There are many types of meetings. Most meetings fall into the non-participatory category, where attendees are informed of new information rather than being asked to participate in the meeting process. The best meetings are highly participatory, where everyone in the meeting contributes to the purpose of having the meeting. When scheduling a meeting, ask “What type of meeting or approach best suits the purpose and attendees of the meeting?” This will help determine if more than one type of meeting is required or if a combination of meeting types is possible. Consider the definition and common uses of the different types of participatory meetings; such as decision making, list generation, problem solving, project planning, or strategic planning. Then determine which one best suits the purpose and participatory needs of upcoming meetings during the planning stage.
Decision making The meetings review different alternatives and decide which are the best alternatives to select for implementation in a specific time frame. This type of meeting requires the attendance of key decision makers and should be held if the group is required to make and then support or carry out the decision. The most frequently used decision-making tool is a Pro / Con list. However, for a technical or very complicated decision, a criteria grid may produce a better result.
List generation The meetings will create a list of ideas, alternatives, solutions, problems, etc. For discussion. After creating the list, you can follow a discussion to narrow down the list in the same meeting, you can prioritize or vote on the list of items, the list can go to someone else to work with, or you can follow planning of another kind of meeting to using the list. Brainstorming is the easiest and most popular tool used for list generation. Layout tools like mind maps or fishbone can also be used, as they use specific categories to focus the generation of the list.
Problem resolution Meetings are used to resolve business and process problems or to determine potential problems and how to handle them. These problems can refer to production, quality, services or other things. For problem solving to work, those closest to the problem must participate, that is, representatives from each area affected by the problem must agree that a problem exists and be involved in finding the solution. It is seldom a one-time meeting, as a series of meetings are typically required to advance the process including problem definition, investigation, analysis, solution selection, testing, and implementation. Troubleshooting requires a defined process and method to root out the real problem and then find the best solution. There are many excellent tools for this purpose under the topic of quality improvement.
Project planning The meetings are specialized in a certain task, job or project and extend through the planning and implementation of the project from the opening to the end of the project. These meetings work best when they are made up of project team members, leaders, and sponsors or clients. Additional project-related meetings can be to update the project plan, resolve issues, review the budget, celebrate milestones achieved, and assess risks. The tools used in project meetings will include the project timeline listing phases and milestones, as well as many of the same tools that are typically used in list generation, problem solving, and decision making.
Strategic planning Meetings are generally held annually to determine the strategy of a group or organization. The results of such meetings are often vision, mission, goals, business endeavors, and future direction. The strategic planning meeting can be a long meeting or several meetings spread over a specific period. After defining the strategy, a communication plan or implementation plan is developed. Future meetings are often the status of plan fulfillment, problem solving, or other necessary strategy reviews and are therefore no longer called strategic planning but change management. One tool that is often found useful in these types of meetings is a SWOT analysis regarding the business efforts, products, or services of the group or organization. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.
With an understanding of the definition and common uses for different types of participatory meetings, it should be easier to determine which one best fits the purpose and participatory needs of upcoming meetings. It is important to remember that the best meetings are highly participatory, where everyone in the meeting contributes to the purpose of running the meeting. Therefore, always before scheduling a meeting, ask “What type of meeting or approach best suits the purpose and attendees of the meeting?” Determine if the purpose of the meeting is decision-making, list-building, problem-solving, project planning, or strategic planning, and then select the type of meeting and the best tool to use to achieve the purpose of the meeting. meeting.
NOTE: The meeting types listed in this article and their definition have been adapted from the book “RA! RA! The Meeting Attendant Approach”.