Effective Meetings - In this assignment, you will study how a leader can conduct a variety of meetings effectively.

Complete the following tasks:

• Read the following articles:

o Bates Communications: Insights. (2007, November 11). Are you running meetings, or are meetings running you? Retrieved from http://www.bates-communications.com/Portals/25382/docs/art-runningmeetings.pdf

o Facilitative Leadership & Facilitator Training. (2012, December 13).

Taking charge of poorly led meetings when you are not the leader. Retrieved from http://facilitativeleadership.wordpress.com/

o McNamara, C. (n.d.). Guidelines to conducting effective meetings (Adapted from the Field Guide to Leadership and Supervision). Retrieved from http://managementhelp.org/misc/meeting-management.htm

o Facilitative Leadership & Facilitator Training. (2012, June 21). Meeting participation tips (Part 1 of 3-The beginning).

Retrieved from http://facilitativeleadership.wordpress.com/2012/06/21/meeting-participation-tips-part-1-of-3-the-beginning/

• Attend a meeting. The meeting can be any one of the following:

o A work-based meeting
o Municipality, township, or school district meeting
o A meeting for an organization you might be involved with
o Any other meeting you can identify within the course required time frame.

Part I

Based on your reading, understanding of the articles, and your experience in the meeting you attended, answer the following questions:
 
o Where is the meeting being conducted, and what is its purpose? Is the meeting focused on communications or problem solving, or is it a meeting with no specific agenda?

o Is the meeting a regularly scheduled event, such as a monthly scheduled meeting or a meeting to address a specific matter?

o Does the meeting have a set communication designed with relevant information to advance the meeting? Please explain.

o Was the meeting opened with an announcement or explanation of its purpose and importance?

o What was the communication style of the meeting's leader or facilitator?

o What were the leader's bases of power? Select from a number of conceptual paradigms and elaborate on your selection.

- Authoritative
- Knowledge and Expertise
- Correction or Castigation
- Reward or Incentive
- Persuasion
- Mentoring or Coaching
- Relationships or Individual or group interactions
- Direction or Vision
- Charismatic or Personable

o Did the members or attendees have an opportunity to express opinions? Were they asked for suggestions, ideas, and information?

o Did you recognize any conflict, disrespect, or tension among the members or attendees? If so, was the source of the conflict evident?

o Did you observe the participants' body language (such as posturing, positioning, or gesturing) when different topics were introduced? Describe it.

o What was the intended outcome of the meeting? Was it achieved? Why or why not? What were the pivotal moments of the meeting which contributed to its success or failure?

Part II

Complete the following tasks to provide an overall critique of the meeting you attended:
 
• Identify the positive, effective qualities of the meeting in one list, and identify the qualities which were ineffective in a separate list.

• Arrange each list from top to bottom, from most important to least important.

• Take the top three ranked factors from each list and explain the affect they had on the meeting.

Part III

You need to organize a meeting to introduce a new project in a health service organization. The project is sufficiently complex in size and nature to require an expanded cross-section of expertise from within and outside the organization. You are responsible for inviting the necessary individuals and representatives of involved departments and professional functions to the meeting.
Based on the principles contained in the articles, textbook, and elected independent research provided in the course, complete the following tasks:

• Develop an agenda for the meeting.

• Provide information, expertise, and background on the invited attendees. Explain the rationale and intended functional expertise each attendee brings to the group.

• Recognize and develop measurable objectives to assess the success of the planned meeting.