Difference between a meeting and a meeting. Conducting business meetings and conferences

An important aspect enterprise management is to hold meetings and conferences, during which business conversation. To ensure that meetings and conferences are held effectively, it is advisable for their leaders (chairmen) to follow the following recommendations. Before the meeting (meeting):

1. Prepare an agenda i.e., a list of issues that must be resolved at the meeting (meeting). These questions may relate to both the implementation


both previously made decisions and new problems that have arisen since the previous meeting.

2. Decide who should attend the meeting, and notify them in advance. As a rule, all members are present at the production meeting labor collective. Only those employees who are competent to solve the problems that have arisen are invited to the meeting.

3. Choose an appropriate place and time. Make sure the place is equipped with everything you need. Determine the time needed to discuss these issues. Please note that the ideal duration of meetings (meetings) is no more than one and a half hours. If the meeting must last longer, allow for breaks.

4. Hand out the agenda. The agenda should be in the hands of employees several days before the meeting so that they can prepare for the meeting.

5. Determine the main speaker and co-speakers in advance.

6. Preliminarily talk with each participant in the meeting, find out their position. This will help anticipate conflict situations and plan their resolution while maintaining team cohesion.

7. The choice of room for the meeting is important. The room must be equipped comfortable furniture, have normal air temperature. It is best to place meeting participants behind round table, when each of them is facing everyone else. To improve communication, it is advisable to install signs with full names in front of participants, clearly visible to everyone present.

During the meeting (meeting):

1. Discuss the agenda and, if necessary, make changes to it taking into account new circumstances that have recently arisen.

2. Keep track of the time so that the rules are followed, since the ensuing discussion could disrupt it.

3. Ensure that meeting participants have freedom of expression, regardless of their position. It is necessary to tactfully restrain the energy of those who are accustomed to taking the initiative due to their nature, giving less active participants the opportunity to speak earlier.

4. During the discussion, take a neutral position in relation to the opinions expressed.


5. Monitor emerging conflicts and intervene if necessary. Act as a mediator to defuse the situation.

6. Check periodically to see if the group is ready to make a decision. You must not miss the moment when the group has reached an agreement and a new discussion can no longer add anything significant.

7. Adhere to the decision-making rules developed by the group. If there are disagreements, a vote must be held and a decision must be made by a majority vote.


8. Before ending the meeting, summarize the work. Find out from the group whether there is a need to meet again. It is important that people leave the meeting with a clear understanding of what the next steps should be. When a meeting ends without any decisions being reached, there can be a feeling of disappointment and frustration.

After the meeting (meeting):

1. Analyze the progress of the last meeting (meeting). It is necessary to consider whether the meeting fulfilled its tasks and whether the cohesion of the group was strengthened after it.

2. Prepare and distribute a summary of the results of the meeting. Recording what was agreed upon, what issues were resolved, and what next steps should be taken should remind team members of the work they have to do.

3. Restore broken relationships through informal conversation. If there is a heated debate during a meeting, it is likely that some members of the group may have broken down and left the meeting upset or offended. Talk to them and calm them down.

4. Observe how group members cope with the tasks assigned to them. It is necessary to check whether any problems have arisen when employees perform specific tasks.

Typical disadvantages of holding meetings are:

Unjustifiably a large number of meetings;

Vague topic of the meeting;

Waste of time due to unnecessary conversations;

Unreasonably large number of participants;

Insufficient number of participants;

Lack of protocol, despite the need for it;

Insufficiently clear formulation of decisions.

One of the sacred duties of the secretary is the preparation of meetings, conferences and sessions initiated by managers at various levels. In most cases, the secretary also keeps minutes of such events. In this article we will tell you how to make these processes more efficient.

To start talking about protocol, the first step is to talk about meeting preparation. Before such an event, it is important to think through the agenda, determine the composition of participants, and familiarize yourself with the reports of all speakers and other materials. All this will require additional effort, but as a result, maintaining the protocol will be much easier.

HOW TO SAVE TIME?

By various studies From 10 to 50% of the working time of the head of the organization and other employees can be spent on meetings. To reduce time costs, initiators, organizers and participants of meetings need to remember the following rules:

Discuss at the meeting only issues that cannot be resolved on the job.

Limit the number of participants in meetings. It is directly proportional to the duration of the event. If the duration of a meeting with 5 employees is 1 hour, then with the number of participants 10 or more it will most likely last 2 hours or more.

Prepare information materials for the meeting in advance. Calculations, analytical reports, tables, graphs, reports, photo and video materials, presentations, product samples, expert opinions must be provided by specialized specialists. But the secretary of the meeting is responsible for checking the readiness of materials. Therefore, a day or two before the event you should:

a) with the help of responsible persons who will make presentations, compile a list of all information materials;

b) receive from responsible persons materials made in in electronic format(for example, presentations, explanatory notes etc.);

c) receive printed abstracts and texts of reports from responsible persons.

For each issue, appoint one responsible employee, even when a group of people must carry out the assignment.

Don't waste time exposing the culprits. Remember that the main purpose of every meeting is to discuss the agenda and make decisions on it.

AGENDA

This is a list of issues that are planned to be discussed at the meeting. They are determined by the chairman of the meeting. However, the secretary can also participate in this process.

Use the following guidelines when developing your agenda:

  • Break meeting topics that are too broad into several subtopics. If necessary, responsible persons can hold preparatory meetings for each subtopic.

For example, a meeting scheduled for the end of the month on the topic “On the implementation of planned indicators by the main production shops” should be preceded by a series of small meetings in the shops: “On the implementation of the plan by the foundry shop”, “On the implementation of the plan by the procurement workshop”, “On the implementation of the plan by the machine shop”, “On the implementation of the plan by the assembly shop.” Or a meeting on the topic “On the implementation of an ERP system in an enterprise” should be preceded by several meetings: “On the problems of implementing an ERP system in production”, “On ensuring communication between the ERP system and 1C in accounting”, “On technical support ERP systems and data transfer”, etc.

  • Place on the agenda issues of equal importance, united by a common theme.. For example, provision of transport, the procedure for delivery to the warehouse, shipment and removal finished products from the territory of the enterprise.

A wider range of interconnected problems can also be put on the agenda. For example, these may include:

Purchase of a new production line;

Technological preparation of production;

Making changes to design and technological documentation in connection with the acquisition of new equipment;

Modernization of production buildings and development of machine attachments;

Logistics support for production.

At the same time, the reconstruction of the factory checkpoint or the organization of electronic payments for passes in the factory canteen is clearly not worth discussing at this meeting.

It is clear that the secretary cannot always influence the content of the agenda. The meeting is convened by the leader, who also outlines the range of issues. And if the manager includes on the agenda of one meeting the purchase of a new production line for casting production and the organization of a spring cleanup day to clean up the territory, then it may not be possible to convince him. But for your part, you can propose to bring the discussion of organizing a cleanup to another meeting, for example, combining it with the issue of painting the facade of a building or with holding celebrations on the occasion of the organization’s birthday.

  • Draw up an agenda only from those issues that are within the competence and area of ​​responsibility of the meeting participants. For example, it will be useless to discuss supply issues in the absence of the head of the supply service.
  • Limit the number of topics and items on the agenda. There should be as many of them as can be effectively discussed and resolved within the allotted period of time. For example, in 1 hour of a meeting, you can discuss from 1 to 5 issues, depending on the scale of the topics discussed and the quality of preparation of the meeting.
  • Include in the agenda a report on tasks and instructions given at the last meeting, if meetings are merged common theme and composition of participants. Be prepared for the fact that, even if there is no such item on the agenda, the chairman can introduce it with his authority. Therefore, it is better to print out the list of instructions in advance - the chairman, responsible person and secretary should have it.

MEETING PARTICIPANTS

General requirements for event participants:

Competence and interest in the issues on the agenda;

A high enough position to make decisions and give instructions to subordinates based on the results of the meeting.

The composition of participants may change during the event. If there are topics on the agenda that affect all meeting participants and issues that apply only to some of them, then you should discuss them first general issues. At the end of this part of the meeting, employees not involved in further discussion can be released.

How to notify everyone

Inform all meeting participants about the date, time, location, theme of the event.

You can report a meeting using phone call, SMS messages, emails (with notification of delivery and reading), personal visits.

If one of the participants is not at work various reasons (annual leave, temporary disability, business trip, etc.), it is necessary to find out the reason for the absence and remind the employee who is replacing the absentee according to the replacement scheme that he must be present at the meeting.

It may also be helpful to include a pop-up prompt in your computer calendar such as “remind your deputy to attend the meeting.”

Information about who was notified about the meeting and when can be entered into a table (Example 1).

EXAMPLE 1

Notifying meeting participants

The meeting will take place on June 24, 2017 at 11:00 in the office of the procurement director.

Topic: Concluding contracts with suppliers for the second half of 2017.

Seating arrangement for meeting participants

Be sure to prepare a seating chart for meeting participants if the following will be present:

Higher officials (city, region, territory, republic, federation);

Owners of transnational corporations and holdings, etc.;

Representatives of partner organizations.

If possible, the secretary is assigned a seat at a separate table next to the chairman’s table (Example 2).

Example 2

Seating chart

Name cards

On the tables opposite the appropriate places, it is necessary to place name cards with the position and (or) full name. each participant. The simplest option is a sheet of paper folded into a “house” (Fig. 1)

Rice. 1. Name card for meeting participant

Badges

In especially critical cases, it is necessary to prepare badges (breast cards), on which you should indicate:

FULL NAME. participants;

Their positions;

The name of the organization that each participant represents;

The locality in which the specified organization is located.

The badge may also include:

Logo of the organization that the participant represents;

Logo (emblem) of the event (meetings, conferences, etc.).

You can use badges with a lanyard or clothespin. They are sold in stationery and office supply stores.

You can design inserts with text yourself, then print them on a printer, cut them with scissors and put them into badges (Fig. 2).

Rice. 2. In-house designed badge insert

If sufficient funds have been allocated for preparation, insert cards can be ordered from an organization that provides printing services. And for regular internal meetings, badges will not be needed at all.

DURATION OF THE MEETING

On different kinds meetings are allocated different quantities time. For example, a morning planning meeting may take about half an hour, but an interregional meeting on a specific issue may take the whole day.

The duration of the meeting should be planned in advance. All participants must know the start and end times of the event. This will help you work quickly and efficiently so you don't have to stay late.

Breaks

If the duration of the meeting exceeds an astronomical hour (60 minutes), then it is necessary to take breaks after every academic hour (45 minutes).

At particularly long events, pauses may be provided during which participants are offered snacks (sandwiches, fruits, sweets) and drinks (tea, coffee, juices, mineral water, etc.).

When the level of the meeting is low, and next to the room where the meeting is taking place, there is a cooler, coffee machine and disposable tableware for office visitors, then meeting participants will be able to pour themselves coffee, tea or water.

Bottles of water and glasses can be placed in advance on the tables at which meeting participants are sitting - then they can quench their thirst not only during a break, but at any time. It is better not to put food on the tables. It will be awkward if one of the participants drops a sandwich on business papers or spills coffee.

It is better to set the table with snacks and drinks in separate room. This is usually done by the secretary, but only if he does not take minutes. When the secretary cannot leave the room during a meeting, another employee designated as responsible for this must organize a break. Or, alternatively, the secretary prepares everything for coffee breaks before the meeting begins. As a rule, it is impossible to do without assistants at extended meetings.

Time frame

The duration of the event must be regulated. The chairman of the meeting monitors compliance with this rule.

When planning your meeting, be sure to consider the time required for each speaker to speak and each issue to be discussed.

Check with the chairman for the rules for each speech.

Schedule breaks if necessary.

Add up all the time periods on the calculator and add to the resulting amount

The chairman should be advised of how long the meeting may take. If he agrees with this figure, the regulations must be brought to the attention of all participants; if not, adjustments will have to be made and reported to the chairman again.

After agreement, the agenda with time restrictions is sent to all meeting participants (Example 3).

EXAMPLE 3

Agenda with time limits

MEETING MINUTES: 5 BASIC STEPS

Protocol document both the activities of permanent collegial bodies (commissions, committees, councils, etc.) and temporary collegial bodies - various meetings, conferences, seminars and conferences.

Highlight the following types protocols:

. Brief protocol- a document in which the full name is recorded. and positions of the meeting participants, its topic, main issues, summary reports, decisions made, a list of tasks for each responsible person. Such minutes are usually kept at operational meetings.

. Full protocol, in addition to all of the above, includes detailed records of all speeches, opinions, amendments and other nuances of the discussion. This document allows you to restore a detailed picture of the meeting.

The form of taking minutes is chosen by the chairman of the meeting or the head of the enterprise.

Texts of speeches and other materials prepared for the meeting are prepared in the form of appendices. They must be referenced in the text of the protocol.

The secretary is responsible for how accurately and completely the progress of the meeting is recorded. This responsibility cannot be underestimated, since the protocol is the only document that reflects all speeches, discussions, comments and decisions made that must be executed. During the meeting, participants may not hear something or have time to write it down. This will be easy to restore by referring to the protocol.

Step 1: preparing the workplace

To make it easier to take minutes, before the meeting begins:

. Choose your seat in the hall where the event will take place. It should be visible to all participants in person, the speeches of the chairman, speakers and “replicas from the hall” should be clearly audible (see seating chart in Example 2).

. Place on your desk a list of meeting participants indicating their full names. and positions, as well as a seating chart. Before the meeting begins, it would be a good idea to carefully study who is sitting where, and then look at the diagram as needed.

. Stock up stationery . Take with you 2-3 pens, 2 pencils, 2 erasers.

. Check if office equipment and other devices are working: watch, voice recorder, video camera (if available). Don't forget the power cord and spare batteries or rechargeable batteries.

Before the meeting, refresh your memory of the main points of all reports.

Step 2: recording the progress of the meeting

In addition to the materials prepared for the meeting (texts of reports, speeches, references, draft decisions, agenda, lists of participants, etc.), the minutes are compiled on the basis of sound recordings, video recordings, transcripts or rough handwritten notes that are kept during the meeting.

How to keep rough notes?

1. Prepare sheets for the draft protocol- their number depends on the size of the agenda. On the first sheet write the date of the meeting, its topic, minutes number, list of participants, agenda (Example 4).

EXAMPLE 4

Draft minutes of the meeting. Sheet No. 1


Write questions brought up for discussion on separate clean sheets, leaving enough space for entries:

Sheet No. 2: “On the status of work on concluding contracts for the supply of non-ferrous and ferrous metals.” Report by Prokhorov P.D.;

Sheet No. 3

Sheet No. 4: “On transport support for supplies.” Report by Medvedev V.Yu.;

Sheet No. 5: ... (to be filled in during the meeting);

Sheet No. 6: “On the status of settlements under concluded and executed contracts for the purchase of raw materials and supplies.” Report by Fomina K.D.;

Sheet No. 7: ... (to be filled in during the meeting);

Sheet No. 8: “On concluding agreements with Amethyst LLC on the supply of steel and alloys to ESPZ OJSC.” Suggestions from Telegin I.I.;

Sheet No. 9: ... (to be filled in during the meeting).

2. Check that all meeting participants are present. Cross out those missing in draft protocol in pencil - perhaps they are late. Find out the reasons for absences and delays after the meeting.

Record the arrival time of those who are late directly in the text of the protocol in brackets:

In this case, it will be known exactly who among those present and what exactly they missed during the meeting.

3. Fill in the “LISTENED” item. On the first sheet of the draft and on the sheets with the corresponding titles of the reports, consistently record your full name. and positions of speakers, topics of speeches and their summary. You only need to record basic information: dates, numbers, facts. Subsequently, compare the notes with the provided texts of speeches (thesis). If you find any discrepancies, notify the meeting chairperson.

4. Enter the item “PERFORMED”(if necessary). This item is filled in when the speakers' progress is interrupted by comments, questions and objections from other participants. In full protocol Each such remark should be recorded immediately, especially if it is accompanied by the phrase: “Please put it into the protocol.” For example:

The fact is that any statement can change the course of the meeting, and subsequently it may be necessary to highlight the moment when and why this happened.

In a short protocol

In practice, there is a widespread division of meetings according to their tasks and goals. Hence, problematic, instructive and operational meetings are distinguished Personal management: Textbook / S.D. Reznik and others - 2nd ed., revised. and additional - M.: INFRA-M, 2004. - 622 pp..

The purpose of the problem meeting is to find the best management decision on the issue under discussion. Decisions at such a meeting are usually formulated as a result of discussion and adopted after voting. Such a meeting is held according to the following scheme: reports; questions for the speakers; discussion; development of a solution.

The purpose of the instructional meeting is to transmit orders and necessary information from top to bottom along the management scheme for their faster and more efficient implementation. At such a meeting, the manager brings to the attention of those gathered the administrative decisions made.

Operational meetings are the so-called planning meetings, meetings, five-minute meetings. They are not lingering. The purpose of such meetings is to obtain information from the manager about the current state of affairs in production. In contrast to the instructive operational meeting, information is transferred from the bottom up through the management scheme. Having received from meeting participants operational information, the manager identifies the presence of bottlenecks, the causes of lags and failures, and here he makes the necessary decisions, gives instructions, determining the deadlines for their implementation. On operational meeting don't make reports. the main objective- identify those production problems to which the main efforts of the team should be directed.

However, the main purpose of any meeting or meeting is to reach a joint decision after collective exchange information, i.e. achieving a certain result.

Classification of meetings and conferences

Meetings and conferences can be formal or informal. In order to conduct an event successfully, it is first necessary to determine its nature.

Types of meetings can be classified according to management functions:

1. Planning meetings, at which issues of strategy and tactics of the organization’s activities, resources necessary to implement plans are discussed;

2. Meetings on labor motivation, where problems of productivity and quality, staff satisfaction, reasons for low motivation, the possibility of changing it, issues of moral and material incentives are discussed;

3. Meetings on internal organization, where the subject of discussion are issues of structuring the organization, coordinating the actions of structural units, delegation of authority, etc.;

4. Meetings to monitor the activities of employees are devoted to discussing the results of activities, achieving goals, problems of breakdowns, low productivity;

5. Meetings specific to the organization, where operational management issues are discussed in connection with the situation in the organization, innovations and the possibility of their implementation, problems of survival, competitiveness, image, style.

There is also a classification of meetings by style:

1. Autocratic meetings, in which only the leader has the right to speak and make decisions. Participants in such meetings must listen and respond to questions asked by the manager. Such meetings are held when a manager needs to inform or give instructions to his subordinates.

2. Free meetings do not have an agenda. They can be held without a chairman. Such meetings are reduced to an exchange of opinions, decisions on which are not recorded. Such a meeting is held in the form of a conversation or conversation.

3. Discussion meetings - a way to obtain decisions on any issue by generating new ideas and analyzing proposed solutions as a result of the collective work of a group of people during a meeting held on certain rules. Characteristic feature this method is the lack of criticism and evaluation of the ideas expressed.

An official event has a clearly defined status and is held in accordance with established rules. Specially invited people are always present at such a meeting. Main components of the event:

1. Agenda (list of issues to be discussed);

2. Reports (statement of the essence of the issues);

3. Speeches (discussion of agenda items);

4. Amendments (discussion of changes that are proposed to be introduced into the discussion);

5. Debate (conducting a discussion);

7. Drawing up a protocol (written statement of events);

8. Miscellaneous (discussion of issues that were not on the agenda).

People feel more at ease at informal meetings, but you should also prepare for such events. To conduct informal meetings you need:

1. List of topics for discussion;

2. Event host;

3. Protocol of agreements reached.

Unofficial events take place in a more relaxed atmosphere, but you still need to remember that only good organized meeting or the meeting produces a positive result.

Every meeting should have an agenda, which needs to be thought through in advance. An agenda helps you save time and not linger too long on secondary issues.

A well-prepared agenda consists of:

* purpose, date, time and location of the meeting;

* list of invited persons;

* list of issues discussed;

* main topic;

* miscellaneous;

* dates of the next meeting.

There are several types of events that are held for a certain group of people, in a certain place, where various topics are discussed or decisions are made on specific problems. For example, a quarterly shareholders meeting or a general corporate meeting. These events are divided into several types:

ü Meeting

ü Meeting

ü A business meeting:

Ø Business conversation

Ø Negotiations

Meeting carried out according to certain regulations ( procedure for holding a meeting), which is stated in the organization's charter. The meeting and the decisions made at it are recorded in a special document called minutes of the meeting.

Meeting differs from a meeting in that a narrow circle of people is usually invited to the meeting. For example, people who represent different departments of one organization or representatives of different companies and firms.

Meetings are often held more regularly than meetings. They convene at a fixed point, usually once a week. Meetings exist to think through pressing issues and issues of the day. Such meetings may also be unscheduled if they are justified by urgent need. Minutes are usually not kept at meetings, but based on the results, a resolution is certainly passed.

Business meetings are divided into business conversations And negotiation.

Business conversationtakes place in the form of a free conversation and is carried out to discuss various pressing immediate tasks, but in the end a verdict is always reached.

Negotiationprovide for the solution of more fundamental issues and tasks regarding joint activities companies, organizations or enterprises, such as: defining the circle of interaction, limiting spheres of influence, and so on. Negotiations end with the signing of a final agreement or a verbal statement.

Every entrepreneur, businessman, merchant, by the nature of his activity, often needs to act as a participant or organize various meetings, conferences and business meetings. Exists established order carrying out these activities, which must be observed, as it directly affects the success and development of the business.

What conditions must be met in order to prepare and conduct these events efficiently?

1. It is important to clearly define the topic and set the agenda.

The agenda should include 2-3 important issues and 3-4 minor ones. Why this ratio? If there are few main questions, then you can devote more time to considering them and work through them in more depth. If there are many of them, then, due to the limited time, the main issues will be considered superficially and many nuances will be missed.

2. Make a list of specific persons invited to a meeting, meeting, negotiations.

The exception is production meeting. It is held regularly and with an unchanged list of those present.

3. Set a date and specific time for the event.

The date and time of negotiations must be agreed upon by all parties.

4. Mandatory notification of all intended persons about the date and time of the event.

To carry out the meeting, this must be done at least a week in advance. Only those people who are not regular participants are warned about the upcoming production meeting.

5. Determine the time frame during which the event will take place and inform all participants about it.

Experience shows that warning about the end time of an event disciplines all those present and reduces the time of the event by 10 to 15%.

6. It is necessary to prepare the main speech. This could be a report or a short message. Assign required participants for the discussion.

The presentation must be made strictly on the topic and reveal the problem under consideration. Arguments and conclusions must be justified and supported by facts. Idle talk and vagueness will only cause inattention and indifference among listeners.

7. Decide on the premises and prepare it for the event.

The room or hall must be comfortable and of such size that it can accommodate all those expected to be present. Think about the quantity in advance seats- There should be enough chairs for everyone. It's better to have an emergency reserve. To conduct negotiations, it is a good idea to place a card in front of each participant with their full initials. Indicate on it the name of the organization or company on behalf of which this person is present. Place paper/notepad on the tables and some pens for each participant. Drinks are welcome ( mineral water with and without gas) and glasses. Courtesy rules include serving tea and coffee during negotiations.

The work must start rigidly at the stipulated time. Lateness will only lead to subsequent events starting with even greater delays. When organizing negotiations, it is customary for all participating parties to unconditionally respect the start of work. Your unexplained lateness to negotiations will be considered by your partners as the utmost degree of neglect and further results will be difficult to predict.

Make sure that the overall atmosphere during the event is friendly. Personal attacks, showdowns, insults and provocations are unacceptable.

In order to hold a meeting, a chairman must be elected. This is done through a general open or closed vote. This stage must be recorded in the protocol.

The chairperson is obliged to control the rules and announce the name and surname of each speaker, his position and the name of the company on behalf of which the participant is speaking.

The selected speaker must be a person with certain qualities. First of all, the chairman must be a competent and impartial person. Must be able to express themselves clearly and clearly, and be tolerant of opposing opinions. He has no right to give preference to anyone or impose his opinion. If he has his own proposals during the meeting, the chairman has the right to speak only after all those who have spoken.

The most important moment of any event is summing up and making a decision. Most often, at this moment there is some kind of loss of energy and helplessness. The reason for this is psychological aspect: Participants are unable to realize that time is running out and a decision needs to be made. They begin to doubt, hesitate, and hesitate to make a choice. If such a situation arises, the best way out from it - take one sentence and consider it. It is very important not to miss the moment when to stop the discussion. This entirely depends on the experience of the chairman. There is also the practice of intermediate voting, when the results for each stage of the discussion are summed up. But there is also no need to rush into a final decision if this decision is rejected by the minority. In this case, it is necessary to continue the discussion in order to arrive at a solution that satisfies all parties to the discussion.

A meeting is the joint presence of a group (collective) of citizens in a certain place for discussion different topics or solutions to certain problems.

There is another concept of a meeting - this is a gathering of the entire workforce of an enterprise or organization to resolve any pressing issues and inform the masses of management decisions.

One of the most complex options business interactions are meetings - especially if they are held in a situation of conflict or crisis in the organization. For a number of organizations, meetings are supreme body management. Therefore, the documents created as a result of their work always affect the strategic plans of the organization and influence the psychological climate in the team.

The main guidelines in preparing meetings are regulatory and administrative documents regulating the activities of the organization itself as a whole and the meeting as a collegial management body. Such documents include: the constituent agreement, the charter of the organization, legislative acts that play the role of standard provisions for such institutions. Such documents often contain instructions on the range of issues that can be submitted for collegial discussion and included on the agenda of the meeting. In addition, organizational and administrative documents often contain a description of the procedure for preparing for a meeting, regulations for this work, which determine the degree of appropriateness of certain technologies of business interaction.

Practice shows that in conflict situations great importance depends on how exactly the meeting agenda is written. Probability constructive permission conflict increases if the agenda includes only issues that directly affect the essence of the conflict, the subject of the contradictions that have arisen. If, in addition to the conflict itself, an attempt is made to resolve some additional issues during the meeting, then such an agenda creates the precondition for the development of the conflict as an avalanche. This is due to the attraction to direct interaction at the same time large number of people. Their divergent interests, combined with the given conflict situation attitudes towards rivalry can provoke a further expansion of the conflict area, the growth and complication of the contradictions that have arisen.

Many business meetings and conferences are held in the form of discussions. In a mass discussion, all participants, with the exception of the chairman, are in an equal position. Specially prepared speakers are not appointed, but at the same time, everyone is present not only as listeners. A special issue is discussed in a specific manner, usually according to strict rules and chaired by an official.

To form a meeting and be ready for meaningful communication, a few days before it is held, they can be provided with information on the substance of the problem being discussed. To compile it, it is advisable to create a group of experts focused on conducting a comprehensive analysis of the state of affairs in the organization.

As a rule, materials for the meeting (agenda, abstracts or texts of reports, draft decisions, etc.) are provided to future participants of the meeting no later than three to four days before its start. This allows them to make changes to documents that have already been developed and then quickly present their proposals during the meeting.

IN psychologically working with documents already during the meeting itself allows you to reduce the likelihood of exacerbation of personal antipathies between the conflicting parties. Addressing the document without direct interaction with the opponent, introducing the document as an intermediary link reduces the likelihood of an outburst of affective reactions and the conflict developing into an explosion scenario.

Dealing with conflict during a meeting game scenario often becomes more manageable if it is possible to adopt general regulations. To facilitate the work on the draft regulations, you can use the following common scheme for holding meetings as a starting point:

  • · introduction with a total duration of 3 to 5 minutes, which reports general rules the work of the meeting, the mode of its holding, the approximate end time;
  • · main report lasting from 25 to 30 minutes (if diametrically opposed positions of the conflicting parties are presented at the meeting, then everyone should be given equal time to express their views, but it is desirable that in total it does not exceed 30 minutes, otherwise as a result of natural fatigue , those gathered simply become inattentive);
  • · questions to the speakers and their answers (each question and answer - no more than 2 minutes);
  • · speeches by co-speakers, additional messages (no more than 10-15 minutes for all speakers with additional messages due to the reasons noted in paragraph 2);
  • · questions for co-speakers (no more than 1 minute for each question and answer);
  • · speeches by meeting participants (5-7 minutes);
  • · answers from speakers (no more than 5 minutes for each);
  • · answers from co-speakers (no more than 3 minutes for each);
  • · references during the meeting (there should be no more than three to five, so as not to distract attention from the main topic and not create a feeling of weakness preliminary preparation to the meeting; No more than 3 minutes should be allocated for one certificate);
  • · reading the draft meeting decision (no more than 5 minutes);
  • · proposals for a draft solution (no more than 1-3 minutes for each);
  • · summing up the meeting (no more than 10 minutes).

If there are 50-75 participants, it is considered optimal to take breaks of 10 minutes every hour. At more It is advisable for participants to take a break after 1.5-2 hours of work and make it last 15-20 minutes.

The above diagram for structuring the meeting by content and time is approximate. But no matter how uncertain what will happen during the meeting may seem, the organizers must first think through and develop their draft regulations. If, in conditions of conflict, a discussion of completely unprepared regulations begins during the meeting, then this work issue itself may become another reason for intensifying conflict attitudes and a useless “showdown.”

Increased emotional arousal, characteristic of any public speech, and even more so of speaking at a meeting in connection with a conflict situation, requires each speaker to seriously study both the structure and content of his message. Any speech must contain constructive proposals for solving the problem discussed at the meeting. In a situation of conflict at a meeting, emotional remarks that offend those present are especially dangerous. Therefore from public speaking emotional attacks should be excluded.

If the presentation is in the nature of a report, it must contain:

  • · short definition purpose of the message;
  • · statement of basic facts;
  • · a concise, clear statement of proposed solutions to the problem;
  • · brief meaningful conclusion.

Speakers scheduled according to the regulations should prepare the text of their speech in advance. The material for the presentation can be data obtained as a result of an analysis of affairs in the organization. In addition, the report should be calibrated against the agenda and the organization's existing reporting data. The report should not be overloaded with digital material: only key indicators should be used that help those gathered to assess the current situation and understand the meaning of the proposed solutions.

When preparing a speaker for a presentation, it can be recommended to read the text of the report aloud in the rhythm and manner in which he is going to do it at the meeting. This, firstly, allows you to determine and adjust the time frame for the performance. Secondly, it helps to navigate the text faster. Such orientation turns out to be very useful in an emotionally charged atmosphere of a meeting, when the speaker may be interrupted, he himself may get lost, or if he again needs to return to some fragment of the speech. Since the meeting is an expensive collegial body strategic management, then the time spent by the speaker on preliminary work on his speech is completely justified.

When resolving conflict issues by organizers general meetings Great attention should be paid to drawing up a protocol, which is an important organizational and administrative document. This protocol should record the progress of the discussion of the issues raised, the decision-making procedure and the decisions of the meeting themselves.

IN modern conditions The minutes are often drawn up not during the meeting, but based on video or audio recordings. In terms of efficiency and ease of processing and documentation A digital recording of the meeting is preferred. But even if you use digital technology, in order not to miss significant moments meetings, it is still recommended to accompany the audio or video recording of what is happening by drawing up a draft handwritten protocol indicating the time of key events. Such a protocol helps in the future to decipher what is recorded on the tape and qualitatively reflect it in the content of the main protocol.

Of great importance for the protocol as an official document is compliance with the rules for its execution. The minutes are dated on the day of the meeting, and not on the moment of its signing. If the meeting took place over several days, then the minutes are dated by the start day and the end day, which are indicated with a hyphen. In addition, the minutes indicate its serial number, which corresponds to the serial number of the meeting. The name of the locality in which the meeting was held is also indicated.

When drawing up a protocol, it should be taken into account that according to the completeness of coverage of the issues discussed, such documents are divided into complete and brief. The brief protocol includes the name of the speaker, the topic of the report, and the names of the speakers. The content of the speeches is not reflected in the summary protocol. If the meeting is dedicated to resolving a conflict, then such protocols can be drawn up only if there are means of recording the content of reports and speeches (transcripts, certified texts of reports and speeches, high-quality audio or video recordings). In this case, an entry is made in the protocol that the corresponding detailed recordings of the speeches are attached to it. If this is not possible, then a detailed protocol must be prepared, fully reflecting the course of the discussion, the proposed and adopted decisions.

It is almost impossible to compile a final version of the complete minutes during a meeting. Therefore, a draft protocol is drawn up. When resolving sensitive issues of this kind, minutes can be drawn up not by one, but by several participants in the meeting, who then draw up and draw up a final version of the minutes within five days.

The fully prepared minutes are signed by the chairman and secretary of the meeting. The final decisions of the meeting are communicated to its participants in the form independent documents- resolutions and decisions that are created on the basis of the material contained in the protocols.

Compliance with these procedures, although not guaranteed complete solution contradictions that have arisen, nevertheless creates the preconditions for constructive and efficient work meetings. Due to the large number of participants and the non-standard situation during meetings, people’s ability to self-control decreases and the effectiveness of forecasting deteriorates. The described procedures serve as paper-based orientation schemes in a non-standard situation. By freeing people's minds from such schemes, meeting organizers make it easier for its participants to work intensively on the essence of the problem, and not on the task of conducting the meeting itself.

In general, the work to prepare for the meeting should be aimed at maximizing the ease of concentration of its participants on the essence of the contradictions being resolved. To do this, the resolution of all possible procedural issues must be organized, and control over the preparation of all necessary information on the substance of the problem brought up for discussion must also be provided.

Both at the stage of preparation for the meeting and during its conduct, it is necessary to take into account individual characteristics meeting participants. Organizers are obliged to ensure that participants understand that the effectiveness of the entire organization as a whole largely depends on their will and intentions.