Effective Meetings: Simulated Exercise for Chairing & Minute Taking
Summary
TLDRIn a monthly meeting, the team discusses various issues including staff absences, parking disputes, and a new HR manager's introduction. A significant focus is on low staff morale, attributed to factors like restructuring, job losses, and inadequate training on new software. Suggestions for improvement include priority parking, staff questionnaires, and team-building activities. Additionally, IT issues are addressed, including a power cut and the need for better communication and training.
Takeaways
- 😀 The meeting begins with apologies for absence, including Frank Lyons, Gary Cope, Carl Madden, Joey Ballen-Weasley, Clive, and Janet Bowers.
- 👋 Rita introduces Jason Somerville, the new Project and Program Manager for Marketing, who recently transferred from the US office.
- 🚗 Lucy Stokes raises the issue of car parking problems due to the new office spaces occupied by Orchard and Shipment, leading to arguments among staff.
- 🛠️ Julian Gillis suggests priority parking for staff who need their cars for work, which is agreed upon after some discussion.
- 📊 Sue Carpenter addresses the decline in staff morale, citing low sales figures and increased sickness absence, particularly on Mondays and Fridays.
- 💻 The launch of Comet software has caused confusion and demotivation among staff due to insufficient training and support.
- 🗳️ It is proposed to conduct a new anonymous questionnaire to understand staff preferences for team-building activities to boost morale.
- 🔌 Frank discusses an IT issue where the F drive backup recovery disassociated from the main framework, which was caused by a power cut.
- 💡 There is a suggestion to hold a separate meeting to discuss the training issue and the introduction of a new appraisal system.
- 📈 Gary's financial report indicates a tough year with an even balance sheet and good contract sales, but a loss in handset sales abroad.
- 🍽️ The meeting concludes with a discussion about cleanliness issues, including dirty dishes in the kitchen and the state of the shower room.
Q & A
Who is the new HR manager mentioned in the meeting?
-Julian Gillis is introduced as the new HR manager.
Why is Frank Lyons running late for the meeting?
-Frank Lyons is running late because he texted the meeting organizer in the morning to inform about his delay.
What personal issue is Joey Ballen facing that prevents her from attending the meeting?
-Joey Ballen is dealing with a foot-related issue, which is causing her to miss the meeting.
What is the main problem discussed regarding car parking?
-The main car parking issue is the shortage of spaces due to the new offices at the back, leading to arguments and conflicts between staff.
What solution is proposed to address the car parking problem?
-The proposed solution is to implement priority parking for staff who need their cars for work and to allocate three spaces for visitors.
Why is there a concern about staff morale in the company?
-There is a concern about staff morale due to low sales figures, increased sickness absence, and issues with the new IT system and restructuring.
What is the suggested approach to improve staff morale?
-Suggestions include conducting a separate meeting to discuss the issues, introducing a new appraisal system, and organizing team-building activities such as go-karting or party pilates.
What IT issue was reported in the meeting?
-The IT issue reported was a problem with the F drive backup recovery disassociating from the PCP main framework, which was caused by a power cut and an overlooked component during reinstallation.
What is the financial status of the company according to Gary's report?
-The financial status is that the company has had a tough year with the balance sheets being about even, but there is a loss of revenue in handset sales abroad.
What additional issues were raised during the meeting that need to be addressed?
-Additional issues raised include the lack of washing up in the kitchen and poor cleanliness in the shower room, which need to be scheduled for discussion in the next meeting.
Outlines
😀 Meeting Introductions and Apologies
The meeting begins with apologies for absences, including Frank Lyons, Gary Cope, Carl Madden, Joey Ballen Weasley, Clive, and Janet Bowers. Rita, the managing director, introduces Jason Somerville, the new project and program manager for marketing, who expresses excitement for his new role and condolences for the loss of the HR manager, Sarah Bryant. Lucy Strokes and Sue Carpenter introduce themselves as the HR manager and sales director, respectively. Julian Gillis is introduced as the new HR manager. The meeting moves on to matters arising from previous minutes, with no issues raised, and then to a discussion about car parking problems caused by the move of Orchard and Shipment, leading to arguments among staff. Lucy suggests informing staff about the limited parking spaces and considering priority parking to resolve disputes.
🚗 Car Parking Issues and Staff Morale
The discussion continues with car parking issues, where it's suggested that priority parking should be given to those who need their cars for work. Julian supports the idea, and it's agreed that Sue and Jason should be allocated parking spaces. The meeting also addresses staff morale, with Sue highlighting low morale in some departments, reflected in low sales figures and increased sickness absence. The introduction of a new IT system, Comet Software, has caused problems due to insufficient training. An anonymous questionnaire reveals issues such as lack of training, poor management, and job security concerns. Suggestions are made to improve morale, including team-building activities like go-karting, awards nights, and party pilates. The meeting decides to gather more ideas and put them to a company vote.
💡 Ideas for Boosting Morale and IT Issues
The meeting discusses ideas for boosting staff morale, such as go-karting, awards nights, party pilates, darts, and drinking evenings. It's decided that everyone will come up with four ideas and email them for consideration at the next meeting. The meeting then turns to IT issues, where Frank explains a power cut that affected the mainframe and sub feeders due to an overlooked component during a recent reinstallation. The solution involves contacting the electricity supplier and ensuring bills are paid on time. There's also a mention of a need for effective communication skills training. The meeting concludes with a financial report from Gary, which shows a tough year with a balance sheet that's about even, but with a loss in revenue from handset sales abroad. The meeting ends with a discussion about cleanliness issues in the kitchen and shower room, which are scheduled for the next meeting's agenda.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Apologies for Absence
💡Car Parking Issues
💡Staff Morale
💡Restructuring
💡Priority Parking
💡New Team Member
💡Anonymous Questionnaire
💡IT System
💡Appraisal System
💡Financial Report
💡Cleanliness
Highlights
Frank Lyons is running late, and several team members like Gary Cope, Carl Madden, and Joey Ballen Weasley have sent apologies for absence.
Jason Somerville introduces himself as the new project and program manager for marketing, having just transferred from the US office.
The car parking issue is raised, with problems arising since Orchard and Shipment moved into new offices at the back.
Priority parking is discussed as a potential solution to parking disputes, with certain staff members needing their cars for work.
Discussion shifts to staff morale, with a report highlighting low sales figures and increased sickness absence in certain departments.
The launch of new software, 'Comet', is identified as a challenge for employees, as many have not received enough training, leading to mistakes and demotivation.
An anonymous questionnaire reveals issues with poor management, lack of training, and concerns about job security following restructuring.
A discussion about organizing team-building activities such as go-karting, awards night, party Pilates, and darts to improve staff morale takes place.
Lucy and Jason agree to draft a list of activities to put to a company-wide vote for team-building exercises.
IT issues from Friday are discussed, where an external energy source problem prevented the mainframe from powering up, causing a disruption.
The company decides to ensure that utility bills are paid on time after a power outage is found to be caused by an unpaid bill.
A financial report shows the company is in the black but down on last year's revenue, especially in handset sales abroad.
There's concern over cleanliness in the office, particularly regarding unwashed plates in the kitchen and the state of the shower room.
Frank’s technical jargon about IT problems is humorously simplified as a 'power cut' to help the team understand.
The meeting concludes with discussions on utility bills, financial reports, and maintaining general cleanliness in the office for the next meeting.
Transcripts
thanks for coming to today's monthly
meeting
uh let's start with apologies for
absence
oh and before i forget uh frank lyons is
running a bit late
he texted me this morning and
gary cope and carl madden emailed
apologies
anyone else joey ballen weasley can't
make it she's struggling with some
personal issues
i think she's got some sort of foot
thing that she's got okay
thank you where's clive oh i completely
forgot
yes uh he can't be here he's had to go
to a meeting elsewhere
damn it oh and janet bowers is off sick
as well
oh that's a surprise to tell you the
truth i forgot what she looked like
and i'm delighted to announce we have a
new
team member with us and specialist
minute taker
so for the benefit of the new addition
to the team shall we all introduce
ourselves and what we get up to
yeah okay i'll start hello i'm rita
managing director as you know
hi i'm jason somerville i'm the new
project and program manager for
marketing i just transferred over from
the us office and i just want to say how
excited i am
about this new role especially with some
of our new products coming on board
and i also wanted to say how sorry i am
to hear about the loss of our hr manager
sarah bryant i think that's going to be
incredible loss to the team
oh yeah i'm lucy strokes p o t rita
i'm sue carpenter with a d and i'm the
sales director
and i'm julian gillis the new hr manager
okay on to the next item are there any
matters arising from the previous
minutes
no fine
well next item on the agenda i'd like
lucy to
talk us through her thoughts on this
yeah well there's been an actual problem
with car parking you know ever since
orchard and shipment moved into the new
offices at the back
um and we knew this was going to happen
eventually but um you know our staff
have got used to the extra spaces
and what's happened there's been a few
arguments there was a really bad one
where one of our lot can play to one of
their lot
um which is really bad because we're
trying to like we just started just with
a bad reputation
so what we need to do is let one you
know our lot know that
the spaces belong to them actually i'm
sorry are you saying there is a problem
with car parking lucy i didn't quite
catch all of what you said
yeah i mean also a number of the sales
team need their car throughout the day
and they want to know what the company
proposes to do about this issue
i'm not sure we need to send an email
letting all the staff know there are
only five spaces that belong to us
well i think we should think about
priority parking as well it's the only
way we're going to stop people rowing on
a regular basis
sorry i i got held up in a
previous meeting okay it's okay we're
just discussing
car parking issues right i ride a bike
yes i do too you ride a bike yes
oh really and does it have a bell on it
actually yes it does
please can we get back okay i mentioned
priority parking so we need to make a
decision on this i witnessed a fight
last week between two members of staff
stop exaggerating it's just a heated
discussion i was perfectly in my rights
to stand up for myself
some loser came up to me and said my car
is taking up two parking spaces now
that's just ridiculous
well you do drive a tank and it does
take up two spaces
i think priority parking is a good idea
julian thank you
you know i think that anyone that needs
their car for work and uses it during
work hours should be given priority
at the sales team can i what happens if
one of them is off sick
so can we just decide on the priority
spaces first well
i can think of about four people on the
on the sales team that use their cars
regularly
i'll get back to off the meeting but i'm
pretty sure it's full and well that
should leave enough space for management
uh provided that is that jason gives up
the tractor
uh how about two car parking spaces for
visitors as well
respective clients might need their
spaces completely forgot about that
actually yes let's make it three three
oh please would you both put your phones
away it's very distracting
okay right three spaces
uh as it's a difficult area to part with
a two-hour restriction and client
meetings are always running over
that would leave us with two spaces left
to be allocated
have i got a space rita rita client
meeting shouldn't be running over two
hours i mean around 40 minutes max
well i have different types of meeting
from you yes but if meetings overrun i
mean clients just switch off and get
bored
really yeah can we please get back to
the agenda item i do have another
meeting to go to
the car park is not an issue for me as i
travel by bicycle as does frank
look i suggest sue and jason are
allocated the two spaces
i don't mean to be petty but but jason
really does take up two spaces excuse me
listen if he parks by the garages in the
corner where he normally parks he's
normally okay there
so let's have him have that parking
space listen forgive me this is just
you need to park by the garages and i'll
coordinate letting the next priority
member know if anyone is off sick
okay great so can we all agree that we
send a list to all staff
advising them about the priority parking
is that okay great
if anyone was listening i'll send it
also think that if anybody parks
inconsiderately that they should lose
their car parking privilege
oh what's everyone think about that
lucy what do you think
yeah he's right okay that settles that
um settles what loss of privilege or
parking by the garage
right all right so i'll i'll put a sign
up with my name on it my parking space
yeah oh can you put a sign up on all the
spaces jason
oh okay why don't i get a list and then
i'll circulate it so there's no
confusion
fine jason you do it so can i just say
okay okay
moving on to the next item on the agenda
uh
staff morale sue can you explain the
background to this
sue has identified a growing problem
with staff morale
can you all refer to the issued report
i i wish clive was here i mean actually
he really needs to be here
no doesn't i'm here why does he need to
be here
please carry on well there is a
concern in some departments that there
is low staff morale this is indicated by
the recent
low sales figures and also increased
sickness absence
in some of the departments i'm sorry i
don't seem to have the reports
right well there seems to be a
significance problem um with staff
morale in in the sales team and also
sickness absence
um and also company-wide particularly on
mondays and fridays
there is definitely low morale in the
company in certain departments um
new changes have been introduced like
the it system
people just want to know why certain
people have left why there's been
restructuring
and whether their jobs are safe yeah
isn't this just gossip sounds like
excuses and laziness to me anyway it
clearly is
the case that sales figures are at their
lowest since february last year
and it's mainly to do with the amount of
absences from the sales team
um the recent launch of comet software
has caused problems too because it seems
that people haven't had enough training
and are therefore making a number of
mistakes i've done my best
it's a big department i would like to
say that
the basic instruction handout was given
out and everyone was shown step-by-step
easy
steps about how this should be done and
everyone was provided with uh
well should have been provided well no
actually they were provided with
a password that would allow them to log
into the new system yes okay so
what has this got to do with staff
morale is what people struggling with
new software you know they're making
mistakes it slows them down
it demotivates them anyway if you could
all look
at the second report um lucy and i
produced a anonymous questionnaire to
get feedback from staff about
issues um if you have a look you'll see
um
very clearly the feedback statistics
and lucy i don't mean to pick on you but
you were given a password and like
everyone else you seem to have
mislaid it or or lost it and then and
then you emailed
me what is this losing or forgetting
passwords got to do with low morale and
also
everyone puts down poor management when
you talk about morale it's just a waste
of time
these questionnaires there are issues
that have been
raised things like lack of training um
you know lack of effective appraisals
i do appraisals well when was the last
time you conducted a staff appraisal
anyway the point is that we need to be
working a little harder to get people on
site and
we also found out from the questionnaire
that um
some of the issues are to do with the
recent restructuring the job losses
poor management in some departments and
also as i've mentioned
the uh the lack of training on the new
software
well thank you for that soon you do seem
to have taken on a lot recently
look as there are a few reasons what
would you say was the predominant reason
so that we begin to tackle one at a time
maybe start
work on the major one first well i i
think it might be a good idea if you and
i had a a separate meeting about that
um why don't we move on to the uh the
second issue now
well okay we can hold on that but maybe
we could have one after this meeting
okay but you know so these issues really
need to be dealt with now
okay i'll take your point but i do wish
clyde was here
okay maybe we could discuss the new
appraisal system now we could have an
awards night
some sort of evening to boost morale
yeah yeah get your company expense
perfect
or some sort of teen challenge get
everyone pulling together maybe in the
daytime first
yeah what about uh go-karting is that a
team
challenge what about party pilates what
darts guys like darts everyone's a
winner it's quite a good idea actually
yeah
and i like darts no i don't i don't like
darts i think we should send a
questionnaire rather than management
deciding what
motivates the team starts no no i might
kill someone
i'm glad you consider everyone jason
okay so we'll ask the staff then we'll
put it through a vote
yeah great idea so get them some options
put it to a vote
and then there'll be no excuse for any
complaints
okay and time's ticking on uh can we all
have a think come what
some ideas for the next meeting and then
at the meeting we can decide on about
six and put it to a company vote
yeah why don't we decide on those things
now while they're still fresh in
everybody's minds
yeah and those issues do need addressing
now okay so what have we got
we have go-karting awards tonight
party pilates darts and drinking
evenings we need more than that
let's all come up with four and email
them over in the next two days and i'll
take it from there
so moving on yes i t
issue so what are the i.t issues i heard
there was a problem on friday and i was
in saint albans with a new client um
friday's issues took me quite a long
time to investigate
in fact it took me pretty much all of my
afternoon the uh
f drive backup recovery disassociated
itself somehow from the pcp main
framework
i found that this was a problem dating
back to the beginning of last month when
the pcp was originally reinstalled
somehow quite a large component from the
logative remix
hadn't been installed in the
reinstallation um
indeed this was also a problem with the
uh external energy source
administration detail being um
overlooked
frank just try explaining that back to
us as a five-year-old would you
oh geez and shall i continue
um the there was an external energy
issue preventing us from powering up our
mainframe and sub feeders
do you mean there was a power cut frank
yes in simple terms
thank you so how can we avoid this
happening again
i guess it would be a matter for
contacting the electricity supplier
pay the electricity bill yes can we
minute accounts
please play the electricity bills on
time agreed
i agree thank you and maybe we should
have sent frank got an effective
communication skills course
yeah agreed yeah right moving swiftly on
what about the training issue oh i've
been thinking about that and i've got an
idea but i want to run it past clive
first
um maybe we could say that for the next
meeting oh
uh okay but i mean i think we should
have that meeting sooner rather than
later
okay in the next two weeks but not
everybody needs to be there
i'd like myself and clive and frank
because it's relevant to them
but i think i should be there as well
that's my final decision sue thank you
i'll speak with clive
and let you know date frank moving on
yes
gary couldn't attend today so he's
provided us with a
financial report which in summary
well we've had a tough year the balance
sheets about even
and we're doing pretty well in contract
sales so thanks very much for that
on the downside loss of revenue in
handset sales abroad
how much are we down on last year i mean
gary's layout here is quite confusing
this figure here
52 or 21 i mean i'm not familiar with
this
this uh kind of financial report he
seems to have changed it
that's a big difference let me just have
a look i've got a bit of
accounting experience thanks julian you
know that's a lot
seriously i mean what's good it's
actually neither of those numbers it's
11.
are we in red or black well i think if
we can't pay a utility bill i think
we're in the red
actually we are in the black but we're
down on last year okay well thank you
for that
i think that's about all for this
meeting um just leaves us with any other
business
um yeah the uh people are leaving
plates not washing up their plates in
the kitchen
but it is it's an issue it stinks on the
same note actually
at the shower room recently
seen the state of the shower room yeah
okay can i just say a little bit in
there
yes you should because you ride your
bike okay we've got a
general cleanliness problem and as far
as those issues are concerned you must
make sure they're scheduled for the next
meeting
all right everyone happy is the
dishwasher not working
you
Weitere ähnliche Videos ansehen
BASIC OF HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT
Identifying areas of improvement
PRAKTIK RAPAT “PENURUNAN OMZET PERUSAHAAN DAN STRATEGi MENiNGKATKAN PENJUALAN PRODUK”
Labour Turnover | A-Level, IB & BTEC Business
3 formas de assumir um condomínio (parte 1)
Tips for New Supervisors, Five Simple First Time Supervisor Tips and Skills
5.0 / 5 (0 votes)