1.1 Why have meetings?
Meetings are a central part of running many voluntary organisations, so it may seem strange to ask ‘Why have them?’ However, meetings do have a tendency to proliferate. Once established, they have a habit of persisting and can take on a life of their own. As a result, it is worth asking periodically whether particular meetings are necessary or whether other means could be used to achieve the same ends. You may find you need to attend a meeting to discuss whether meetings are necessary!
Some of the possible advantages and disadvantages of meetings are shown in Box 1.
Box 1 Some advantages and disadvantages of meetings
Advantages
Meetings can:
- improve decision making by involving more points of view
- give a shared sense of ownership and commitment among participants
- facilitate good communication
- keep managers, staff and volunteers in touch with one another
- keep the organisation’s membership or service users involved
- help to improve the communication and decision-making skills of those involved
- allow participation in decision making.
Disadvantages
Meetings can:
- tie up people’s time, taking them away from other work
- be expensive – eight people meeting for an hour is the equivalent of a day’s work
- reduce speed and efficiency – it can often take a lot longer if it is necessary to wait for a meeting before making a decision, and in the meantime opportunities may be lost
- dampen individual initiative and responsibility if too many decisions are only made during meetings
- lead to poor decisions or delays because of the need to reach agreement among many people.
Activity 2 Was that meeting needed?
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