This is one of a series of training and capacity building training we have received at the Federal Ministry of health in Sudan and were used with permission at the National Leaders' Development Program that was developed and delivered by the Arab Certificate Students' Association (ACSA) in collaboration with Ahfad University for Women between 2004-2006

1. Effective Meeting
Skills
Dr.Salma Kanani
MBBS,MPH,FSMSB

2. Effective Meeting Skills
• Manage time and get results
• Spend less time in meetings
• Facilitate meetings
• Participate in meetings
• Prepare and use the most important
tool in a meeting - an agenda

3. Effective Meeting Skills
• Decide the best times to meet
• Recognize and deal with problems
during meetings
• Evaluate the effectiveness of
meetings
• Follow up on decisions
• Set ground rules for success

4. Effective Meeting Skills
The six tips for planning a meeting
• Don't Meet
Avoid a meeting if the same information could be
covered in a memo, e-mail or brief report.
• Set Objectives for the Meeting
Before planning the agenda, determine the
objective of the meeting. The more concrete your
objectives, the more focused your agenda will be.

5. The six tips
Provide an Agenda Beforehand.
Your agenda needs to include a one-
sentence description of the meeting
objectives, a list of the topics to be
covered and a list stating who will address
each topic for how long. Follow the agenda
closely during the meeting.

6. The six tips
• Assign Meeting Preparation.
Give all participants something to
prepare for the meeting, and that
meeting will take on a new
significance to each group member.

7. The six tips
• Assign Action Items.
Don't finish any discussion in the
meeting without deciding how to act
on it.
• Examine Your Meeting Process.
Don't leave the meeting without
assessing what took place and making
a plan to improve the next meeting.

8. How to develop a
comprehensive agenda
Title Of The Meeting
Objectives
Attendees
Date, Time And Duration
Location
What To Bring
Presenter
Topic
Allocated Time To Each Participant

9. Different Types Of
Meetings
• Problem-Solving Meeting
Objective: To discuss an issue or conflict and
decide how to solve it.
1. Identify the Problem
2. Determine the causes
3. Generate possible solutions
4. Evaluate the proposed solution
5. Choose the best solution

10. Different Types Of
Meetings
B. Informational Meeting
Objective: To give or receive
information about a specific idea or
important matters concerning the
attendees.

11. Different Types Of
Meetings
• C. Brainstorming Meeting
Objective: To produce new ideas about a
specific topic.
• Before the meeting, participants should be
told the objective of the session as well as
their role in the brainstorming session.

12. Brainstorming Meeting
• Background information, if available,
should also be distributed to
participants prior to the session.
• The atmosphere of the meeting
should be loose and informal.

13. Brainstorming Meeting-
cont
• Make sure that no idea is ruled out
because it's too wild.
• Try to avoid judging ideas.
• A facilitator should be appointed to
control the flow of information and
record ideas as they develop.

14. Time Management
Tips for starting and finishing on time
• If You're the Meeting Organizer
• state that the meeting will begin promptly
at the scheduled time and that all
participants should be on time
• send a reminder e-mail thirty minutes
before the meeting begins and encourage
meeting participants to arrive on time

15. Time Management
• ensure that you begin the meeting at
the scheduled time.
– close the meeting room doors at the
scheduled time.
• if your meeting starts a little late,
you should still finish the meeting at
the scheduled time.

16. Time Management
If You're the Attendee:
• quickly review the agenda before
heading to the meeting.
• make your way to the meeting ten
minutes before it actually begins.

17. Time Management
• Consider speaking up if the meeting
organizer shows up late.
• Try to ask only relevant questions
during the meeting.
• Leave the meeting when it was
scheduled to end.

18. Tips for improving
meetings
• Meeting evaluation
• Providing feedback and follow up on
decisions.
• Problem solving and facing difficult
situations.

19. Evaluation
• Ask attendees to fill out anonymous
paper surveys after the event or at
certain points throughout the event.
• Create positive and negative
feedback
• Ask the planning and management
team to check if the goals of the
• meeting are met.

20. Ground rules to carry
successful meetings
• Attendance
• Promptness
• Participation
• Responsibility

21. Thanks for your time