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  > Articles > Millionaire > Febbraio 2004            Versione italiana

> Focus Point 

         All together enthusiastically

Meetings enable you to organize your job better. They strengthen team spirit and they stimulate discussion. But how can you organize an effective meeting? A short guide on how to exploit a company meeting.

Anyone who hasn't been bored at a meeting, raise their hand. It happens to everybody. The person who organizes the meeting is responsible. According to the English multinational Genesys Conferencing, 35% of managers spend an average of two hours a day in company meetings. Time which exspands depending on the job title they have. Certainly, there are many advantages but the goal is not always achieved. "Thanks to meetings, you can create better cohesion in a working group. But the final result can easily be compromised" explains Adriana Galgano, partner of the training and consultancy company Ottantaventi. An example: starting late is not a banality. 15 minutes of eight people's time spent just waiting, are a waste of energy and moreover of company money. Better to have fewer but better organized meetings.

"Everyone needs a little preparation," comments Adriana Galgano " because participating without any previous study of the subject matter means, most of the time, lowering the level of the discussion. Another important organizational point, is the seating plan. By mixing people from different departments, you will have greater cohesion in the company overall". By using this tactic you will also prevent the creation of unhelpful coalitions, these can be a real obstacle to achieving the meeting's purpose which is to get everyone's cooperation.

Every meeting should have a chairperson, who coordinates the speeches according to the agenda perhaps with the help of an assistant in order to introduce different subjects, propose alternative solutions and smooth out eventual conflicts. "The person who chairs the meeting must control the language, be able to handle objections, regulate the length of speeches and prevent unnecessary delays. More importantly they should ensure that the meeting achieves a result: otherwise the participants will think that they have wasted the whole day." says Adriana Galgano.

And at the end of the meeting? It is fundamental to send a report, so that no one can have doubts about the decisions taken. "A few lines are enough " explains Adriana Galgano "in order to summarize the most relevant points discussed at the meeting." A final tip: setting the meeting wind-up time prevents unnecessary time wastage.
 

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