How to hold meetings

This section will give you advice and guidance on how you organise and run your groups meetings.

Meeting agendas
Minute taking
At every meeting
Chairing meetings
Before the meeting
How will your meeting be run?
How did the meeting go?

Meeting agendas

An agenda is simply a list of the things you want to discuss in your meeting. As well as helping you plan, it is a useful way of making sure you cover everything you need to at the meeting. A clear agenda, with timings, really helps when you are chairing.

Timing is important to the success of the meeting. Disorganised and unexpectedly long meetings can be a frustrating experience and put people off coming back.

Productive meetings of 2 hours or less can be an experience which builds morale and strengthens your organisation.

Preparing your agenda

An agenda is simply a list of the things you want to discuss in your meeting. It is useful because:

it helps you plan the meeting
it helps you to get through the business of the meeting efficiently
it helps people at the meeting follow what is going on
it gives people the opportunity to think about the meeting in advance.

Who decides what's on the agenda?

Often agenda items are just decided by the Chair and the Secretary. However, if you can it is useful to find ways of giving your members the opportunity to contribute.

Some ways of doing this are:

put up a suggestion sheet on a notice board
at the meeting, ask for items for the next meeting
when you send out the notice of the meeting, ask for suggestions for the agenda. Remember to put a contact address and the date you need them by.

Items for your agenda

The bulk of your agenda will simply be the items you need to discuss. Make each important matter a separate item.

look through the minutes of your last meeting. Are there any things to report back on? Are there items that need to be discussed again? Put each issue down as a separate item
have you received any information - for example about meetings or other events - you need to tell everyone about?
some groups always include an item 'minutes of the last meeting'. The purpose of this is to agree that the minutes of the last meeting are accurate and reflect what happened. If your group is very small and informal you may decide you don't need to do this
some groups have 'standing items' on their agendas. These are items that are always on the agenda at every meeting. They are usually reports from officers such as the Treasurer, or reports from sub-groups
'Any Other Business' is a regular item at the end of most agendas. It allows people to raise issues that aren't already on the agenda
try to avoid 'Any Other Business' taking up the majority of the meeting. If you can, it's better to find out beforehand what people want on the agenda. This allows you to organise the meeting more efficiently.

How long will each item take?

It is useful for the chair and secretary to look at the agenda before the meeting and work out how long they think each item is going to take. This can really help with the chairing and general smooth running of the meeting.

Try to make sure the important discussions get all the time they need, and the minor issues don't expand to take over the whole meeting. If this looks impossible you need to have fewer items on the agenda, or a longer meeting.

What order do items go in?

It is general practice to put the short, easy to deal with items at the start of the agenda. You get them out of the way quickly and can concentrate on the important issues. There are no hard and fast rules about this. It depends on what you think will work best at any particular meeting.

When do you prepare the agenda?

The crucial thing is to think about the agenda in advance. It's a tool to help you plan the meeting. The agenda for a large public meeting will need careful advance planning and thought, while a small committee meeting can be prepared the day before. If you are having speakers at the meeting, or need background papers or information, remember to prepare the agenda enough in advance to give yourself time to organise these. Think about whether you want to mail the agenda out in advance or give it to people at the meeting.

Some other things to think about

think about whether an item needs an introduction and if so, who will do this. It doesn't necessarily have to be the chair
make sure you have background papers prepared in advance if an item needs them and distribute them to the group if necessary
be informative and describe each item in sufficient detail so that members come prepared and interested
make sure you have a good idea what each item is about; you may need to refer to past minutes or discussions.

Agenda for Annual General Meeting (AGM)

The agenda for your AGM will have to include specific items such as elections and yearly reports.

Minute taking

Minutes are simply notes taken during the meeting to remind you what was discussed and agreed. They don't need to be long or complicated, in fancy language or perfect grammar. They do need to record clearly and simply what decisions were made at the meeting and who is going to carry them out.

Why is it important to have minutes?

It is useful to have a written record of the meeting, what you've decided to do and who is going to do it - memories are unreliable! This is true even if the meeting is very small and informal. Minutes keep members of the group, especially those who were not able to attend the meeting, informed about what went on.

What are the tasks involved in taking minutes?

taking rough notes during your meetings
writing up these notes neatly or typing them out
copying and distributing them to relevant people
keeping all minutes together in a file for future reference.

what skills do you need?

you need to be a good listener
minute-takers often spend more time listening than writing things down
you need to be reasonably confident about writing things down
it's useful to be able to use a computer, but not essential.

What should you write down?

One of the most difficult things about taking minutes is knowing what to write down and what to leave out. Keep these two central points in mind:

don't try to write everything down - it's impossible and not useful. Minutes are not a blow-by-blow description of what was said
concentrate on what has been decided and who is going to do it. The purpose of minutes is to record decisions and actions agreed by the meeting.

Sort out the basics

Make sure you have a copy of the agenda. If the agenda is produced in advance of the meeting, read it carefully and if possible go over it with the Chair beforehand.

have the file of past minutes with you, in case any questions come up about decisions from previous meetings
get a decent pad of paper and some good pens
make sure you have got a table and comfortable space with enough elbow room to write in.

At every meeting

There is some information that you need to record at every meeting.

the name of your group, and the date, time and place of meeting
apologies: this is a record of people who haven't been able to come to the meeting but have let the meeting know that they won't be there. Don't record people who just haven't turned up
the names of any guests, and which organisation they are from
details of who is at the meeting. If it is a small meeting, list everyone by name. If it is a large meeting, note the committee members and the total number of members present
make up an attendance sheet in advance and pass this around for people to sign.

Keeping clear notes

The rough notes you take at the meeting are for your use, so you can use abbreviations and organise them in any way you like. Don't get too messy or obscure, though, as you need to be able to make sense of them when you come to write things up.

Organising your notes in the following ways can help:

number each item and give it a heading
leave a few lines of space between one item and the next, so you have room to add other points if the discussion comes back to it later in the meeting
underline or highlight decisions and who has agreed to do what
try dividing the page so you have a narrow column down one side for recording who has agreed to do what
if you are using a loose-leaf pad, number each page.

Producing the finished version

the most important thing is to write the minutes up quickly. Don't put the job off for weeks. It makes a huge difference if the meeting is still fresh in your mind
if possible type the minutes up on a computer. Separate off each item and give it a number and heading
if you can't type the minutes up, then just write them up neatly
distribute copies to committee members and anyone the committee has decided should be sent minutes
file a copy.

Chairing meetings

A good chairperson helps the meeting to run smoothly and efficiently. They will make sure that:

all the business is discussed
everyone's views are heard
clear decisions are reached
the meeting starts and finishes on time.

Always be thinking about the meeting overall, not just the topic under discussion. This can make it more difficult for you to participate in the discussions.

Always aim to draw a balance between hearing everyone's views and getting through the business.

Never use your position as chair as an opportunity to put forward your views to the exclusion of others, or to dominate the meeting.

No one can do this without the cooperation and agreement of the whole meeting - the chairperson is not a miracle worker.

Everyone can learn how to chair well; it just takes a bit of thought and practice. You will get more confident with experience. Try watching how other people chair meetings and seeing what works and what doesn't.

Do you need a chairperson?

Some groups don't have a formal role of chair, or a named chairperson. However, even very small or informal meetings need some direction and organisation.

You could decide to rotate this role. This has the advantage that it spreads the responsibility and gives everyone a chance to be involved with the running of the group.

A potential disadvantage of rotating the chair is that no one takes responsibility for the role, or that the same person always ends up chairing without a proper agreement about this.

If you do decide to have a rotating chair, work out collectively what is expected of them and agree from the end of each meeting who will chair the next one. This gives them the opportunity to think about the meeting and their role in it.

Chairing the meeting

The key tasks of the chair during the meeting are:

getting through the business on time
involving everyone
reaching decisions
dealing with difficult people.

Here are some tips on each of these areas:

Getting through the business

It's very frustrating for everyone if a meeting doesn't deal with the business it needs to, or if it drags on for hours. People leave feeling demoralised and irritated - and quite possibly won't come back. Here are a few tips:

have a clear agenda with rough timings
briefly introduce each agenda item (or get someone else to)
never assume people know what you're talking about. Take time to go over the issues and explain why you are discussing them
always keep an eye on the time and move items on if necessary. Make sure you've got a watch or can see a clock
stick to the agenda item under discussion. If people try to raise other issues, or go off-topic, acknowledge them, but don't get drawn in, e.g. "That's an important point which we can come back to later..."
stop private conversations and asides as soon as they start
tell the meeting what decisions you are making and why - e.g. "I'm going to give this discussion another 5 minutes and then draw it to a close."

Remember:

do not use your position as an opportunity to impose your views. You are there to facilitate the meeting, not dominate it
keep an overview - remember your role as chair
listen to other people
make sure all viewpoints get heard - including those you disagree with
do not be under-assertive. You've been given a role, and people will be looking to you. Do not be afraid of speaking out.

Involving everyone

Have you ever been at a meeting where no one spoke out against a particular proposal, but you discover afterwards that lots of people didn't agree with it? This happens far too often and means there will only be half-hearted support for the group's decisions.

You want to hear everyone's views, and make sure everyone is included and involved in the meeting. There are 2 sides to this:

restraining those who talk too much
encouraging those who are quiet, nervous, or new to meetings.

Ideally, you want an atmosphere where there can be genuine debate and discussion. People should be able to disagree with each other and listen to different opinions in a way that is constructive and moves everyone on. This takes time to develop, and requires the involvement of the whole group, but there are things the chair can do to help:

Some tips on involving people

if lots of people want to speak, keep a list of whose turn it is to speak next to remind you. Make sure people know you have noticed that they want to speak
stop people from talking for too long. Be firm and consistent but not aggressive. If someone is talking for a long time, interrupt them and say something like "thank you for your contribution, you've raised some interesting points. I'm going to stop you there for the moment so other people can comment on this issue."
give preference to people who haven't spoken before. Say something like "I know you've got your hand up, John, but I'm going to take Mary first as she hasn't spoken yet."
give opportunities to everyone to put forward their point of view. Ask questions to draw people out, for instance "Does anyone else have any thoughts on this issue?" or " Is there anyone who hasn't spoken yet who would like to say something?"
try going round each person in turn to get their views on a topic, but remember that this will only work in a small meeting
stop people from interrupting. Step in immediately with, "Hold on, let x finish what they have to say". Make sure you don't forget to come back to the person who interrupted when it's their turn
make sure you don't ignore people who have their hands up in favour of those who are interrupting
listen carefully to what people are saying, and make sure their suggestions and considered by the meeting
make sure people expressing unpopular or minority views get heard properly and aren't intimidated out of saying what they think.

Reaching decisions

It's easy for discussions to wander around and then drift away without any decision or action agreed. Or discussions get bogged down, with no one taking responsibility for finding a way through.

The chair needs to keep an overview and help the meeting to reach decisions. Don't worry if you can't do this straight away - it's one of the most difficult bits of chairing, and it takes confidence and practice to do well.

A few tips:

listen carefully to the discussion and jot down key points
at the start of a discussion, remind people what the issue is, and what decisions need to be made
see if you can pull together the points people are making and suggest a constructive way forward. For instance, you might begin 'It seems we agree that..."
if there are two or three different points of view, try to summarise each one and present them clearly to the meeting
before you move on to the next item, go over what has been agreed. This is a way of checking you did all agree the same thing and helps the minute-taker to get a clear record
before you move on, check that you've decided who will do whatever it is you've agreed on. If you don't, either nothing will happen, or the person who always does everything will end up with yet another task
do not assume silence means agreement. Make sure people have been able to say what they think.

Dealing with difficult people

The chair can have to deal with 'difficult' people - the person who talks non-stop, or the person who 'knows it all', or the person who is just focused on one particular issue. There are no easy answers, but the general way you conduct the meeting will make a difference.

Here are some tips. Remember that the majority of people at the meeting will be supporting your efforts.

remind people of the meeting rules, and that everyone has agreed to these
be firm and consistent - don't allow difficult people to get away with things and then come down hard on people you find easier
when 2 people get into a heated discussion, summarise the points made by each, then move the focus away from the individuals by asking what other people think about the issues
when someone keeps repeating the same point, assure them that their point has been heard, and then turn the discussion back to the group
if someone is continually criticising try to turn the question round to them, for instance "what suggestions do you have for how this could be improved?" or "what would you do in this situation?"
on rare occasions you may have to deal with someone who is really disruptive in a meeting and won't listen to any of your helpful suggestions. If this happens, try asking the group for support - e.g. 'do people want to spend more time on this discussion or move on to the next topic?' This will make it clear to the person involved that everyone, not just the chairperson, wants to move on.

Before the meeting

To chair a meeting well, you need to think about the meeting before you arrive at it. Ask yourself the following questions in advance of the meeting:

why are you having the meeting?
what end result do you want from it?
what will you discuss at it?
do you want speakers?
do you need to get more information to inform the discussion?
do you want to ask someone to prepare an introduction?
do you want to distribute any information in advance of the meeting?

It isn't the chair's job to figure all this out on their own. Work together with the secretary and other committee members. Find out what people want to discuss and think about how you can raise issues in a clear and informed way.

At the start of the meeting

You want everyone at the meeting to feel comfortable about speaking and putting their point of view. For a meeting to work well, everyone needs to feel welcome, included and informed.

Here are a few tips:

organise someone to welcome people as they arrive. Never let a new person sit ignored while everyone else chats
make sure everyone has the agenda and any papers - put them on chairs or give them to people at the door
introduce yourself and other speakers at the start of the meeting
if it is a small meeting, ask everyone to introduce themselves. Sometimes it works well to get people to say a bit more about themselves as part of the introductions
tell people what the meeting is about. Don't assume everyone knows as much as you do.

How will your meeting be run?

Every chair needs some guidelines about how the group wants their meetings to be run. It helps to set out some simple rules - these must be ones everyone accepts and is prepared to work with, or they'll be useless.

Once you've got some rules agreed, it is much easier to chair the meeting, and people are less likely to take it personally when you ask them not to interrupt or stop them from wandering off the topic. You need to work out the rules that suit your group, but here are some that are commonly used:

Examples of meeting rules

ask people to speak 'through the chair'. This means putting your hand up if you want to speak and waiting for the chair to say it's your turn
don't interrupt other people
stick to the item on the agenda
don't talk amongst yourselves
respect other people's views - don't groan or pull faces when someone else is speaking. Wait until they've finished and then put your point of view calmly and politely
keep contributions short and to the point
start and finish the meeting on time.

Remember...

you will need to remind people of the meeting rules at each meeting. There may be new people there, and even regular attendees will forget
a group can take a while to get used to the meeting rules you've agreed. If it doesn't work perfectly first time, keep on trying.

How did the meeting go?

It is always useful to get feedback on how the meeting went.

One way of doing this is to ask people at the meeting what they thought of it. You can do this at the end of the meeting. Just ask each person in turn how they thought it went. You will get some useful feedback, and it makes everyone feel involved. This tends to work best with a small group that meets regularly but can also be useful in other situations.

If it is a big public meeting, you might want to have comments or suggestion forms for people to fill out at the end of the meeting.

After the meeting

Allow time after the meeting has finished to talk to new people or follow up suggestions and contributions people made.

Talk to your committee members about how the meeting went. Start thinking about the next meeting.