Managing the meeting
At the start of the meeting, make sure that you make a note of those in attendance and those who have
sent their apologies. Also provide an outline of what the purpose of the meeting is, checking that all
attendees have received a copy of the agenda. You may wish to go through the minutes of any previous
meetings and provide updates as necessary.
You will then start to address each agenda point in order. Ensure that all attendees have the
opportunity to contribute and balance this with ensuring that responses are focussed and moving
forward.
Once you have finished all agenda items, you have an opportunity to ask all attendees whether they
have ‘Any Other Business’ (AOB) that they would like to discuss. This is their opportunity to raise any
queries they may have within the group.
Closing the meeting
Closing the meeting is an opportunity to summarise what has been discussed and check that you have
covered all pertinent key points. It is also a good time to put in place an ‘action plan’ to implement any
of the decisions taken – you can also allocate each part of the plan to a person who is then ultimately
responsible for this action.
Meeting Minutes
It is important that one person who is attending the meeting is responsible for taking comprehensive
meeting minutes. This provides all attendees with a record of what was discussed, deadlines issued, and
indeed who is responsible for what. Shortly after the meeting, all attendees should be given a typed
copy of the meeting minutes for their own records. This ensures that even those who were absent from
the meeting have an accurate record of what took place.