V3_ICR3A Meetings Handbook-12-18-12

Company standards for
departmental meetings
Quick-start checklist to
plan a successful
meeting
Templates for agenda
and minutes
December 2012
ICR3A Handbook:
Departmental Meetings
Standards
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+

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ICR3A Handbook: Departmental Meetings i

Developed by
ICR3A Meetings Special Committee:
Aaron Carpenter
Ann Van Buren
Anna Armas
Chauntain Shields
Ingrid Finstuen
Rachel Lloyd
December 2012
ICR3A Handbook:
Departmental Meetings
Standards

ICR3A Handbook: Departmental Meetings ii

Table of Contents
How to Use This Handbook Page 1
Before the Meeting: The Agenda Page 2
During the Meeting: Keeping On Track Page 7
After the Meeting: Following up Page 9
Conclusion Page 11
Appendix Page 12
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ICR3A Handbook: Departmental Meetings 1

How to Use This Handbook
This guide aims to make
meetings successful by
providing tools to
manage the procedures
before, during, and after
meetings.
The ICR3A HR Handbook: Departmental Meetings is aimed primarily at
ICR3A departmental heads and other employees who create and manage
department meetings.
This is intended as a guide and is highly recommended for all ICR3A
meetings. The format allows enough flexibility for each department to
customize where needed, upon HR approval. It is not meant to be read
cover to cover, but to serve as a reference tool.
The handbook is divided into six sections outlined below. Additionally, the
Appendix includes a checklist to guide the meeting process. It is highly
recommended to use the checklist simultaneously with this handbook.
● How to use this handbook – what you need to know before using
the handbook.
● Before the meeting – procedures for assembling and preparing
materials, soliciting information from others who need issues
addressed, and inviting the appropriate parties.
○ Establishing an agenda – methods and examples for using
the agenda template.
○ Assigning roles – guidance for delegating responsibilities
of the meeting chairperson, facilitator, and secretary.
● During the meeting – a series of steps to keep the meeting
progressing according to the established purpose and agenda.
○ Opening – How to set the tone of the meeting.
○ Conducting the meeting – Tools and guidelines for
effectively managing the meeting time, facilitating active
participation, addressing off-topic subjects, and redirecting
digressive conversation.
○ Closing – Guidelines for concluding the meeting,
reviewing actions addressed during the meeting, and
completing minutes.
● After the meeting – This section addresses distributing meeting
materials (including surveys and “Thank you’s”), archiving
meeting minutes, and appropriate follow-up on required actions.
● Resources – This section provides links to the sources used to
create this document and suggestions for further reading.
● Appendix – Agenda, Meeting Minutes, and Checklist Templates.

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Before the Meeting
See Resources for
Further Reading on
page 18 in the Appendix.

Pre-Meeting Steps
As with almost every process, there are certain steps that should
be completed in order to ensure a standard practice. This
section details the steps that should be taken prior to holding the
meeting.

Identify a Purpose
In order to have an efficient meeting, it is critical to identify a
purpose first. This step should cover what the meeting is meant
to accomplish, even going as far as creating an objective, such
as “Settle budget for Spring 2013 marketing.” Once you
understand what needs to be accomplished, gauge how much
time is necessary for that topic, leaving room for not only the
presentation of topic, but for discussion as well.

Identify Participants
Carrying on the example from above, although the meeting
topic pertains to marketing, does not mean that every person in
the marketing department should be present in the meeting.
Identifying a purpose early on will clarify the relevant parties
that should be included. An efficient and cost-effective meeting
is one that does not include unnecessary parties.

Confirm Availability of Attendees
A clear marker of an ineffective meeting is when critical
participants are unable to meet due to scheduling conflicts.
Contacting meeting attendees as early as possible will allow
them to plan accordingly and prepare for the meeting. Reach
out to the involved parties and find a date and time that will
work for all.

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Confirm Time and Location
While ICR3A conducts most departmental meetings in person,
participants should be informed of how they can call in to the
meeting if it occurs while they are traveling. Meeting planners
should provide details that accommodate traveling associates
whenever possible, rather than postponing a meeting or
attempting to complete the meeting without that person.

Solicit New Topics and Confirm
Relevance to Meeting Objective
Meeting organizers should seek to accomplish as much as
possible during pre-meeting correspondence. This means being
open up to suggestions about other topics that should be
covered during the meeting in question. One of the best
practices in this realm is to acknowledge what each participant
has suggested and then follow up to confirm that the topic is
relevant to the meeting objective. If the suggested topic is
important but not relevant, schedule time to discuss that topic in
another session.

Identify Time Allocations
Should one of the newly suggested topics make it onto the
agenda, be sure to confirm the time necessary for that topic.
Again, let your pre-meeting correspondence serve multiple
purposes. The more you clarify before the meeting, the
smoother your meeting should go.

Assign Roles
Once the participants are confirmed, the meeting organizer
should assign roles. If there is not a dedicated minutes taker,
one of the participants should be assigned that role. This
person can also serve as the timekeeper, but the critical
concern is that the meeting facilitator not be tasked with roles
that will take his or her attention off of the agenda. These roles
can be clarified and cemented when distributing the agenda
before the meeting.
Meeting planners should
provide details that
accommodate traveling
associates whenever
possible, rather than
postponing a meeting.

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Department heads should establish standards that work best
for them. If there is to be a dedicated minutes taker, his or her
schedule might bring in added schedule conflicts. Revolving
roles could be a better option when availability is a concern.
Establish an Agenda
Now that you have a clear purpose, have confirmed the
availability of necessary participants, and have invited new
topics, it’s time to organize all of this information into one
easily referenced document. This means establishing an
agenda. ICR3A has implemented a standardized agenda
template that can be used across all departments. The
following breakdown of the agenda sections will clarify the
proper usage of this document.

Meeting Title
When titling a meeting, consider your tactics in crafting email
subject lines. The title should clearly convey the topic at hand,
but it shouldn’t be a full statement of purpose.

Meeting Information
The first section of the template deals with the logistical
information regarding the meeting. Because the agendas will
be distributed before the meeting occurs, they should contain
information regarding time, location, and call-in numbers for
satellite participants. In addition, ICR3A has included a field
in which meeting organizers should state the objective that
they identified in early planning stages.

It is a formatted
schedule that includes
information about the
meeting as well as the
topics.
Agendas are meant to
organize the meeting
and to provide
everyone attending
with a glimpse of what
the meeting will entail.

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It is not mandatory to fill out every field for every meeting.
ICR3A has simply provided space for all information that
could be pertinent.

Preparation for Meeting
This section is meant to inform participants of what is
expected of them throughout the course of the meeting and
how they can best prepare for the meeting. If the meeting will
focus on a written proposal about the marketing budget, each
participant should have a copy of that proposal and, if
necessary, bring it to the meeting ready to discuss.
This is not a required field. If there are no materials involved
in the meeting preparation, organizers can leave these fields
blank or alter the wording to better reflect what participants
should accomplish before the meeting.

Action and Agenda Items
Whereas the previous sections related to information decided
before the meeting, the sections in the image below will all be
addressed during the meeting.
When planning the agenda,
include information from past meetings
and
tasks that were
assigned so the group can revisit them. The agenda is meant to
serve as a tracking and organizing device; use it as such.
In order to stay within the reserved time, assign each agenda
and action item a specific amount of time, and then assign a

The agenda template
helps all attendees
participate in meeting
planning. That helps
the meeting to run
more smoothly.
See the full agenda
template on page 15 in
the Appendix.
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timekeeper to alert speakers when their time has run out.
ICR3A trusts that its employees will be respectful of one
another and suggest additional meetings to cover topics that
require more time.

Distribute the Agenda
Depending on the amount of time available, you may be rushed to
get the agenda to participants the day before the meeting. However,
participants should all receive a copy of the agenda ahead of time,
particularly if the meetings will require preparation. This allows
each person to understand his or her responsibilities as well as raise
any concerns about the agenda or time allocations.

A best practice in distributing the agenda is to include information
on accessing the previous meeting’s minutes. The first agenda item
in every meeting is to approve minutes from the last meeting. A
simple reminder to review those minutes before the meeting will
expedite the approval process.
These steps were designed to standardize the process of preparing for
meetings and provide department heads with information that will aid in
making meetings more efficient and less costly.
An action item is a
task that is scheduled
and assigned with a
deadline.
For additional
resources and agenda
and minutes
templates,
see the Appendix,
starting on
page 12.

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During the Meeting
The opening of a meeting is an opportunity to set the tone for the rest of the
meeting. An effective opening will include the following steps:

· Review the agenda
– Reading the agenda for the meeting
provides a reminder to participants of why they have gathered.
Furthermore, individuals are less likely to interrupt the flow of the
meeting if they know that a topic of interest to them will be raised
at a later point in the meeting.

· Review the Ground Rules
– This reminds meeting participants
of expectations for their behavior. While ICR3A will allow each
department to set up ground rules according to their own needs, the
Human Resources Department recommends the following:
o Do not use any personal electronics during the meeting.
o Private conversations are not to be conducted during the
meeting.
o Only one person should speak at a time. Please refrain from
interrupting other speakers.
o Comments should be addressed to the issues
at
hand
rather
than the personality of the speakers.

· Review minutes
– Reading the minutes from the previous
meeting provides participants with an idea of what was
accomplished at the last meeting and what they agreed to do
between the meetings.
Conducting the Meeting
The main challenge of conducting an effective meeting is managing the
time. ICR3A Human Resources department has the following suggestions
for keeping a meeting on task.
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For more information
about the agenda and
the minutes, see Pre-
Meeting Steps on page
2 of this handbook.
Reviewing ground rules
reminds participants of
the expectations for
their behavior.
See After the Meeting
for more about the post-
meeting processes.


Example of
acknowledging
disruption:
Bob, I’ve noticed you’ve
left the room two times
during the meeting.
We’ve had to catch you
up to speed when you’ve
come back in which has
slowed the meeting.
Should we take a short
break so that everyone
can focus when we
return?
Negative polling is an
effective way to check
for consensus. The
facilitator simply asks if
anyone disagrees with
what has been suggested
by participants. Hesitant
participants can then
voice their objections.
Use a flip chart – Recording ideas on a flip chart allows all meeting
participants to see the flow of discussion topics. Furthermore, it provides an
opportunity for participants to alert the facilitator if they feel their points are
not being accurately recorded.
Use an Idea Bin – An idea Bin is a separate flip chart page where ideas that
are not pertinent to the current agenda item are recorded. It allows
participants to focus better on the topic at hand because they know other
important points will be remembered at a later point in time.
Acknowledge disruptions – Ignoring disruptive behaviors will encourage
them. Address the behavior in a tactful way and ask for suggestions to
resolve the issue.
Involve participants in time management – Some topics
might end up taking longer than anticipated. When this occurs,
ask for a vote on whether to continue with the current topic or
to put the discussion in the Idea Bin and move on.

Closing the Meeting
The closing of the meeting is an opportunity to review what has been
accomplished and what will need to be addressed in the future. An effective
closing will include the following.
Check for consensus on agreements – Review the agreements or
conclusions that have been reached during the meeting so that participants
have one last chance to voice their disagreements.
Assign action items – The facilitator should use the end of the meeting to
determine who will follow-up on which items from the meeting.
Participants should clearly understand what is expected of them between
this meeting and the next.
Revisit the Idea Bin – Review the topics in the Idea Bin and agree on
where and when the topics will be discussed in the future.

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After the Meeting
The minutes are not a
transcription of the
meeting and don’t
necessarily have to be
written in the order they
occurred.
See the full Meeting
Minutes template in the
Appendix on page 16.
After the meeting is the time to follow up with meeting participants,
reiterate what was said and decided on, and to check that those who have
action items to complete have the information and resources needed to
complete the assignment.
Finalize Meeting Minutes
The minute taker should complete the minutes as soon as possible after the
meeting. The minutes are not a transcription of the meeting and don’t
necessarily have to be written in the order they occurred. The minutes
should be topic based, so that it is easy to see what topics were discussed
and what decisions were made on the topics. This should also include who
is going to do what and when the deliverables are due.
Be sure to have either the meeting facilitator or chairperson sign off on the
minutes before sending them out. If the facilitator wrote the minutes
another meeting participant should sign off on the minutes before they are
sent out.
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A meeting satisfaction
survey is a good way for
individual teams to learn
about their unique
situation.
Should questions arise
about past decisions or
actions, these can be
checked for reference in
archived documents.
Deliver meeting materials to participants
In a follow-up email to the meeting participants, be sure to include the
following pieces:
Thank you letter to meeting participants – Even if everyone did not
agree or get along in the meeting, it is important to send a thank you letter.
There are three key parts to a thank you letter:
· Thank members for taking the time to attend the meeting and
reiterate the importance of the topics discussed.
· Provide any information you promised the participant(s).
· Restate
your
concerns
and
what
you
want.

Meeting Minutes – Meeting participants can respond with corrections
and questions to the minutes, as well as email their agreement with them.
Meeting Satisfaction Survey – Ask participants what they thought was
good/bad about the meeting, what they learned at the meeting, what they
thought could be better.
This can be done as simply as writing the survey questions at the end of the
email. Online resources such as www.surveymonkey.com provide resources
for employees to respond anonymously as well as allow management to
easily track satisfaction numbers. Free services are available.
Archive meeting documents
It is a good idea to archive meeting documents, including minutes and any
other materials that were presented, such as reports.
Check on required action(s)
The meeting chairman, or whoever is responsible, should check that the
relevant parties are completing the work assigned to them and have all the
needed resources to do this.
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Meeting Minutes Template was modified from one available on
www.templatespoint.org/meeting-minutes-templates.html.
Other templates are also available on office.microsoft.com

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Conclusion
The Human Resources
Department is happy to
answer any questions
about this handbook.
The department can be
reached via email at
hr@icr3a.com or phone
at 208-123-4567.
This handbook is intended as a dynamic tool for each of the departments at
ICR3A. While the Human Resources Department recommends the basic
steps in the meeting process, these steps can be customized to suit the needs
of each segment of the company.
These steps were designed to standardize the process of preparing for
meetings and provide department heads with information that will aid in
making meetings more efficient and less costly.
A greater understanding of the meeting process and a comprehensive,
usable handbook that includes tools like an agenda template, a meeting
template, and a step checklist are sure to improve the efficiency and
effectiveness of meetings at ICR3A.
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Appendix A
.
ICR3A Meeting Checklist
Before the Meeting

In identifying a purpose, did you

☐ identify meeting topics? (p. 2)

☐ identify involved parties? (p. 2)

In contacting attendees, did you
☐ seek out parties and confirm availability? (p. 2)

☐ confirm time and location? (p. 3)

☐ solicit new topics and confirm relevance? (p. 3)

☐ identify time allocations? (p. 3)
In creating an agenda, did you
☐ utilize the agenda template? (pp. 4-6)
In distributing the agenda, did you
☐ give participants plenty of time for review? (p. 6)
☐ request review for previous meeting’s minutes? (p. 5)
In assigning roles, did you
☐ identify the chairperson? (pp. 3-4)
☐ identify the facilitator? (pp. 3-4)
☐ assign someone to take minutes? (p. 5)


Appendix A
.
During the Meeting

In opening the meeting, did you
☐ review the agenda? (p. 7)

☐ review the ground rules? (p. 7)

☐ review the previous minutes? (p. 7)

In conducting the meeting, did you
☐ keep the meeting on task? (pp. 7-8)

In closing the meeting, did you
☐ check on agreements? (p. 8)
☐ assign action items? (p. 8)


Appendix A
.
After the Meeting

In completing the minutes, did you
☐ utilize the minutes template? (pp. 9, 16)

In distributing the post-meeting materials, did you
☐ send a thank-you note? (p. 10)

☐ distribute the minutes? (p. 10)

☐ conduct a satisfaction survey? (p. 10)

☐ distribute supporting materials? (p. 10)

In checking on required actions, did you
☐ consult the action items identified on the minutes? (p. 10)


Appendix B
[Meeting Title] Agenda
Meeting Information
Objective:
Date: [01/01/2000] Location: [Enter Room Number]
Time: [Time] Meeting Type: [Type of Meeting]
Call-In Number: [List number] Facilitator: [Name]
Call-In Code: [Enter code] Chairperson: [Name]
Minutes: [Name] Called By: [Name]
Timekeeper: [Name]
Attendees: [List Names]
Preparation for Meeting
Please Read:
Please Bring:
Action Items from Previous Meeting
Item/Responsible/Due Date

1. [Item Description] / [Responsible]/[Due Date]
Agenda Items
Item/Presenter/Time Allotted

1. [Agenda Item] / [Presenter Name]/[Time Allotted]
2.
New Action Items
Item/Responsible/Due Date
1. [New Item] / [Responsible]/[Due Date]
Other Notes or Information


Appendix C

ICR3A Meeting Minutes

[Time Allocated] [Topic of Discussion] [Presenter Name]
Discussion
Summary

Conclusions

Action Item Responsible Person Deadline

[Date] [Time]
Meeting Called By:

Meeting Type:

Meeting Facilitator

Time Keeper

Number of Attendees


ICR3A Meeting Minutes, Page 2
Observers

Resource
Persons

Notes:

[Time Allocated] [Topic of Discussion] [Presenter Name]
Discussion Summary

Conclusions

Action Item Responsible
Person
Deadline


Appendix D
Resources for Further Reading
If you would like more information on any parts of the successful meeting process, we recommend the
following web sites.
Before the Meeting
Vertex 42
http://www.vertex42.com/WordTemplates/meeting-agenda.html
This site provides a clean and uncomplicated agenda template, which HR found would be easiest for
department heads to adapt. This site contributed the most to the template included in the handbook.
Project Management Docs
http://www.projectmanagementdocs.com/project-documents/meeting-agenda.html
This site also provides helpful information for what an agenda should include. If you want to further
adapt the agenda to meet your departmental needs, this site can provide valuable insight into addressing
issues.
Marketing Sherpa Blog
http://sherpablog.marketingsherpa.com/marketing/effective-meeting-agendas/
This site addresses the larger picture of ineffective meetings. If you are struggling to understand why
ICR3A has implemented more formal meeting practices, take a look at this site to understand how
agendas can redirect a meeting that has derailed.
During the Meeting
Introduction to Planning and Facilitating Meetings
http://www.csc.noaa.gov/digitalcoast/_/pdf/effective-meetings.pdf
This pamphlet, available in PDF form from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,
provides in-depth information about planning and facilitating
meetings.
Conducting Effective Meetings
http://www.cnr.berkeley.edu/ucce50/ag-labor/7labor/11.pdf
This is a chapter taken from a book called Labor Management in Agriculture: Cultivating
Personnel Productivity. While the broad focus is on agricultural laborers, the information about planning
and conducting meetings can be applied to any industry.
Effective Meeting Facilitation
http://www.nea.gov/resources/lessons/duncan1.html
This article, posted on the National Endowment for the Arts website, provides a good, quick read about
planning and conducting effective meetings.


Appendix D, page 2
After the Meeting
Templates Point
http://www.templatespoint.org/meeting-minutes-templates.html
The minutes template in this handbook is a modified version of the one found on this site. The site
provides a wide variety of Word templates for everything from minutes to calendars to invitations.
Microsoft
http://www.office.microsoft.com
Microsoft’s web site offers a huge number of templates. It is a good resource if you are looking for
possible additions to the minutes template available in this handbook.
University of Wisconsin-Madison
http://quality.wisc.edu/effective-meetings-after.htm
This is a concise and helpful site from the Office of Quality Improvement at the University of Wisconsin-
Madison. It also includes information on preparing the meeting, conducting the meeting, and dealing with
common problems.
CADCA
http://www.cadca.org/policyadvocacy/capitol_hill_basics/after-meeting
This site, from the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America, provides some clear and commonsense
tips for following up after a meeting.

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