Welcome to Module 4 in our relationship management specialization. In this lesson, we'll cover a topic about which I have some very strong feelings, conducting effective meetings. For good or bad over the years, my perception of the abilities and skills of leaders is formed in how will they conduct meetings. The reason for that is meetings are resource intensive. They require the time of the participants and in order to be respectful of that time, the leader must be efficient in the way they conduct meetings. Let's begin, as we do with all modules, with my leadership observation. Good leaders have a sense of humor, even if it's only to laugh at themselves. Again, we'll come back to that observation at the end of the module. Let's take a look at the objectives for this module. We'll define what I consider to be the two types of meetings. We'll look at the four purposes for meetings. We'll look at the principles of planning a meeting effectively so that you're not wasteful of the participants' time. We'll review some techniques that you can use every day in conducting meetings that'll help you be more effective. No meeting is over once the participants leave the room. In order to ensure closure on all of the actions that were generated during the course of the meeting, the facilitator or leader must ensure that there is followup. That occurs once the meeting is over. Lastly, I will present a tool that you can use in the planning process for meetings that will hopefully help you be more effective as you plan your meetings. If you want to establish a positive reputation as a leader, you can start by conducting effective meetings.
