Meetings
In all formal meetings and most informal meetings there is a chairperson whose job it is to conduct the business of the meeting and to ensure that the meeting’s objectives are achieved.
It is helpful in both formal and informal meetings to have an agenda, listing the points that are to be discussed. It is usual to circulate this in advance so that participants can prepare adequately for the meeting.
If there are too many items on the agenda, it is inevitable that the meeting will be over-long and so less effective.
After formal meetings, the secretary writes up the minutes, an official record of the discussion that has taken place.
If you cannot attend a meeting, it is customary to send your apologies to the chairperson, who reads out the names of any absentee at the beginning of the meeting. After naming absentees, the chairperson may ask if there are any matters arising out of the minutes of the last meeting.
When decisions must be taken, the chairperson hopes there will be a consensus on what should be done. Otherwise, a vote must be taken and sometimes the votes for and against are equal. If this happens, the only way to break the deadlock is for the chairperson to give his or her casting vote.…
