Meeting and Agenda

1. MEETING AND
AGENDA
SHAMIMA AKTER
B. SC IN OT, M.SC IN RS
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR,
DEPARTMENT OF OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY
BANGLADESH HEALTH PROFESSIONS INSTITUTE
CENTRE FOR THE REHABILITATION OF THE PARALYSED
CHAPAIN, SAVAR

2. Introduction:
 Effective communication skills are important for
occupational therapists.
 Occupational therapists rely on communication to
interact with each other, to interact with the
multidisciplinary team, and to interact with patients
and their families.
 Both written and verbal communication are important
skills for occupational therapists as both types of
communication are used to convey information to
other team members and staff.
 The next series of lectures will focus on some
important aspects of communication which are
required for occupational therapy management.

3. What is communication?
 Communication is a process of conveying
information between two or more people. It can occur
through verbal, non-verbal, or written communication.
 Good communication is when the message is
conveyed in such a way that it is clear, and easy for
the receiver to understand it.
 Identifying appropriate methods of communication for
different audiences is also an important component of
good communication.
 An effective communicator will be able to select an
appropriate form of communication to convey their
message clearly to their intended audience.

4. Formal communication
 As a manager, it is often necessary to use formal
types of communication to convey messages to
groups or individuals effectively.
 Formal communication ensures that important
information is delivered effectively, in a timely
manner.
 Memorandums and meetings are two types of
formal communication which can be used at a
management level.
 Each of these forms of communication, when
used appropriately, can enable effective
communication between staff.

5. Memoranda
 Defintion: Memoranda (commonly known as
memos) are short pieces of written information
that can be used to convey information to a
wide number of people in a minimal amount of
time.
 Purpose: Memoranda are a quick and
effective way of distributing important
information to a number of people.
 Process: Memoranda can be written copied
and distributed to all relevant staff.

6. Memoranda
Continue...
 Components: The type of information that is
commonly included in a memorandum
includes:
 Drawing immediate attention to a task or
problem
 A change in a policy or procedure that a
number of staff need to be aware of
 Making staff aware of an upcoming event
requiring their attention
 Sharing information about a new idea or
development

7. Memoranda should include the
following information:
 Date of issue
 Who the memorandum has been sent to (all
recipients or the memorandum should see the
names of all other recipients so that they are
aware of who is involved)
 Who the memorandum has been sent from
 An overall subject of the memorandum
 Details of the information being imparted, the
directive of the memorandum or action (if any)
required

8. Meetings
 Meetings are also important communication tools.
 Meetings enable information and decisions to be shared
amongst a group of people.
 Meetings can vary greatly in their level of formality.
Some meetings, such as those of a senior management
committee may be very formal, whereas staff meetings of
a small department may be much more informal.
 Occupational therapists can be engaged in a number of
different types of meetings.
 Clinical meetings (ie. meetings in which multidisciplinary
team members share information about patients) are very
different to staff or committee meetings, where policies
and procedures, strategic planning or staffing issues may
be discussed.

9. Meeting
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 Most non clinical meetings should have some
degree of formality to ensure that the
information sharing is effective.
 Meetings are time wasted if the information
and plans discussed are not acted upon.
 To ensure the successful exchange of
information in meetings, agendas and minutes
are essential.

10. Meeting
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 Meetings should also have designated people to
act as a chairperson, and a minute taker.
 A chairperson’s role is to ensure that the agenda
format is followed, and that staff move from one
topic to another is a timely manner.
 A minute taker’s role is to take notes and write up
minutes from the meeting.
 These roles may be consistently filled by the
same people, or shared amongst different
participants.

11. Meeting agendas
 Definition: An agenda is a list of topics / subjects
which are to be discussed in a meeting.
 Purpose:
 An agenda is used and to ensure that all required
information is discussed in a timely manner, thus enabling
an effective meeting.
 An agenda allows all the meeting participants to know
what is to be discussed in the meeting, and the sequence
of discussion.
 Process:
 Agendas should be distributed to all meeting participants
prior to the meeting so that participants know when and
where the meeting is, what is to be discussed, and what
(if any) preparation they should do prior to the meeting.
 The chairperson of the meeting should follow the agenda

12. Agenda
Continue...
Components:
 Agendas should include the date, time and place of a
meeting, as well as other issues to be discussed.
 Many meeting agendas have standard items (that is items
on the agenda which are discussed at every meeting).
 Standard agenda items can include:
 Approving minutes from the previous meeting
 Confirmation of date and time of next meeting
 Feedback from staff members who have attended other
meetings / committees
 Matters arising from previous minutes
 New business

13. Meeting minutes
 Definition: Meeting minutes are written
records of issues discussed and decisions
arrived at during a meeting.
 Purpose:
 Minutes ensure that a record is kept of what has
occurred in meetings.
 They also provide a framework of action /
activities which should occur between meetings.
 Minutes allow staff who were not present at the
meeting to see clearly what occurred during the
meeting.

14. Process:
 Each meeting should have a designated minute taker.
 It is the role of this person to record what occurs
during the meeting, and to ensure that the minutes are
typed / written in the correct format and circulated to all
meeting participants.
 Both participants who were present at the meeting,
and others who were apologies should be provided
with a copy of the minutes.
 Minutes from meetings should be kept together, either
as hard copies in a book or folder, or in a folder on the
computer.
 In this way, there is a record of the activities of the
group, and new meeting participants can review the
minutes and observe what occurs in the meeting.

15. Components:
 Each committee, work place, department may have
different formats for writing up meeting minutes.
 However, minutes usually include:
 Time, date and place of meeting
 Those present at the meeting
 Apologies of those who could not attend
 Acceptance of the minutes of the previous meeting
 An outline of what was discussed during the meeting and
decisions which were made
 Confirmation of the next meeting
 Some minutes also include an action column. In this column,
the name of a person who is responsible for acting on or
following up certain issues or decisions should be listed. This
assists in ensuring that responsible participants are prompted
to follow up issues as discussed in the meeting.

16. Example: Memorandum
Date: 28/08/03
To: Nazreen, Kabir, Farah
Re: New staff member – Karim
As you are aware, there is a new staff member arriving on
15/09/03. As part of his orientation, Karim will be visiting each
of your departments. Please ensure that you make a time
table for Karim outlining his activities whilst he is in your
department. All time tables should be submitted to me prior to
10/09/03 so that Karim’s overall induction program can be
finalised.
Thank you,
Sweet

17. Example: Memorandum
Date: 28/08/03
To: Nazmul, Shameem, Anteena, Baschar, Polash,
Tauhid, Zahir, Jahangir, Happy, Tripti, Bijon, Shameem,
Raton, Manir
Re: Change of work hours – 15/09/03
Due to upcoming Occupational Therapy week, and the
department’s activities during this week, there will be a
change of work hours on 15/09/03. It will be compulsory
for all staff to work until 7pm on this day for a planning
session. Overtime will be paid at this time. Should this
be a problem for any staff, please see me as soon as
possible.
Thank you for your participation,

18. QUESTION SESSION