I'M How to Lead Effective Meetings

      1.1. Explain the purpose of a meeting

There are many different types of meeting and the purpose of any one meeting will depend on the subject(s) being discussed and required outcomes of the meeting. Meetings may be held at quite a high level strategic meetings or very low level single issue meetings.

Some meetings, such as legal meetings, can be formal and are required to follow a set format others can be very informal and could be as simple as two people meeting on site to discuss the location of a trench. The length of meetings can also vary greatly. Some may carry on over several days, for example EU meetings, while others can be covered in 10 minutes over a cup of coffee.

Examples of meetings are;

Company board meetings to discuss a range of issues regarding the future business needs of a company.

Legal meetings to discuss things such disciplinary issues, health and safety issues following an incident or a range of legal matters concerning company policy.

Operational meetings to discuss site issues and collect information on operations.

Team meetings involving smaller numbers to discuss day to day issues.

Contract meetings involving the client and supplier. These can be regular planned meetings or as a result of an issue raised.

1:1 meetings with a team leader to discuss things such as performance and development.

Supervision meetings with a supervisor to ascertain capability.

On site meetings to discuss progress or to sort out outstanding issues.

Toolbox talks to discuss relevant H&S issues and provide information.

As part of my job to monitor the operational compliance of the Integrated Waste Management contractor, SITA, I attend the Environment Agency (EA) / SITA liaison meetings. The purpose of the meetings if for the EA and SITA to discuss environmental issues and any permit non-compliances and agree action going forward. My presence at the meetings is to assess SITA’s compliance with their Environmental Permit as this is a...