Agenda for the meeting of the working group on the introduction of the GTO. Organizational aspect of holding meetings at the enterprise. Seating arrangement for meeting participants

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?

According to 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 the technical support of the ERP system 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 interrelated 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 the design and technological documentation in connection with the acquisition of new equipment;

Modernization of production buildings and development of machine connections;

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 should have it, responsible person and a secretary.

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 a phone call, SMS message, email (with delivery and read notification), or personal visit.

If one of the participants is not at work for 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 can also be helpful to put a pop-up prompt in your computer calendar such as “remind your deputy to attend the meeting.”

Information about who is notified of 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 a 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.

The following types of protocols are distinguished:

. 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 on office supplies. 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 the questions brought up for discussion on separate blank sheets of paper, leaving enough space for notes:

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 absent in the draft protocol with a 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

The initial acceptance and verification of the Investment application from the Investment Initiator is carried out by the Department investment activities in accordance with the provisions of the Regulations for the interaction of participants in the investment process on the formation investment program JSC "XXX".
After checking the Investment Application and agreeing with the Department economic forecasting And strategic development The Investment Activities Department sends the Investment Application to the Secretary of the Expert Council or the Head of the Working Group.
As Investment applications are received, the Head of the Working Group, together with the Secretary of the Expert Council, includes new applications in the meeting plan of the Working Group and forms the agenda for the next meeting.
The date of the next meeting of the Working Group is determined by the Head of the Working Group in accordance with the meeting plan of the Working Group. The investment initiator is notified of the date of the meeting of the Working Group, the agenda of which includes his application, at least 5 working days in advance.
Investment applications and accompanying materials are sent to members of the Working Group no later than 3 working days before the meeting.
At the next meeting, members of the Working Group review the Investment applications included in the agenda and assess the feasibility of developing and implementing the proposed projects, based on the effectiveness of the technical solutions used and the forecast of the required costs.
Consideration of applications can be carried out both on the basis of submitted documents without personal participation in the meeting of the Investment Initiator, and in person with the invitation of the Initiator and representatives of those involved structural divisions Companies. At the initiative of the Investment Initiator, his report may be heard at a meeting of the Working Group, revealing details of the technical solutions implemented during the project.
Based on the results of consideration of the Investment Application, the Working Group makes a decision to accept, reject or finalize the application. When positive decision The working group, if necessary, recommends the candidacy of a technical consultant for the detailed development of one or more options technical solution project implementation. If Investment project does not imply a significant technical component and is considered appropriate from the point of view of the assigned tasks, the Working Group recommends that the Investment Activities Department submit the Investment Application to the Expert Council without additional development.
If the Working Group makes a decision to reject the Investment Application or send it for revision, the minutes of the meeting include a description of the reasons for making such a decision.
The minutes of the meeting of the Working Group are brought to the attention of the Investment Initiator and the Investment Activities Department within three working days from the date of signing the minutes.

More on topic 1. Procedure for preparing and holding meetings of the working group:

  1. 1. Procedure for preparing and holding meetings of the working group
  2. 2. The procedure for preparing and submitting issues for consideration by the Expert Council
  3. Kurnosov V.V., Associate Professor of the Department of Finance, Novgorod Branch of St. Petersburg State University of Economics and Economics DEVELOPMENT OF SOVIET PLANNING ON THE EXAMPLE OF THE CITY REGION
  4. A mechanism for bank lending to trade organizations to replenish working capital on the basis of one-time loans and lines of credit.

Almost each of us has had to participate in various meetings more than once. And I think many have heard the following statement from colleagues: “It’s another meeting, but when to work?” Every day hundreds of thousands of meetings are held in our country. But, unfortunately, this is the case when quantity does not translate into quality, because the principle “the more, the better” clearly does not work here. Only effectively conducted meetings can give a noticeably tangible result and influence the quality of the enterprise. I would like enterprises whose employees could join the famous lines from the poem by V.V. Mayakovsky’s “The Sitting Ones” became less and less:

You won't fall asleep with excitement.
It's early morning.
I greet the early dawn with a dream:
"Oh at least
More
One meeting
Regarding the eradication of all meetings!

Types of meetings

Meeting - meeting, meeting, dedicated to the discussion of a special issue or several issues.

The types of extended meeting are:

  • symposium— extended meeting on a special scientific issue;
  • conference— extended meeting, for example, among scientists and politicians;
  • congress, congress- a meeting of a wide range of participants, usually of a regional, national or international scale.

Within a particular enterprise, depending on the main task, the following types of meetings are distinguished:

  • operational;
  • instructive;
  • problematic.

The classification of meetings may be based on other criteria, for example, frequency: planned, unplanned.

In addition, according to the nature of the meeting, they are divided into the following types:

  • dictatorial- characteristic of an authoritarian type of management, when only the leader leads the meeting and has actual voting rights, the other participants are given only the opportunity to ask questions, but not express their own opinions;
  • autocratic- is based on the leader’s questions to the participants and their answers to them; as a rule, there are no discussions, only dialogue is possible;
  • segregative— the report is discussed only by the participants selected by the leader, the rest listen and take note of the information presented;
  • discussion- free exchange of opinions and development general solution; the right to make a decision in the final formulation remains with the manager;
  • free— it does not adopt a clear agenda, sometimes there is no chairman, sometimes it ends with a decision, but mostly it comes down to an exchange of opinions.

By gathering together, meeting participants have the opportunity to express their point of view on the topics discussed, convey the information they possess to all meeting participants, discuss controversial issues, and consider alternative solutions. It’s not for nothing that they say that truth is born in a dispute.

But the meeting is an expensive undertaking. Keep in mind that if your organization has an hour-long meeting with eight people every day, that means one employee is getting paid just for attending the meetings. The meeting cannot be considered as a way to inform employees, it is the optimal means assessment and decision making. A collective decision has more weight than an individual decision. Therefore, a meeting is ideal where the team needs to participate in discussing a problem and finding solutions, where it is necessary to consider different points of view.

Preparing the meeting

The success of a meeting depends 90% on the quality of its preparation. Any meeting, even the shortest one, will benefit from preliminary work.

The employee responsible for preparing the event must first find out:

  • purpose of the meeting,
  • main issues for discussion,
  • list of participants,
  • place, time and form.

Let us note that in a number of organizations there is a certain procedure for holding meetings, which can be enshrined in special Regulations. In this case, the task is greatly simplified.

If several people are involved in preparing a meeting, then, as a rule, the enterprise issues an order to hold a meeting, which determines the composition working group and a plan for its preparation (see Example 1).

Setting the agenda

Drawing up the agenda is the task of the chairman, but its documentation falls on the shoulders of the secretary.

The agenda is drawn up only after the purpose of the meeting has been determined. In this case, the goal must be clearly formulated, have logical completeness and an unambiguous interpretation. The agenda should include a large number of questions so that they can be discussed in detail at the meeting. But, unfortunately, this requirement is not always met and the agenda is overloaded, which makes it impossible to prepare and discuss all issues in detail. The principle “less is more” applies here. Therefore, always try to get rid of minor issues that can be resolved outside the meeting.

The agenda is usually drawn up in written (printed) form . Of course, meetings can be held without a pre-prepared list of questions, but in this case they should at least be brought to the attention of the meeting participants orally. I think no one will argue with the fact that the written agenda is more effective form and allows everyone to focus on what needs to be done: before the meeting, during the meeting and after it. It is the plan for the event. Without it, meetings often turn into general discussions where participants don't focus on key issues. Many witnesses to unprepared meetings have more than once had to deal with such a situation when someone urgently requested information from their subordinates, and the rest were forced to waste time waiting. Such shortcomings negatively affect the rhythm of the discussion, and, consequently, its effectiveness.

Regarding the fact how to place issues on the agenda , there are two diametrically opposed opinions.

According to the first point of view, issues should be arranged in order of importance and complexity. The arguments here are as follows: at the beginning of the meeting, employees are more active, they are not yet tired and, therefore, it is better to discuss the most important and complex issues at the beginning.

Adherents of the second point of view believe that issues that require extensive discussion and elaboration are best addressed in the second third of the meeting, when the physical and mental performance of the participants reaches its peak. Current issues that do not require much time can be resolved first, and the easiest issues, interesting and enjoyable things can be left at the end.

Based on work practice, we can recommend that readers adhere to the second point of view, because starting with simpler questions, you can set a certain rhythm, because they do not require detailed elaboration, employees do not have time to get tired discussing them - they serve as a “kind of warm-up” before working on more complex problems. When the main work is done and the audience’s attention wanes, you can move on to discussing more interesting issues that do not require stress (in the last third of the meeting), for example, about organizing a corporate event in honor of the company’s anniversary or about the results of participation in an exhibition.

We live in a dynamic world. During the preparation of the meeting, as a result of receiving more reliable and timely information, priorities may change repeatedly. What was relevant to us just a few hours ago may become completely uninteresting. Therefore, you should never treat the approved agenda for a work meeting as something set in stone. In this case, it can be recommended to develop a procedure for adjusting the agenda after its approval, which should be reflected in the Rules for holding meetings.

Prepared agenda approved by the manager, a sample of such a document is presented in Example 2. But in practice, a simplified form is often used. As can be seen from Example 3, it does not have an approval stamp (there are even design options without the signature of the responsible executor), but these forms of summons are the most common. The first form is more informative, contains information about the place, date and participants of the meeting, and has an approval stamp. Therefore, it can be recommended to use it for the most important meetings, and for working and operational meetings, the agenda can be signed by the secretary after a preliminary oral discussion with the chairman. The procedure for drawing up the agenda is fixed in the Regulations for holding meetings, if the enterprise has one.


Meeting participants

After determining the purpose of the meeting and the range of issues that will be discussed at it, you can proceed to the selection of candidate participants. To the meeting employees should be invited :

  • who make key decisions on issues brought up for discussion (their opinion may be decisive);
  • who, in accordance with their official duties, have certain information on the issues under consideration;
  • who, due to the nature of their activities, must be familiar with the information presented at the meeting;
  • who will organize the implementation of the meeting’s decisions.

You should invite people who are able to voice different points of view and at the same time are ready for fruitful interaction.

The usefulness of a meeting is inversely proportional to the number of its participants. Amount recommended by psychologists for an internal business meeting - from 6 to 9 people, this ensures high productivity, people do not get lost in the masses, and such a group is easier to control. In practice, meetings are held in both smaller and larger groups, each with its own advantages and disadvantages.

May be attached to the agenda guest list indicating their positions. This is done when organizing large meetings with a large number of participants. This is actively practiced in federal bodies executive power. In commercial organizations, it is better to include meeting participants and invitees on the meeting agenda, as shown in Example 2.

In large institutions, meetings on the most important issues are prepared information on their merits , which indicates the reason and purpose for raising the issue for discussion. Along with the certificate, it may be offered draft decision .

If the meeting involves a large number of people, heads of branches, subsidiaries or representatives third party organizations, then they are sent invitations (notices) to the meeting. Typically, such a document consists of:

  • appeals;
  • information about the date, place and time of the event;
  • agenda;
  • invitations to participate;
  • requests for confirmation of participation in the meeting.

Invitations (notices) are signed by the persons responsible for preparing the event. Possible variant design is shown in Example 4.


The type of meeting that should be distributed to participants also depends on the type of meeting. Typically this is:

  • an invitation (notice) to hold a meeting, issued on the organization’s letterhead, or
  • agenda in the form accepted at the enterprise.

The agenda should be sent out several days before the event (usually 3-5 days) to give participants the opportunity to prepare. It is accompanied by materials to be discussed (draft reports on each issue, information materials presented by responsible persons). Such supporting documentation can be sent out later - 1-2 days before the meeting. In this case, you should take into account the real ratio of the amount of information that needs to be familiarized with and the remaining time.

Meeting organizers not only need to send invitations (or agendas) to participants, but also support feedback. It should be clarified whether they will be able to attend and whether they need technical means.

Preparation of documents for the meeting (reports, information materials)

So, no one will read 10-15 pages of solid text in small print. Therefore, do not skimp on your employees and use optimal size font - 12. Smaller text can be used, for example, for page footnotes.

Do not use too many font styles at the same time (2 are enough, for example, the most common ones - Times New Roman and Arial). It is better to highlight text fragments using different styles (italics, bold) or underlining.

Think about how many levels of headings in the text you will need, do you need to number them, how will you highlight the names of tables, diagrams and figures? All this will help the reader quickly navigate the document.

The main thing is that the formatting logic you choose is not violated within one document, and it is desirable that it be followed (even with small deviations) throughout the entire set of materials.

Participants' speeches can be supported written reports . Note that the report is one of the longest business documents. Writing it is one of the skills needed for a successful career. Therefore, we will give several fundamental recommendations for drafting the text of the report. It should be:

  • as brief as the content and purpose allow;
  • understandable (simple, not confusing);
  • logical;
  • structured.

Very often, the purpose of writing a report is to influence readers in some way: to persuade them to accept a certain point of view, change their own opinion, or take specific actions. The report should be addressed to a predetermined group, contain convincing arguments and anticipate possible objections.

In addition to the reports, they are preparing for the meeting information materials , which speakers use. It’s not for nothing that the Russian proverb says: “It’s better to see once than to hear a hundred times.” There are a large number of visual aids. For example, two simple graphs can be more effective than one complex one, and they are easier and faster to construct. Modern computer technology allows you to include many graphic images, including color illustrations, in your report.

Preparing the premises

The room intended for the meeting must be prepared in advance.

It needs to be ventilated or the air conditioning system turned on a few hours before.

Chairs should be carefully arranged, and their number should be 1-2 more than the planned number of participants and invitees. After all, during a discussion it may be urgently necessary to invite one of the employees. Then they will have somewhere to sit.

There should be writing utensils on the tables (pens, pencils and sheets of A4 paper or convenient A5 or larger notebooks). The use of stationery with branded symbols is encouraged.

Mineral water and glasses are placed on the tables, which are placed upside down on napkins, and their number should be 1-2 more than those present.

If marker boards are used for clarity, it is necessary to provide several multi-colored markers, as well as pre-soak the so-called “eraser” with a special liquid.

If you use technical means, you must install them in advance, familiarize yourself with the operating rules and check their functionality, and be sure to provide the ability to connect laptops. When using slides, make sure they are available at the meeting and place the projection screen so that it can be seen by everyone present.

More exotic equipment may be required. For example, at food enterprises it is possible to conduct a tasting of a product and compare it with competitors' products. In this case, it is necessary to provide disposable tableware for each participant.

Some companies do not allow you to bring to meetings for safety reasons. Cell phones. In this case, it should be possible to store them with the manager’s secretary.

Holding a meeting

If the agenda is busy, then We recommend establishing discussion rules . He disciplines the participants and helps the chairman control the progress of the meeting. A sample agenda for a meeting to discuss one issue might look like this:

  • opening remarks (time limits for the course of the meeting and the approximate time of its end are specified) - no more than 10 minutes;
  • main report - up to 30 minutes;
  • questions to the speaker - no more than 2 minutes. every;
  • co-report, message - no more than 10 minutes;
  • questions to the co-speaker - no more than 1 minute. every;
  • speeches - 5-7 minutes. each;
  • speaker's response - no more than 5 minutes;
  • answers from co-speakers - no more than 3 minutes. every;
  • information during the meeting - no more than 3 minutes;
  • reading the draft decision - no more than 3 minutes;
  • summing up the meeting - no more than 10 minutes.

Maximum duration Meetings should not exceed three to four hours a day. Based on the psychophysiological characteristics of a person, it is recommended to take a break after 1.5 - 2 hours of work for 15 minutes.

The specific time of the meeting is determined by the chairman. In this case, human biorhythms should be taken into account. Thus, ergonomic studies have found that the best time for making decisions is late in the morning. Psychologists recommend holding most meetings in the afternoon. According to the theory of biorhythms, a person has two peaks of performance - between 9-12 hours and between 16-18 hours. Although long meetings at the end of the day can force people to make quick and not always optimal decisions. Success does not depend on the length of the meeting, but on how active all its participants are.

On average, the duration of meetings at an enterprise ranges from 30 minutes to 2 hours. You should try to keep the meeting as short as possible, as much as your goals allow. It's no secret that in many companies, meetings on issues that could be discussed in 20 minutes turn into a long 2-hour discussion. The world has accumulated a lot of experience in rational and even original solutions to this problem. For example, in some Japanese corporations, employees go into the lobby, and the meeting is held there, standing up. There is no doubt that such discussions fit within the time frame recommended by experts - an hour, a maximum of one and a half. It’s hard for me to imagine this form of holding meetings at Russian enterprises - we are still far from Japan in terms of business organization, but we still have everything ahead.

  • informative and operational meetings should not exceed 20-30 minutes, and problematic ones - 1.5-2 hours;
  • discussion of one complex issue should not stretch for more than 40-45 minutes;
  • after 30-40 minutes of work, participants’ attention begins to weaken;
  • after 70-80 minutes physical fatigue appears;
  • after 80-90 minutes, negative activity develops - conversations and extraneous activities begin;
  • If the meeting continues without a break for more than 2 hours, then participants appear who agree to any decision.

Documentation of the meeting

The most important thing begins right after the meeting. After all, its effectiveness will depend on the implementation of the decisions made. To do this, it is necessary to draw up a protocol in which decisions are recorded in writing, indicating responsible executors and deadlines for completing the task. Typically, at the end of the meeting, the chair summarizes the discussion and briefly announces what action needs to be taken, by whom, and when. It is the protocol that documents the agreements reached and indicates the directions for future work.

The minutes are a mandatory element of the final stage of the meeting. The minutes record the progress of the discussion of issues and the decisions made. The protocol reflects the activities of joint decision-making by a collegial body or group of workers.

Depending on the type of meeting and other factors, the following may be drawn up: protocol forms :

  • full a protocol that contains a record of all speeches at the meeting (it records the issues discussed and decisions made, speeches of participants, questions, comments, etc.);
  • brief protocol, which contains the names of the speakers and brief notes about the topic of the speech, the decisions made (without details of the discussion).

The decision on what form of minutes to take at a meeting is made by the head of the collegial body or the head of the organization.

At its core, the minutes are a summary of the meeting. It can form the basis for discussion of issues raised at the next meeting. From this document, those absent from the meeting will be able to glean valuable information (this may include key executives who were not invited to the discussion). Therefore, when drawing up a protocol, it is necessary to include the following points:

  • date and time of the workshop;
  • participants;
  • agenda and its execution;
  • decisions made;
  • planned actions;
  • responsible executors;
  • period of execution.

The minutes are kept during the meeting by the secretary, who takes notes (stenographs) or tapes the speeches of the meeting participants. The main professional quality of a secretary should be the ability to listen, which is currently an undervalued quality. Most people in a meeting often start talking at once. Of all the words we use, only a small part carries objective information that is worth recording in a document. Many people frame their thoughts with words that express how they feel about the audience or how they feel about the group. To extract the essence from such a stream of words requires significant concentration of attention, as well as knowledge of the organization's basic business processes. We will give a number of recommendations to those who record:

  • perceive facts and ideas, not just words;
  • listen to words about actions: completed, proposed or approved;
  • mark words that would talk about possible changes;
  • do not hesitate to clarify with those present if you did not catch or understand a decision made during an active discussion or an upcoming action;
  • Summarize the previous one before moving on to the next discussion point. In this case, as a rule, the chairman asks to read the draft decision aloud and, if necessary, makes adjustments to it (it should be noted that if a working group was created for the meeting, then it is this group that should prepare the draft decision), and the secretary’s task only fixation is included decision taken in the draft protocol.

The design of the protocol has a number of features. If it lasted several days, then the start and end dates of the meeting are indicated through a dash. The protocol number is the serial number of the meeting of the collegial body from the beginning of the year.

Protocol signs chairman and secretary. On particularly important occasions, speakers should endorse protocol, visas are affixed on the left margin of the document, at the level of the recording of the speech.
The materials submitted for consideration are filed with the protocol: certificates, reports, projects, etc., which are drawn up as appendices.

As a rule, the time allotted for preparing the minutes depends on the type of meeting and should be enshrined in the local regulations of the enterprise. Usually the minutes are finalized within a few hours after the meeting or the next day, while the secretary, chairman and everyone present have fresh memories of the discussion.

A copy of the minutes must be sent to all meeting participants, and an extract from the minutes must be sent to those responsible for specific issues who were not present at the meeting. which would include only the information necessary to complete the order. Sample registration of an extract from the minutes of the production meeting is given in Example 5. The timing of distribution of copies of the minutes to meeting participants or extracts from the minutes must be determined in the local regulations of the enterprise.


Usually, copy of the protocol is done by making a photocopy of the original minutes signed by the chairman and secretary of the meeting. In this case, in the upper right corner of the document is placed stamp "COPY", and not “CORRECT COPY”, as is done in many organizations, and at the end of the protocol a certification entry is made in accordance with GOST R6.30-2003: when certifying a copy of a document, a certification note is placed below the “Signature” detail “True”, position of the person who certified the copy, his personal signature and transcript of the signature (initials, surname), date of certification(See Example 6). In this case, the person who has the right to certify copies of protocols must be vested with such powers locally regulations enterprises, for example, this may be reflected in the Office Management Instructions.

A copy of the protocol (as well as an extract from the protocol) is allowed certify with a seal organization, determined at its discretion. But, as a rule, copies of documents (on extracts) used within the organization are not stamped. Therefore, it is not present in our Examples 5 and 6.

If you are making a copy of a multi-page protocol, then the photocopied sheets of the document must first be stitched, and the certification in this case is made on back side the last sheet of the document. In practice, multi-page copies used only within an organization are not bound.

Control can be timely and to the point. Responsibility for time-based control is assigned to the office management service, and substantive control is exercised by the immediate supervisor. At the next meeting, you can inform employees about the implementation of the decisions of the previous meeting.

In accordance with Art. 5 of the List of standard management documents generated in the activities of organizations (2000), the following are established storage periods for protocols :

  • protocols of the collegial executive body organizations (collegium, council, directorate, board, etc.) - constantly;
  • protocols of scientific, expert, methodological, advisory bodies of the organization (committees, commissions, councils, etc.) - constantly;
  • minutes of meetings with the head of the organization - constantly;
  • minutes of meetings of the organization’s labor collectives - constantly;
  • minutes of meetings of structural divisions of the organization - 5 years EPC;
  • protocols general meetings shareholders, shareholders - constantly.

Most protocols have a permanent shelf life, which determines the importance of working with this type of document in an enterprise. Therefore, it is important not only archival storage, but also the organization of operational storage of protocols at the enterprise in accordance with the approved nomenclature of cases.

Electronic document management and meetings: what do they have in common?

Enterprises increasingly feel the need for effective management. The introduction of electronic document management systems (EDMS) is aimed at this. We draw your attention to the fact that many EDMS contain a module designed to automate the document flow that accompanies meetings of collegial governing bodies. It is able to effectively solve the following tasks:

  • planning and preparing meetings;
  • providing the manager with convenient means of analyzing previous meetings;
  • monitoring the implementation of decisions made following the meeting.

In one form or another (depending on the specific software) the following functions can be implemented:

  • formation of a draft agenda;
  • sending messages to executors responsible for preparing draft decisions;
  • receiving draft decisions and certificates from responsible executors;
  • preparation of a package of documents for the meeting;
  • distribution of a package of documents to meeting participants;
  • sending out invitations, agendas;
  • preparation of minutes of the meeting;
  • monitoring the implementation of meeting decisions.

If the EDMS implements a full-fledged unit for automating control over the execution of orders, then it allows you to generate the necessary reporting. As a rule, you can make selections by:

  • F.I. O. the manager who gave the order;
  • F.I. O. responsible executor;
  • deadline for execution of orders;
  • overdue orders.

Proper use of EDMS is designed to make our work easier and free up time for solving problems that machines are not yet able to cope with.

* * *

Considering that CEO a large enterprise spends an average of 17 hours a week, Executive Director- 23 hours, and a middle manager - 11 hours a week to participate in meetings, then the effectiveness of their holding can free up a lot of useful time and energy. And your contribution to this noble cause can be significant!


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