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Meetings in progress 
Organise a meeting

Do the techniques of chairing a meeting change with the medium?

[See longdesc for full description.]Increasingly, meetings are hybrids, for example:

  • a combination of face-to-face and teleconferencing
  • real time online collaboration preceded by a threaded discussion
  • videoconference with collaborative work on a shared document.

Generally, the techniques for conducting face-to-face meetings hold good for all types of meetings. Technology should help participants to reach better decisions, not get in the way of communication. This may mean that you'll need to spend some time becoming familiar with the various meeting aids and enlist help to ensure the technology isn't a frustrating barrier for participants.

Many organisations use a neutral facilitator for meetings so that participants are able to concentrate on content.

The increasing use of collaborative software means the secretary's role is changing. The secretary would not take notes for an asynchronous meeting via a bulletin board, for example. However, the results of the discussion would need to be summarised and recorded.

Make a list of 10 guidelines for chairing a meeting. Post them to the ValleyView Meeting room, under the topic Guidelines for chairing, and compare them with those from other students.

Did others have ideas that you didn't? If so, update your list and keep a copy for your records.

Use the menu below to continue.

Meetings in progress
Organise a meeting

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