circulated beforehand to all those invited to the meeting.

The agenda should:. The Agenda: This is the outline plan for the meeting. In most formal meetings it is drawn up by the secretary in consultation with the chairperson. The secretary must circulate the agenda well in advance of the meeting, including any accompanying papers. The secretary also requests items for inclusion in the agenda. Regular meetings often start with the minutes from the last meeting followed by 'matters arising' which forms a link with what has happened in the previous meeting.

Most meetings conclude with 'any other business' AOB which gives everyone the opportunity for any genuine last minute items to be raised; though more formal meetings may have AOB items listed on the agenda.

Any reports should be sent out in advance to allow people time to read the documents and where proxy or postal voting is allowed, it is suggested that the relevant forms or voting slips also be sent at this time. The time and manner for giving notice of a meeting is set out in the rules of the association, and must be strictly adhered to.

Inadequate notice may invalidate a meeting. All members who are entitled to attend a meeting must be given proper notice in accordance with the rules. A typical agenda briefly sets out what matters will be covered and in what order. If members are notified of the business to be conducted at the meeting, then the meeting must be confined to dealing with those particular matters. Any new agenda items raised during a meeting should be put on the agenda for the next meeting.

This allows members time to consider matters properly and avoids disadvantaging members who are not in attendance at the meeting and therefore unaware the new business.

A proper meeting must have a chairperson to chair the proceedings. The chairperson is required to control the meeting procedures and has the task of:. The chairperson may choose not to vote on a motion despite being entitled to do so as a member. A quorum is the minimum number of people required for the meeting to be valid. The Act requires that a quorum be stated in the rules of the association for both general meetings and committee meetings.

The quorum may be set as a percentage of the membership rather than a fixed number, to allow for changing membership numbers. If a quorum is not present, the association will need to consider its options to reconvene the meeting on another date the rules may set out this process. A motion is a proposal that is put before a meeting for discussion and a decision.

If a motion is passed it becomes a resolution. Resolutions are binding and should be recorded in the minutes of the meeting. It is best practice for motions to be placed on the agenda so members have adequate time to consider them before the meeting.

Associations should be guided by the procedures in the rules but proposing and passing a motion will generally involve the following steps:. Resolutions become binding on the association as long as the people making the decision have the authority to pass them.

It is a good idea to always follow up a resolution with a clear understanding of how the resolution will be implemented, by whom and when. The mover with the agreement of the meeting can usually amend a motion. Alternatively, someone may move an amendment to the original motion, which if successful creates a second motion.

Minutes for these meetings are recorded, and in some cases are distributed in redacted forms to the wider organisation so that everyone remains aligned. A company's Board of Directors is accountable to shareholders, and is responsible for having oversight of a company's performance. As with management meetings, these are held at different intervals, but are typically quarterly or bi-annual meetings that comprise individuals who either have a vested interest in a company's performance, and can provide specialist input to the way an organisation is run.

These individuals often hold more than one board mandate, and therefore are exceptionally time-scarce. Therefore, these meetings need to be well-organised and very structured, giving ample time for individuals to prepare thoroughly.

In many organisations, committees are formed around specific issues that require more attention that can be adequately given in a Board of Directors meeting. These committees will meet more regularly than the board does, and will report upon their progress at each BoD meeting.

They will usually comprise members of the board, along with subject-matter experts in the area that they are formed to work upon.

For example, a Board of Directors might assemble a specialist committee around digital transformation, in order to overhaul an organisation's approach to IT and its infrastructure.

As such, it would be sensible to include a Chief Digital Officer in this committee, even though they might not sit on the board of the organisation. A shareholder's meeting, also known as an annual general meeting AGM in some cases, is a meeting of all of those with a financial interest in an organisation. These usually happen either annually or bi-annually, and are an opportunity for the leadership of a company to give a progress update, as well as a chance for shareholders to ask questions of the management.

The overall objective is to report on the performance of the organisation in the prior period, and to outline the strategy for the next, to gain the shareholders' buy-in. Strategy meetings can be held at various levels within the management of an organisation. In some cases, a strategy meeting might form part of a regular management meeting, however it is, more often, a separate formal meeting that is held either annually or quarterly between the leaders of an organisation.

The purpose of this meeting is to determine the organisational strategy for a period of time often the year or quarter ahead and involves the most senior stakeholders from each department or division, who then cascade the strategy down to their areas of expertise.

Informal meetings represent the large majority of meetings that take place in the world of business. Whether it is a regular with a manager, or a catch-up with a colleague over coffee, these meetings are not only ubiquitous, but are crucial to the performance, culture, and employee experience of an organisation.

By contrast to formal meetings, they do not always have a robust agenda, and no minutes are taken, however this does not undermine their significance to the way a business functions. Gathering with other individuals to brainstorm ideas is something that has taken place for millennia, and while the processes that surround these interactions have grown more sophisticated with time, the fundamentals remain unchanged.

A brainstorming meeting often includes a range of stakeholders, either from within a department or across functions, the objective of which is to put fresh ideas on the table and discuss them as a group. These discussions usually take place around a given topic, such as the development of a new product or planning a new marketing campaign.