Effective Meeting Strategies Quiz

When planning a meeting, what questions should you ask yourself?

• Who should attend this meeting?

• Is this meeting necessary?

• What is the purpose of the meeting?

• All of the above questions would work well.

• None of the above questions are useful for this purpose.

What is one of the most important tools you need for an effective meeting?

• a white board

• an agenda

• lots of people

• a window with a nice view

What does "push for closure" mean?

• Pushing the door closed when everyone is in the meeting room.

• Working to identify who will be responsible for what by when.

• Postponing making decisions because you don't have enough information.

Why is it important to know your purpose for the meeting?

• It is important because it allows the people who will attend the meeting to prepare for the discussions.

• It is important so that you know when the purpose has been achieved and you can push for closure.

• It is important because it provides context for the types of discussions and decision-making that will be taking place. In other words, will the information flow in only one direction or will extensive discussion be necessary?

• All of the above options are correct.

Why is it important to send any related materials to your attendees BEFORE the meeting?

• It is important because everyone likes to have more work to do.

• It is important because it creates more work for you.

• It is important because it allows the attendees to read the material before the meeting. This ensures that valuable meeting time will not be wasted because everyone is reading instead of discussing.

What purpose does an authoritative decision-making approach have?

• Leadership needs to make a decision and is seeking input from his or her team in order to do so.

• The purpose of the meeting is to discuss an issue, and then everyone has an opportunity to vote on the decision

• The purpose of the meeting is to come to an agreement on an issue. You may not get 100% agreement, but at least everyone will have had an opportunity to weigh in.

• This is the kind of meeting where the leadership is sharing information with employees and has full control of the information. The information flows (mostly) in one direction.

Which is an example of a consensus approach to decision-making?

• Gary Bowen, Human Resources Manager, has called a meeting of all employees for him to detail the new employee benefits package. He and his team will explain the changes and new benefits.

• Global Advertising has put together a brief outlining their plans for developing advertising material for the BioDent product. Elizabeth has called her team together to discuss the brief, its benefits and drawbacks, and to come to a group decision on whether to proceed.

• The R&D (Research and Development) team has presented Elizabeth with an option to add probiotic breath strips to the BioDent brand. She has called her team together to discuss the potential impact of adding this new feature to the launch. Based on their input, Elizabeth will make a decision.

Which of the following are good examples of phrases you can use to encourage others to participate?

(2 correct answers)

• "Let's table that discussion until later."

• "That’s an interesting point. Tell me more."

• "That's not the focus of today's meeting."

• "What is your opinion on the direction we are taking?"

What do you think are the benefits of closing the meeting with a summary of what was discussed?