Participating in Meetings

It’s easy to forget the importance of meetings. This is where decisions are made that could affect your work and your future, where relationships are built, and where you have an opportunity to make an impression on others, make your views heard, and find out what others think.

Making your mark

Preparation is essential to ensure you make the most of your opportunity. Read any material in advance and note down issues you need to clarify and points you want to make. For important discussions, you may want to sound out other people’s opinions to help you form your own view and get an idea of who will support your thinking.

When you arrive at a meeting try to sit near people who are likely to support your views, and ideally in the middle rather than at the end of the group. During the meeting, it is very important to find opportunities to speak. If you are nervous about making your own points, get used to hearing your voice by making short remarks in support of others. A clear, firm: “I agree with that point” will get you noticed. You can also ask questions for clarification, which will make you sound interested. Try drafting some points to make in advance, and introduce them early in the discussion, but make sure that you do so in the context of the discussion. Be careful, too, that you don’t speak too much: it’s better to be known as someone who makes good points than as someone who speaks all the time.

Am I participating well in meetings?

• Do I speak clearly and loudly enough to be heard?

• Do I look at everyone as I make my point?

• Do I contribute to the meeting early on?

• Do I support others?

• Do I listen to what is being said?

• Do I interrupt others only when it is necessary?

Taking minutes

Minutes should be produced for all meetings, even if they are just simple notes of who agreed to do what. For regular meetings, such as staff meetings or committee meetings, it can be useful if they take a formal style, because this helps to reinforce the importance of the meeting.

If you are the minute-taker, clarify what form the minutes should take with the chairperson. For some meetings it’s important to know who said what. In that case you may need name-tags for attendees. For most meetings, however, the key point is to record actions, who is taking them, and when they must be completed. If the chairperson doesn’t summarize what has been agreed at the end of each agenda item, seek clarification. Produce the minutes as soon as possible after the meeting, when the discussion is fresh in your mind. Keep them as succinct as possible without detracting from the record of what was agreed.

Generating formal minutes of a meeting

• Have you stated the “title” of the meeting, where it took place, and when?

• Have you listed the people who were present at the meeting, and those who apologized for their absence?

• Have you agreed and noted that the minutes of the last meeting were an accurate record of what happened?

• Have you given a description of any additional discussion points that arose from the minutes of the last meeting?

• Have you detailed each agenda point, describing what was discussed and what decisions were made?

• Have you highlighted the action points, and stated who will be completing each task and by when?