LearnaBytes

INTRODUCTION

This short activity is part of a virtual training course on How To Prepare For A Meeting. This activity will allow the participants to review the basics of meetings before going on discuss how to prepare for a meeting.

THE ACTIVITY

• To review meetings, the delegates will do a three-question quiz that will review:
  • What a meeting is?
  • Why have a meeting?
  • Who should be invited to a meeting?
• To set up the activity:
  • Direct each participate to the section in their workbooks titled – QUICK REVIEW QUIZ.
  • In the section is a quiz with three questions.
  • Give them 2-minutes to complete the quiz.
  • They should write their answers to the questions in the chat window.

QUICK REVIEW QUIZ (questions in workbook)

Below are three questions about meetings, answer them and be ready to discuss your answers with the facilitator.

1. Which of these statements best describes what a meeting is (you can choose multiple answers)?
   1. The act of coming together for the purpose of transacting business.
   2. An assembly or gathering of people to build trust.
   3. A meeting is when two or more people come together to discuss one or more topics, often in a formal or business setting.
   4. An assembly of people for a particular purpose, especially for formal discussion.
2. Which of these is a good reason to call for a meeting (you can choose multiple answers)?
   1. When you need a group or team to provide information or advice on a topic.
   2. When you want the group or team to participate in making a decision or solving a problem.
   3. You are dealing with a problem that needs input from members of different groups who have a varying perspectives or agendas.
   4. The subject is a personal issue.
   5. The issue has already been decided.
3. You want to have a meeting, who should be invited to the meeting (you can choose multiple answers)?
   1. Everyone in the team or group irrespective of if they will contribute to the meeting or not.
   2. Key decision makers for the decisions that will be discussed at the meeting.
   3. People with the relevant information and knowledge.
   4. People who have a commitment to, or a stake in the issues to be discussed at the meeting.

• After 2-minutes stop and appreciate them for doing the activity.
• Tell them you are going to display the answers for the quiz.
• Press on the slide currently displayed (QUICK REVIEW QUIZ) to display the answers to question one. Allow them to review their answers.
• Then do the same to display the answers to questions 2 and 3.

SLIDE – QUICK REVIEW QUIZ

• After that, tell them that:
  • With this short quiz we have briefly reviewed what a meeting is, why have meetings and who to invite to a meeting.
  • There is more information about this in your workbooks under the section titled – WHAT, WHY AND WHERE.
  • You can read that information in your own time.

WHAT, WHY AND WHO?

What is a meeting?

A meeting is an assembly of people for a particular purpose, especially for formal discussion. It is when two or more people come together to discuss one or more topics, often in a formal or business setting, but meetings also occur in a variety of other environments. Meetings will have intended outcomes that those coming together aim to achieve.

Why have a meeting?

Meetings must be conducted for the right reasons. Here are some reasons why you may want to call a meeting:

• When you need a group or team to provide information or advice on an issue.
• If you want the team to participate in making a decision or solving a problem.
• You need to clear up an issue that cannot be dealt with in a one-to-one meeting.
• You want to share information, a success, or a concern with the whole team or make everyone aware of a particular situation preferably face-to-face.
• You are dealing with a problem that needs input from members of different groups who have varying perspective or agendas.
• Your team has a strong feeling to meet.
• To deal with a responsibility in an area that requires two or more members of the team to be present.

You don’t need to call a meeting if:

• You are dealing with a personal matter that requires one-to-one meetings.
• Another method of communication would work as well or even better.
• The issue has already been decided and you don’t require input from the team.
• The subject is not important enough to justify people meeting.
• The team are upset and need some time apart to address the source of conflict. You may need to meet team members individually first before having a team meeting.

Who needs to be invited to a meeting?

• Key decision makers for the decisions that will be discussed at the meeting.
• People with the relevant information and knowledge.
• People who have a commitment to, or a stake in the issues to be discussed at the meeting.
• Those who need to know about the information that will be discussed in order to do their jobs.
• Anyone who will be required to implement decisions made at the meeting.

This activity is taken from a virtual training resource titled, How To Prepare For A Meeting. The resources is aimed at supporting team leaders to develop the necessary capabilities to prepare for a meeting. To get the full resource go here.