Kinds of meetings

There are different kinds of meetings. Some of the meetings are prearranged and the purpose of them is for people to listen to what the leader has to say and the discussion is minimal or nonexistent. These meetings could break down into a larger discussion but that would sometimes involve yelling because it’s assumed that the leader has what to say and he says what he has to say and everybody has come to just listen and accept what he has to say. He might as well have printed up a document but he knows that people wouldn’t read it and the purpose of coming is because they’re required to come and to listen to what his yes-men have to say. This is one kind of meeting and the interaction is not that great. The preparation takes place before the meeting but it’s only the leader who has to prepare for this kind of meeting and the others have no need to prepare, their job is just to listen or to sleep through the meeting if they don't want to accept what he has to say.

Then there’s a meeting which is a meeting of minds. Then there’s another meeting which is the brainstorm session which people may or may not come prepared but nobody really has definitive answers as they walk in they supposedly although everybody may have a point of view and people come in order to be able to think about projects or agendas for future meetings or for future activities.

Another kind of meeting is an arrangement meeting. Everything is more or less decided but perhaps they might have to arrange an agenda or they might have to decide what goes first, second, third for their organization. Another meeting might be priorities. This is for an organization that either wants to move ahead and to develop new concepts and to promote them or an organization which is in trouble and has to decide which situations to bail out and which ones to save. They have a priorities meeting to determine which are the important things and which are the less important things. Then there’s another meeting which is a specialist meeting. People have to get information which they do not have in order to make important decisions to determine how to continue their activities and they therefore go to the specialist meeting, listen to what the specialist has to say, perhaps ask questions and then they will make the decisions based on the specialist and his decisions. Another meeting is the facts finding. When things have to be clarified which were not clear beforehand. Everybody knows what has to be clarified. Based on the clarifications they will decide how to continue with the organization and supposedly they don't know what the facts are but after they hear the facts they’ll have to make important decisions.