Case Study For Diploma In Business Management Of Formal Management

Purpose of formal, informal, and semi-formal meetings

Discuss the Case Study for Diploma in Business Management of Formal Management.

Basis of Distinction	Formal meeting	Informal meeting	Semi formal meeting
Definition	A formal meeting is a pre-planned event that includes a meeting between individuals in a specific manner, following the specific rules and regulations to achieve a specified goals and objectives.	An informal meeting is not a planned meeting and does and is more casual in nature.	A semi formal meeting could imply a get together or a casual meeting that can occur at workplace for discussing managerial issues.
Formal Agenda	A formal meeting will have a formal agenda.	An informal might have an agenda but not a formal agenda	A semi formal meeting might have a formal agenda or might not have a formal agenda
Board Meeting	A formal meeting includes board meeting.	An informal meeting does not comprise of board meetings.	A semi formal meeting does not include board meetings
Freedom of thought	There is no freedom of thought in a formal meeting	There is complete freedom of thought in a formal meeting	There might be restriction on the freedom of thoughts in a semi-formal meeting.
Formal requirements	There are formal requirements in a board meeting, which is accompanied by an agenda.	There are no formal requirements in a meeting.	There could be formal or here could be no formal requirements in a semi formal meeting.
Place	Formal meetings are held in a formal location, which is decided beforehand.	Informal meetings can take place anywhere and in informal places like coffee shop or a restaurant.	Semi formal meeting does not require formal locations and places.

Formal meetings

The purpose of formal meetings is to discuss a set of predetermined objectives and goals that is intended to be discussed. The purpose of these meetings is to address a set of objectives for a company and make critical decisions regarding them. The purpose is to formulate critical strategies regarding the operations of the business. Formal meetings are also conducted to increase transparency in the operations and also fix accountability and responsibilities. These meetings also allow necessary discussions and consultations to be made regarding operations and strategies in the company. It is important so that the employees of the companies are able to understand the central goals and objectives of the company. This would make the employees aware of their roles and duties in the organizations.

Informal meeting

The purpose of informal meeting is to discuss matters, which would not have been suitable in a formal matter. It aims to infuse more casual approach in a meeting. These meetings are held when more freedom of thoughts and speech is needed from the speaker to discuss certain informal meetings regarding workplace. It gives the speaker some degree of flexibility regarding speech and the topics that can be discussed. Such meetings aim to make the speaker feel more at ease compared to what it would have been in a formal meeting. It helps to get the opinions and views of the speaker with more clarity and transparency. It helps to discuss business ideas and communicate better regarding projects of the business. It helps in relaying information within an organization.

Semi-formal meeting

Semi-formal meeting is intended on discussing critical issues of the company but in a semi formal tone.

The chairman/chairwoman is involved in a meeting. Chairman/chairwoman is the person who is in charge of conducting a meeting and the company. The chairman or chairwoman is the supreme authority in a meeting.  A secretary has to be present in a meeting. A secretary is in charge of writing letters and keeping records of meeting. A convener has to attend these meetings.  A convener is a person who organizes a meeting. Contingents have to attend these meetings. Contingents refer to a group of people who represent an organization. Delegates have to be present in a meeting. Delegates are those who represent another group in a discussion. Moderators also have to be present in a meeting. Moderators are vested with the responsibility of being in charge of people in meetings and during discussions. Discussion groups attend meetings in a workplace to frequently discuss on operations and business projects.

Basis of Distinction	General Meeting	Annual General Meeting
Frequency	General meetings can be held on any subject and at any time.	Annual General Meeting is held once a year.
Agenda	The agenda for the general meeting is nothing special as compared to an annual general meeting.	Annual General meeting has a preplanned and special agenda for the meeting
Parties involved in the meeting	General meeting involves only the employees and the management of a company.	Annual general meeting involves all the stakeholders of the company.
Necessity	It is not necessary to hold a general meeting. It is held only if it is necessary for the business of the company.	It is compulsory to hold an annual general meeting every financial year.

Parties involved in a meeting

Proprietary Company

A proprietary company is not obligated under law to hold any public meetings. As a result, there are no specific meeting requirements of the company. It is entirely dependent on the owners and the plans of the owners.

Public Company

One of the meeting requirements of a public limited company is that the quorum of the meetings should be one-third of the total strength of the meeting. A public limited company must hold a meeting within six months from the year end. Any manager or director can call for a meeting in public limited company. The minimum number of days to give the notice for the meeting is 14 days and the maximum number of days for the notice is 21 days. The notice must be submitted to a manager and the approval of the manager must be included.  The directors can call for a general meeting whenever they think it is necessary. The request for the meeting must include the nature of the business and the text of the resolution. If the meeting has a proposed resolution, then it is important resolution is included in the notice as well. The notice must include the date, time and place of the meeting. The notice must be sent to every member, director and those representing the company. Taking minutes of a meeting is a legal requirement of meeting.

Listed company

One of the major requirements for holding meetings of a listed company is that is that it should be listed on the stock exchange. The notice of annual general meeting needs to be sent to the shareholders within 20 day prior to the meeting.

Chairperson

Chairperson is the chief person who presides over a meeting. A chairperson chairs the meeting.

Secretary

A secretary is the guardian of a meeting who makes all the arrangement and organizes a meeting and maintains all documents and minutes of a meeting.

Treasurer

A person responsible for taking care and maintaining the treasury of an organization is called the treasurer of the organization.

Abstention

The act of abstaining and refraining to vote against a motion or a proposal is called abstention.

Adjournment

The act of cessation or postponement of a proceeding is called adjournment.

Agenda

Agenda refers to a list of activities that is supposed to be taken in a meeting in sequential order.

Motion

Motion refers to a formal step, which is taken to present a matter for consideration in a meeting.

Difference between general meeting and annual general meeting

Casting Vote

Casting vote refers to the extra vote that is given by the chairperson when the vote given by the groups regarding a motion are equal.

Proxy

A proxy refers to someone who attends a general meeting and votes on behalf of a member of the company.

Tabled

Tabled refers to the members who are formally present for a discussion in a meeting.

	Particulars	Amount
Room Hire		$1,000
Catering cost
Morning Tea		$2.50
Lunch		$7
Afternoon Tea		$2.50
Equipment Hire:
Overhead Projector		$30
Electronic		$20
Whiteboard
Data projector		$25
Total Cost		$1,087

While organizing and managing a meeting, notice and agenda are the documents that are required to conduct a meeting.

Notice

Notice is the document that is supposed to be distributed to the managers, directors, and all the members of the company. It is a notification regarding a meeting to all the members of the company. It should state the name of the organization. It should inform about the date, time and place of the meeting. It should state the purpose of the meeting. It should include the signature of the secretary. It should be given to all the members of the company. It should be given well in advance. Seven days notice must be given to hold formal meeting.

Agenda

Agenda refers to a document that contains the list of items that is supposed to be discussed in the meeting. It is a map of the business. The list to be discussed in the meeting is decided after consultation with the chairperson and after getting the approval with the chairperson.

Minutes

Another document that is required to be prepared after a meeting is minutes. Minutes contain all the details that occur in a meeting. The minutes include details of the discussions and proceedings in a meeting. It includes all the intricate details of the meeting. The minutes should shed light on the name of the organization, date, time, place of the organization, name of the chairperson and secretary, number of members present and absent. The resolution and the recommendations made at the meeting should be included in the minutes.

Secretary

The person who is responsible for preparing the notice, agenda and the minutes is the secretary of a company. The secretary is vested with responsibility of sending the notice and agenda to the members of the company. The secretary is responsible of preparing the minutes of a meeting.

Timeline for documentation

• The notice should be minimum 14 days prior to the meeting and maximum 21 days prior to the meeting.
• The agenda is drafted along with the notice.
• The minutes should be drafted within 30 days from the date of the meeting.

Preparing the agenda list in advance and with careful consideration

The objectives and the aims for conducting a meeting should not be vague and ambiguous. There should be clear agendas and purpose for a meeting. As such, it is important that the agenda should be prepared in advance and beforehand. The topics that need to be discussed should be prepared in advance and the agenda list need to be distributed to the members of the company in advance.

Meeting requirements

Check the attendance list

It is important that the attendance list is reviewed and checked before the meeting. It helps to know of the people that would be available for the meeting.

Keep Track of time

It is important that time is managed in a meeting. Time management helps to keep the meeting organized and systematic. It avoids the meeting from getting chaotic and long.

It is important that important points and decisions that are part of the agenda list be discussed beforehand with members of the company.

Follow up on the minutes

It is important that the minutes are carefully analyzed and scrutinized. Following up on the meeting is an essential requirement for management of meeting.

Listening to the arguments for and against a motion

It is important that the various arguments for and against a motion is carefully heard and understand. Giving the speakers equal chance to speak helps to coordinate and carry out the meeting without any hassle and chaos.

There are certain legal and ethical issues that need to be considered while conducting a meeting.  Some of these are:

• The notice period is not signed by the authorized person
• The minutes is not being duly drafted and signed by the concerned authority within 30 days.
• The opinions and views presented in a meeting are not signed by the authentic person. This could create issues with intellectual property.
• The notice of the meeting is not provided to all the members of the company beforehand.
• Having a biased opinion towards certain speaker and members present in the meeting.

Proper preparation of policies and guidelines will be critical in maintaining time constraints. There should be clear instructions and guidelines to be mentioned on the timings of the meetings. Careful stress need to be made on punctuality and fines should be made on the non-compliance with guidelines and rules.

There has to be careful steps and approach that needs to be taken while handling conflicts within a meeting. Ethical practices need to be followed and fair and just approach need to be adopted. During conflicts, it is important that equal chances are given to the members in a meeting. There should be clear policies and guidelines need to be made regarding conflict solving.

Making seating arrangement

The job of making proper seating arrangement for the members of the meeting can be allocated to other staff members of the company. It helps in diffusing the responsibility and workload on the managers.

Making proper arrangement of refreshments

The job of making proper arrangement of refreshment for the members of the meetings can be allocated to subordinates of the company.

Choosing the venue of the meeting

The job of choosing the venue of the meeting can be passed on to other members of the company. It helps in distribution of work and workload among different members. It helps in delegation of authority and responsibility.

Terms used in meetings

Arranging the infrastructure of the meetings

The job of arranging the infrastructure of the meetings like arrangement of data projector, electronic whiteboard etc can be passed on different member of the company.

Such delegation of tasks helps in fixing responsibility and authority. It induces division of labor. It helps the burden of workload to be diffused among different members. The critical members can focus on other strategic and important matters. It will help in achieving the goals and objectives of the meetings.

Coco Knight Clothing Company

Smithtown, Victoria

Agenda

• To discuss methods to maximize sales for the company
• To acquire new car for business purposes
• To establish business ties with Italian fabric wholesalers
• To discuss on the travel expenditure of the company
• To discuss the hiring process of recruiters of the company
• To implement new OHS procedure
• To discuss the staff performance appraisal methods

The role of a minute taker is to take details and information of a minute during a meeting. A minute taker has to record and take note of the minute of the meeting. A minute taker has to actively participate in the meeting and take note of intricate details of the meeting.

The roles and duties of the minute taker are:

• Take note of the discussions and details of the meeting.
• Writing the notes in a standard format and making sure that the communication of these notes does not create confusion.
• The minutes are distributed to all important people by the minute taker
• The copy of the minute is filed for future reference by a minute taker.

The interaction of a minute taker before a meeting is with the managers regarding the purpose and agenda of the meeting. During the meeting, the minute taker has to interact with the different members present in the meeting and after the meeting, a minute taker has to communicate the minutes of the meeting with the members of the supply, shareholders and other stakeholders of the company.

Minutes of Meeting dated 15^th July

Place and Time of the Meeting	9, Dryburg Street, West Melbourne, Victoria on 15th July at 10:30 am
Roll Call	Members present: Keith Regan(chair) Marvin Patheson(deputy chair) Ricky Martin Rafael Nadal Carrie Bickmore Maria Sharapova Marco White
Members Absent	Brad Pitt
Minutes of previous meeting held in June. discussed	The name of the guest speaker was rectified o Robinson from Robertson. The minutes were then accepted
	DEF
	Secretary

More stress will be made the on the environment of the meeting. Stress and focus will be given on the fact that the meeting is held in a peaceful and comfortable place. Healthy discussions need to be done and equal opportunities need to be provided to the members to let them have an equal say in the meetings. Proper utilization of interpersonal skills needs to be done so that the communication is one properly and smoothly and no conflict takes palce.

Utilizing the meeting agenda

Efficient and effective discussion needs to be made on the agenda of the meetings. The motions and proposals in the meeting will be discussed properly and equal opportunities will be provided to the members of the meeting to let every have an equal. The point of views and opinions can be obtained and the discussion can be strong and rational and it will help in achieving the purpose of the meeting. The members will be allowed to speak in a hierarchal order and equal opportunities will be provided to the members to allow them to have an equal say and induce proper problem solving opportunities.

Overall management of the meeting

The minute taker will be given proper idea and knowledge about the responsibilities and duties that the minute taker has to discharge. It will make the proceedings in the meeting smoother. The minutes need to be taken from the minute taker so the overall management of the meeting is done properly. This will allow in effective following up on the meeting. Properly management of time and elimination of hindrances in the meeting like noise, and conflicting thoughts, and ethical practice will help to conduct the meeting without any issues and hindrances. The attendance list will be properly reviewed. The chair of the meeting will be done according to organizational structure and policies. The copy of the minutes will be distributed to relevant members of the meetings.