MEETINGS

In this chapter, you will focus on:

Procedures of meetings

Participants of meetings

Terminology used in meetings

Documentation of meetings

Role of meetings:
A well organised, well-aimed and well-led meeting can be extremely effective in many
different contexts.

Executive decision making; for example, by a group of directors, managers, or

government officials.

The relaying of decisions and instructions (downward briefings)

The provision of advice and information for management planning and decisionmaking (upward briefings or reporting)

The participation in problem-solving discussions by consultation with people in

different departments or fields, such as through task force, working party, committee
or quality circle.

Brainstorming: free exchanges with a view to generate new approaches and ideas.

Purpose of conducting meetings.

Ritual: A managers ceremonial role is acted out in meetings. Often, meetings form
the ritual ending of months of negotiation: the final handshake (such as in an MOU,
Memo of Understanding).

Communication and Personal Contact: a meeting helps to get to know one another.
Establishing good personal relationship is important in an organisational life.

Letting off Steam: There is sometimes a good purpose in having an argumentative

session in which grievances get aired. Disagreement might be seen as a useful way of
generating new ideas.

Motivation and satisfaction: The fact or at least the illusion, of participation in

decisions may improve individual motivation.

Representation: Meetings enable the various different interest in a decision to be

represented as equals

Relay: meetings can be used to relay decisions, which may be of benefit to the
organisation or to managers.

Nailing colours to the mast Meetings can also be used to put individuals on the spot
in public (and in the written minutes of the meeting) They can enforce commitment,
or at least indicate where the battle lines are drawn.

Inspiration. Some meetings can be inspirational, if they are used to persuade, cajole or
encourage a sense of values.

Unification: Bringing people together underlines the fact that they belong to the same
organisation, and in theory should be working to the same purpose.

Structure of Meetings
A meeting generally conforms or responds to a measure of organisation and procedure.

There is the chairperson or least an organiser, who guides the proceedings of the
meeting and aims to maintain order. A meeting can hardly function efficiently if
everybody talks at once and nobody listens.

There is often a sequence of business, or at least of speeches, to express points of

view or reach decisions on the common purpose of the meeting. It is not essential to
formalise this point with an agenda, but meetings usually do have one.

The purpose of the meeting is achieved by reaching some decision or expression of

opinion at the end of the discussion. In some circumstances this may lead to taking a
vote to determine what is the majority view.

Types of Meetings
An informal meeting, such as might be called from time to time by a department head or
working party, may take the form of a discussion chaired by a leader, and informally
documented: notes handed round or taken during the meeting, a summary of arguments
and decisions reached provided afterwards.
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Formal meetings, however, are governed by strict rules and conventions (and generate
formal documentation) for the announcement, planning, conduct and recording of the
proceedings. The documents are:

Notice: the announcement of and invitation to the meeting.

Agenda: the list of items of business to be discussed at the meeting.

Minutes: the written record of a meeting, approved by those present.

Officers in the Meeting

The chairperson
The chairperson of a formal meeting will have complex responsibilities. He or she has to:

Ensure that correct procedure is observed in convening and constituting the meeting
and in the conduct of the debate. In the event of enquiries or complaints regarding
procedure (points of order) he must give immediate ruling.

Preserve order and harmony (or at least courtesy), and dealing firmly with
irrelevance, long-windedness, interruptions and improper language.

Guide the meeting through its business, making sure that each item is valid within the
regulations and stated purpose of the meeting (as expressed by the notice and
agenda).

Make sure that only those entitled to speak do so, and that there is adequate
discussion of each item.

Ascertain the sense of the meeting (the consensus view or decision of the meeting)
by summing up, or putting the issue to the vote and declaring the result.

Checking and signing the minutes of the meeting.

Qualities of a Chairperson
There are a number of recognised qualities of a good chairperson.

The chairperson has to be able to give immediate ruling points of dispute or doubt,
the chair should have:
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sound knowledge of the relevant regulations

an ability to make up his mind without dithering

skills in communicating his ruling clearly, but tactfully and in a courteous

manner.

The chairperson has to be, and be seen to be, impartial, giving all parties a reasonable
opportunity to express their views, including any minority interests at the meeting.

The Secretary
The secretary is the administrative support for the meeting. Duties of a secretary may
include:

fixing the date and time of the meeting

choosing and preparing the location of the meeting

preparing and issuing various documents

assisting the chairman to take down notes

preparing minutes, acting on and communicating decisions.

The Quorum
A minimum number of persons called a quorum must be present, usually throughout the
meeting. By definition, a meeting usually requires at least two individuals to be present.

The regulations of a meeting

Convening the Meeting: Notice
A formal meeting must be convened, otherwise it is not a proper meeting and its
proceedings may be invalid on that account. There are two ways of calling together a
meeting.

Automatically, without initiating action by the organiser on each occasion. If a

meeting is one of a series or cycle of similar gatherings, it may be simply be held at
pre-arranged dates and times and in the same place. A club, for example, may adopt
the practice of holding a meeting of members at the clubhouse at 10am on the first
Saturday of each month. Everyone knows that there will be such a meeting and it is
unnecessary to issue a notice on each occasion.

By issuing a notice of each meeting

The notice of meeting will be prepared in advance and circulated in the form of a
memorandum.

The agenda of the meeting is often included with the notice, to give participants a guide
to the business to be discussed and the preparations they will need to make. The minutes
of the previous meeting may also be attached so that any objection or queries relating to
them may be prepared in advance of the present meeting.

To: The Annual Dinner Committee

From: Lau, secretary
Subject: Notice of meeting
The next meeting for the Annual Dinner Committee will be held at the Conference
Room on Thursday, 22 May 2003 at 9 a.m.
Agenda: reports from the different units on the preparation for the annual dinner.
Attached is the minute of the previous meeting for your perusal.
Lau

Agenda of the Meeting

For a formal meeting, the agenda will usually contain the following elements:

Membership: this is an optional item, which allows the chair to introduce new
members or allude to retirements or resignations.

Apologies for absence: once the meeting has been declared open, apologies sent to
the secretary by members unable to attend are read out.

Minutes of the last meeting. The previous minutes are read out, or have more
probably been sent in advance to the members. It is then considered whether or not
the wording of those minutes is accurate in fact and implication, and a true record of
the meeting. If so, the chair signs the minutes as approved; if not, amendments may
be made.
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The minutes may be signed by the chairperson without discussion, if the members
have already seen the minutes and they are fairly routine and cause no difficulties.
The minutes are then said to have been taken as read and signed.

Matters arising: if a situation has developed or action taken in response to the

previous meeting, the fact should be reported. This item should not be an excuse for
disputes to be re-opened.

Fresh business: this may include plans to be made, reports to be delivered and
discussed, or particular proposals to be debated and decided on. The chairperson
should avoid a lengthy list of matters, which will allow only superficial coverage of
each or a very long meeting. It will be up to the chairperson to decide whether to
get routine business out of the way first or whether to tackle complex/important
matters early, while the members are fresh.

Any other business (AOB): if the topic has been overlooked, or has risen between
the drafting of the agenda and the meeting, it may be dealt with at this point. AOB
should not be considered an excuse to spring items on an unprepared meeting. If the
matter is sufficiently important, it may be carried over to the next meeting.

Date of the next meeting: the meeting is then formally declared closed.

Chairpersons Agenda
The Chairpersons agenda is slightly different from the one circulated to the members.

Each item on the agenda is followed by brief notes such as, information updates,
background detail, explanations etc.

This means that the chairperson is fully prepared to provide all necessary information
to the meeting, and can also conduct the proceedings with tact and authority.

Chairpersons agenda may be illustrated as follows:

Chairpersons Agenda
For the meeting held at the Conference room on Thursday, 22 May 2003 at 9 a.m.
1.

Membership:
Mr Sim would be the addition to the stage management team

2.

Apologies for absence:

Ms tan is on medical leave.

3.

Minutes of the last meeting

4.

Matters arising:
Item 2: Ms June has agreed to present the prizes at this years annual dinner

5.

Progress in organising the dinner

The only contentious area in the secretarys report is likely to be the section on catering, as the
GMR has very strong views on the proposal to provide alcohol (as discussed several times)

6.
7.

Any other business

Date of next meeting 11 June 2003 at the Conference room.

Conduct of Meeting
A meeting, which has been properly convened, may only proceed to business if it has:

a chairperson

enough quorum

Motions and Resolutions

Each item of business is to be put before the meeting in the form of a proposal. Example:
To receive the annual accounts for the year ended
To receive the report of the Marketing Director.

The proposal put to a meeting is called a motion. It should have someone to propose it
and another to second it (although this is not essential). If a decision is decided, the
motion has to be put to a vote. If it is carried (or approved) the motion becomes a
resolution (or decision).

The original motion is sometimes amended (or altered) in the course of debate and may
then be carried in the meeting as a substantive motion. An amendment is a proposal to
alter a motion, which has been put before a meeting, but has not been put to the vote.
Any amendment made must be agreed by the meeting. An amendment, which simply
adds words to the original motion, is called an addendum.

Checklist: Motion

A motion:

is a proposal out to the meeting for action, decision or consideration.

becomes a resolution when carried, and is recorded in the minutes as the final
decision on the point which it covers.

It must:

Begin with a word that. Example: that X should be

Be positive rather than negative. Example: there is no point in resolving the
problem since it shouldnt be done in any case
Be within the scope of the business indicated in the notice of the meeting.

Adjournment
An adjournment is an interruption of the proceedings of a meeting before they have been
completed. It may be:

an adjournment of a particular debate, to be resumed later in the same meeting or

an adjournment of the meeting itself, with a view to its resumption at some later date.

However, it is not possible to postpone or cancel a formal meeting, once a notice to

convene it has been issued. If there are reasons for not holding it at the appointed time,
the correct procedure is to hold the meeting but propose a motion for an adjournment
before any business is done. The secretary may issue an advance notice to members that
the adjournment will be proposed, so that they do not waste time by coming to the
meeting.

The debate
If there is more than one item in the agenda, and each is to be considered and voted
separately, the chairpersons task is to guide the meeting through a sequence of short
debates.

In a debate, the chairperson has to:

- keep the meeting to the agenda unless the meeting agrees on some variation.
However, the topic should only be discussed when the motion is properly put to the
meeting.
- preserve order in the meeting so that the business can proceed smoothly. Only one
person may address at the meeting. If more than one person indicates that he or she
wants to speak by rising in his place or raising a hand, the Chairperson will decide
who is to speak next and usually call on him by his name. The others must wait for
their turn. If opinion at the meeting is sharply divided, it may be tactful to call on
speakers from each side in turn, so that neither side appears to be obtaining an unfair
amount of time and attention.

Speakers must address the chairperson. if individuals start heckling, interrupting or

arguing themselves, the meeting will degenerate into a brawl. If a speaker begins to
address an opponent (I challenge Mr Lee to say) he should be reminded that all
speeches should be addressed to the Chairperson (Mr Chairman, I urge the meeting
to)

Interruptions must be controlled. If someone seeks to intervene in the debate, he must

be told to wait until it is his turn to speak, or until the relevant motion comes before
the meeting.

A point of order is an objection to the Chairperson about an alleged irregularity in the

convening, constitution or conduct of the meeting including the breach of the
regulations and also the use of improper or offensive language. Points of order are
designed to ensure that the regulations are observed, so that
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the proceedings of the meeting cannot be disputed later as invalid

the members are protected from any attempt to manipulate procedures (by giving
inadequate notice or voting without the right to do so, or adjourning without the
meetings consent).

As a general rule no one may speak more than once in a debate on a particular
subject. There are three main exceptions.
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the person who propose a motion is sometimes permitted to reply to the debate
before the vote is taken.

The Chairperson may request a speaker to give an explanation.

Anyone may raise a point of order at any time, even interrupting the speaker.

The Chairperson may find it tactful to allow a person who has no right to speak a
brief opportunity to make his point.

The chairperson may have to cut short the debate (since there could be a number of
remaining items on the agenda) if he considers that every point of view has had
enough of an airing. The Chairperson may call on the person who made the proposal
to reply to the debate or sum it up him or herself.
Checklist: accepted rules of debate

The motion should be seconded, but it is not essential.

Only one person at a time may address the meeting on the motion before it.
The chair decides on the order in which members are to speak.
Speakers address themselves to the Chairperson, not directly to others.
All present should defer to rulings by the Chairperson
The business should be taken in the order in which it appears on the agenda, but
the meeting may propose and agree to alter the order of business.
Each person present may only speak once, but the person who proposed a
motion is allowed to reply
The Chairperson decides whether an amendment may be accepted for debate.
The Chairperson may take a point of order at any time, for immediate decision.

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Voting
It is the means by which participants in a formal meeting inform the chairperson of their
decision with regard to a motion. There are methods of voting and they are the:

Showing of hands. At the invitation of the Chairperson, those in favour raise their
hand and Those against would do the same, and the Chairperson declares the result
by the count of hands raised. This is a one man, one vote system.

Having a poll. Each person entitled to vote does so in writing indicating the number
of votes, which he is entitled to cast. This is not necessarily one man, one vote.

Having a ballot. This is similar to the vote but the individual voting paper is put into a
ballot box so that it can be counted later.

A division. Those present rise from their place and walk to separate lobbies where
their numbers are counted by tellers and reported to the Chairperson. (a method
used in the synod of the Church of England)

Once the Chairperson declared the results, it should be entered in the minutes. Once the
item of business is concluded, it cannot be raised again, nor the debate re-opened, in the
same meeting.

Minutes
It is a written record of a meeting and it is extremely important if it is to be an effective
means of communication in an organisation. The function of the minutes is to:
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be a point of reference

check on ill-considered contributions

Format of Minutes
The format varies but the following is the common components in a minute.
1. Start with the time and place of the meeting
2. List those present
3. Work through the items on the agenda by using numbers, headings and giving
spacing and indentation so as to help readers refer to it easily.
4. Get the names and designations of speakers right, and make sure that each reported
statement is clearly attributed to the appropriate individual.

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5. Use a wide right-hand margin labelled Action and make notes in this margin the
name of individuals to whom the follow-up action has been delegated.
6. Finish with the Chairpersons signature, name and designation.

The following is a sample of a minute.

Minutes of Out Bound School Club Meeting

St. John High
Date
Time
Venue

: 8 APRIL 2003
: 9.00 am
: Conference Room

Present:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Miss Lyn Chong (Chairperson)

Mr. Allen Koo (Secretary)
Mr. Rama Chandran (Treasurer)
Mdm Tengku Lydia Tengku Ahmad
Mr Rahmat Roslan

Absent:1. Mr Oh Beng See (with apology)

Minutes of Meeting
No.
1.

Matters
Apologies for Absence
Apologies for absent were received from Mr Oh and Mr Rahmat

2.

Minutes of the last meeting

The minutes of the last meeting were read and signed as a true
and fair record.
Matters arising from the minutes
There were no matters arising
Updates on the destination
2.1 It was resolved that the Medan destination was cancelled.

3.
4.

2.2 There are other destinations:

2.2.1 Sarawak
Pakej by MAS (2N/3D)
o Highest rate: RM470
o Lowest rate: RM438
o Have to pay extra RM200 if we want to go to
Gunung Gading.
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Action/Notification

Mdm Tengku Lydia

Tengku Ahmad

Pakej by Air Asia

Agency

2.2.2 Phuket
By train will take up till 14 hours of travelling in the
2nd class coach. The lowest rate will be RM72.
By bus will need 440 per pax.
Flight will cost RM500++.
By bus to Haadyai then to Phuket will need 500 to 600
per pax.
All together, the trip to Phuket will take about 5
days.
3.

The Odds of the Trip

It was resolved that the trip would be facing the following factors:
1.1 Long Journey
1.2 SARS
1.3 Money constraint
1.4 UPSR (14 Sept 18 Sept 2003)

4.

5.

6.

Other Options
Another destination is Pulau Tioman. The trip will be for 3D/2N and
the cost is only RM290.
Final Destination
5.1 Everybody agreed that the destination for the family trip will be
Pulau Tioman.
Date of Next Meeting
It would be scheduled for 20 April 2003.

Mr Rahmat Roslan

Approved by:

Miss Lyn Chong

Chairman

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