Page 124 - Communication in Organizations Basic Skills and Conversation Models

Leading meetings 113

received and the consequences thereof accepted. The participants at a decision-making
meeting will have to know what exactly is being decided on and how the decision was
arrived at. The proposed decision is once more clearly stated by the chairperson after the
preceding discussion. The way in which the decision is made depends on the formal
character of the meeting. In meetings where a formal regulation prevails, one should
certainly stick to that, in view of the decision making and compulsory voting. At less
formal meetings the decision making per situation can be discussed together:

After the proposals of Freddy Fortune have been extensively discussed the
meeting of Dinner Ltd decides as follows:
• Interviews with the employees will be held to find out why absence due to illness is so
high.
• The heads of departments will consistently and systematically register personnel
members reporting themselves sick.
• The administration develops a system that processes the data quickly and adequately, so
that problem areas become noticeable.
• The heads of departments will receive training on ‘absentee conversations’.
Finally, in many meetings, the tasks arising from the decisions will have to be allocated.
Therefore it must be clear who will carry out the tasks, what exactly these tasks consist
of, and what means are available for the person who has to execute the tasks.
Figure 13.1 presents an overview of how to lead meetings.