Home Other articles Other resources Contact John

Meetings

There are 3 types of meetings:

Information In: where the meeting leaders seek information from those in attendance

Information Out: where the meeting leaders provide information to those in attendance

Problem Solving: where those in attendance share ideas to solve a problem.

The reason that meetings have such a bad reputation is that those who attend are not sure which type of meeting they are at.

Are they there to provide information that only they have - information in?

or to pass on information gained at the meeting to others - information out?

or to participate in the development of plans and strategy - problem solving?

Certainly, a single meeting can fill two or even all three roles, but not at the same time. Those in control need to clearly differentiate between the stages.

If all three phases are to be handled in a single meeting (not a great idea, by the way) then the natural sequence is Info in then problem solving then information out.

John Sleigh has been applying adult learning principles to training design and workplace communication projects since 1988.

Copyright. All rights reserved.

 These resources are provided for your personal use. For permission to include them in your published materials, contact John. Permission is usually given for fair use, but please ask first. I like to receive feedback on how you think the materials can be used to stimulate ideas for further development.

Home | More outsights | Tricks Trainers Trade | Longer articles | Other resources