Effective Communication and Communication

Communication at Meetings

Effective communication is one of the most essential aspects during meetings, especially workplace meetings. Meetings are usually utilized in the workplace for various reasons including developing strategies, brainstorming ideas, and providing direction. However, the ability of these meetings to achieve these goals requires effective communication. The need for effective communication is increased by rapid technological advancements that have generated different kinds of communication channels. Meetings need to be planned in a suitable manner that helps in promoting and ensuring effective communication.

Since I have attended several meetings, there are some satisfying and dissatisfying components in relation to communication. I have felt most satisfied with a meeting I attended because of the focus on the established objective throughout all discussions. The organizers of the meeting identified the objective or agenda and communicated it to participants before the meeting commenced. They also focused on the meeting's agenda and avoided any digressions or irrelevant information. By the end of the meeting, the specified agenda was the basis for all discussions, which made me feel that the overall goal of the meeting was achieved. According to Mind Tools Editorial Team (n.d.), some of the most important factors towards conducting effective meanings including determining the objective, sticking to the objective, and utilizing the minimum amount of time in discussions. The meeting I recently attended was satisfying because it met the criteria for conducting and effective meeting.

Despite having a good experience, I have also felt most dissatisfied with a meeting I attended. The dissatisfaction with that meeting mostly emerged from the failure to meet the criteria of running an effective meeting. While the meeting's agenda was specified before hand and the organizers ensured that it was the basis for all discussions, the meeting took a long period of time. The discussions during this meeting were quite lengthy and boring as participants used a lot of time to explain their views and points. The organizers allowed for repetitions and some irrelevant arguments that contributed to ineffective use of time, which is an important consideration when planning and conducting a meeting. Even though the organizers promised that the meeting would be brief, it ended up being very long and boring. By the end of the meeting, I felt exhausted and struggled to remember some of the issues that were discussed or points that were raised by the participants.

Generally, I usually enjoy meetings that I attend because nearly all of them are conducted based on the criteria for running effective meetings. For nearly all meetings I attend, the agenda is usually the subject of discussion and conclusions from the meeting. While those conducting the meeting try to ensure that irrelevant discussions are not included during discussions, they accommodate opinions and views that they may have not considered when planning the meeting. These opinions and views are accommodated based on their relevance to the agenda or based on how they provide a different important perspective to the topic being discussed.