Assessment Task 1 Instructions
Provide answers to all of the questions below:
1. Provide an explanation of each of the following meeting terminology:
a. Quorum
b. Procedural motion
c. Proxy
d. Conflict of interest
2. Outline a meeting structure for a formal meeting.
3. Outline a meeting structure for aninformal meeting.
4. Outline at least three key arrangements that need to be made for a meeting.
5. Outline two responsibilities of a Chairperson prior to a meeting.
6. Outline three important aspects of a Chairperson's job during a meeting.
7. Explain why it is important for a Chairperson to monitor the participation of all those involved in a meeting.
8. Explain how,in the role of a Chairperson, you would manage someone who is dominating the meeting.
9. Explain how in the role of a Chairperson you would manage someone who is too shy to contribute to a meeting.
10. Explain how in the role of a Chairperson you would manage two people having a private conversation within a meeting.
11. Describe two ways of conducting meetings.
12. Describe three advantages of face to face meetings and give an example of a workplace situation where this type of meeting may be used.
13. Describe three advantages of meetings held by teleconference or web conferencing and give an example of a workplace situation where this type of meeting may be used.
14. Describe the use of webcams for meetings, including a brief description of how to use a web cam.
15. Explain the purpose of an agenda and identify five items that should be included in an agenda.
16. Explain the purpose of meeting minutes and list five items that should be included in meeting minutes.
17. Explain the difference between informal meeting minutes and formal meeting minutes.
18. Access the Corporations Act 2001 from the Internet and identify the information from the Act that relates to notices of meetings. Now answer the following questions:
a. To whom must a notice of meeting be provided?
b. How must the notice of the meeting be provided? Indicate at least two ways.
Assessment Task 2: Formal meeting project
Task summary
This assessment task requires you in the role of Operations Manager to prepare for and conduct a formal meeting to discuss the program for the upcoming Leadership Conference for Grow Management Consultants. This will include developing an agenda, and then conducting the meeting and checking and distributing the minutes.
This task will be completed in the simulated work environment at your RTO.
Required
- Lap top and Microsoft Office
- Access to the Internet
- Meeting Policy and Procedures
- Meeting Agenda Template
- Draft Conference Program
- Meeting Minutes Template
- Space for a meeting
- Meeting roleplay participants
Assessment Task 2 Instructions
Carefully read the following:
Grow Management Consultants is a small consultancy company specialising in leadership development services.
Staff employed at Grow Management Consultants include the CEO (Paul Burns), Operations Manager (you), a Senior Management Consultant (Bob Downs), Marketing Manager (Jack Steel) and an Administration/Project Officer (Sally Smith).
There are also two management consultant contractors (Jane Simms and Leander Duval) who work from the office at least 2 days a week each. All of the management consultants travel extensively across Australia visiting clients.
Each year the company runs a Leadership Conference. This year's conference will be held in March 2018 and planning has commenced. The theme of the conference this year is Leadership Conference 2018: Leading in the twenty first century and the idea is to have talks and workshops on the latest trends in, and techniques for, leadership.
You (the Operations Manager) have developed a preliminary conference program that shows the overall format and timing for the conference.
However, you have decided to call a formal meeting to:
- Discuss your own ideas for conference topics.
- Seek ideas for conference topics from staff for each of the allocated spots in the program.
- Arrange a suitable schedule of meetings to ensure that plans for the conference are regularly discussed and actioned.
- Allocate roles and responsibilities in regard to organizing and running the conference, including:
o Identifying and organizing a venue for approximately 100 people,
o Organising catering for approximately 100 people
o Identifying suitable speakers
o Organising travel and accommodation for speakers
o Developing and printing marketing material
Complete the following activities:
1. Develop meeting agenda
Based on your review of the case study information above, as well as the Grow Management Consultants Meeting Policy and Procedures and the Draft Conference Program, you are required to develop an agenda for the meeting.
To develop your agenda, use the Agenda Template provided. The agenda must:
- Clearly show the date and time for the meeting.
- Include the duration of the meeting (30 minutes).
- Include items for discussion as per the scenario information and meeting policy and procedure.
Assume that the following staff will be attending the meeting:
- You (Operations Manager)
- Administration Project Officer (your assessor in the role of the minute taker)
- Senior Management Consultant (Bob Downs)
- Marketing Manager (Jack Steel)
Save your meeting agenda according to the file saving instructions in the Meeting Policy and Procedures, including creating the relevant folder on your computer's desktop. In the final part of the assessment you will need to send a screen shot of this folder and all files included to your assessor.
The Administration and Project Officer will be roleplayed by your assessor, who will take notes at the meeting. The other two staff will be roleplayed by two other students. Each student roleplaying a staff member will be briefed by your assessor to research and make notes on a topic for the conference for discussion. Before attending the meeting, consider to whom you should allocate each of the required roles and responsibilities for the conference (There is no right or wrong answer for this. You only need to advise each staff member of their roles and responsibilities).
2. Identify leadership topics
Prior to the meeting, you will also be required toidentify potential topics for the leadership conference by reviewing and analysing information from the report Global Human Capital Trends 2017
Based on your interpretation of the information in the report, identify at least two ideas for leadership topics. You should make notes (handwritten or typed) to speak from at the meeting for two proposed conference topics and that include:
- Proposed conference topic title
- Summary of the content to be discussed.
When speaking about your ideas at the meeting, as a guide you will speak for 1 to 2 minutes on each topic. Use the following example to guide you in developing your ideas and making notes (this example has not been taken from the above report, it is an example only to help you write down your ideas).
Mindful Leadership: Becoming a Mindful Leader by the Application of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) Principles.
ACT is an evidence-based approach that has been applied to clinical and organisational settings. When used as a leadership model, the application of ACT principles can assist managers in increasing work performance and innovation while reducing work stress and work errors.
The presentation will introduce basic ACT principles and provide an introduction to the qualities of being and acting as a mindful leader and person. Such qualities include empathy and self-compassion.
This will be a practical session with the focus on teaching and applying mindfulness techniques at work.
During the meeting, you need to be able to demonstrate that you can identify and interpret information from complex texts. That is, that you can identify two topics based on the information in the report, and then summarise the information in your notes for discussion at the meeting. The example above provides an indication of the level of response required.
3. Send notice of the meeting
Prepare and send an email to staff (your assessor) confirming the meeting arrangements and attaching the agenda and draft conference program. Ensure that your email includes the date of the meeting within the body of the email to show that you understand the designated timelines as set out in the Meeting Policy and Procedures.
Your assessor will advise you of the date and time for the meeting.
4. Conduct the meeting
The next part of the assessment requires you to conduct the meeting in the role of the Chair.
Review the Meeting Policy and Procedures to make sure that you understand and can apply the Chair's role and responsibilities.
Prior to the commencement of the meeting, ask the Administration and Project Officer (your assessor) to take notes of the meeting so that you can prepare the minutes following the meeting. Provide instructions for note taking as per the meeting policy and procedure. You will be assessed on this. The Administration and Project Officer will write up their notes and provide them to you following the meeting. Note that you should also take your own brief notes so that you can check that all the meeting content was covered.
Chair the meeting in accordance with the company's meeting policy and procedures for face to face meetings, as well as meeting legal and ethical requirements. This is to include:
Prior to the meeting:
- Checking that the meeting space meets health and safety requirements as per health and safety legislation. Your assessor will set up at least two hazards in the room which you will be required to identify and then rectify.
At the outset of the meeting:
- Introducing yourself and welcoming everyone.
- Making sure everyone has a copy of the agenda and draft conference program.
- Stating the purpose of the meeting.
- Advising of the timeframe for the meeting.
- Encouraging all team members to contribute.
Chairing the meeting including:
- Keeping to the time frame as set out in the agenda e.g. wrapping up the discussion when the time limit for the agenda item is reached.
- Gong through each of the agenda items in order.
- Keeping on track by ensuring everyone sticks to the agenda.
- Respecting everyone's view and using active listening techniques.
- Making sure the meeting starts and ends according to the time in the agenda.
- Promoting ethical behaviour - at the meeting a staff member will raise an ethical issue which you will need to respond to appropriately.
Leading the meeting according to your agenda, ensuring that:
- You share your own ideas for conference topics.
- You seek the ideas from the staff team, encouraging everyone to contribute.
- All ideas are discussed and the conference program is agreed on. Note as there will be one more idea than there are spaces in the conference program, you will need to discuss this issue and facilitate a consensus.
- You achieve the meeting outcomes desired i.e. to finalise the conference program.
- You facilitate a consensus on the best day and time for conference meetings.
- You explain that the minutes of the meeting and a finalised conference program will be sent to staff following the meeting
During the meeting, you are required to demonstrate effective communication skills as follows:
- Use of appropriate style (formal), tone (encouraging, respectful) and vocabulary (professional, business language) for the meeting
- Active listening skills
- Asking questions and listening to responses to clarify understanding
At the end of the meeting, notify the note taker that the notes of the meeting will need to be provided to you within the timelines specified in the meeting policy and procedure.
5. Prepare meeting minutes and distribute to staff
The final part of the assessment requires you to review the notes of the meeting provided by the minute taker (your assessor) and then prepare detailed meeting minutes based on the notes provided, and using the Meeting Minutes Template.
You are required to check that the minute taker has taken a true and accurate record of the meeting, as well as proof reading for any spelling and grammar mistakes. So that you can be assessed on this, before you begin work on the document, set it to track your changes. Save this marked up version with an appropriate name.Then accept all of the tracked changes and save a final version of the minutes according to the naming convention in the Meeting Policy and Procedures.
Write the conference program according to the ideas finalised at the meeting. This will show that you have correctly reported on the outcomes of the meeting.
Use the Draft Conference Program to guide your work.
6. Take a screen shot of your folder and files.
You should create a folder and save all documents associated with the meeting under this folder. This will demonstrate that you can save meeting documents according to the company's requirements.
Ensure that you have an overall folder for your work, as well as sub folders if necessary.
All of the documents you have submitted for this assessment task should be correctly named and filed.
The screen shot should show all the folders and documents.
7. Send an email to staff (your assessor)
The text of the email should be in grammatically correct English, written in an appropriate (polite, business-like) style.
It should include a brief summary of the outcomes of the meeting (3 to 4 points) and direct the recipient to read the attached minutes and conference program.
Assessment Task 3: Informal meeting project
Task summary
This assessment task requires you in the role of Operations Manager to prepare for and conduct an informal meeting with your team to discuss social activities for your team.
This task will be completed in the simulated work environment at your RTO.
Required
- Lap top and Microsoft Office
- Access to the internet for research
- Meeting Policy and Procedures
- Space for a meeting
- Meeting roleplay participants
Assessment Task 3 Instructions
Carefully read the following:
Grow Management Consultants has recently implemented a work-life balance policy.
The policy includes a new initiative to hold a quarterly social event for all staff.
As the Operations Manager for Grow Management Consultants, you have decided to have an informal meeting with your staff to seek their ideas on social activities and to discuss timing (e.g. which days of the week work best, what time). Note that the policy states that a maximum budget of $500 per activity may be allocated and that activities may be held on Friday afternoons or after 5 pm on any other day of the week.
You should follow the Grow Management Consultants Meetings Policy and Procedures for informal meetings.
Complete the following activities:
1. Develop a meeting agenda.
The agenda should conform to the Meeting Policy and Procedures. It should clearly show the date and time for the meeting, as well as the items for discussion as per the scenario information and meeting policy and procedure. Note that the meeting will last for about 15 minutes.
Your assessor will advise you of the date and time for the meeting.
Assume that the following staff will be attending the meeting:
- You (Operations Manager)
- Administration Project Officer (Sally Smith - roleplayed by assessor)
- Senior Management Consultant (Bob Downs)
- Marketing Manager (Jack Steel)
Prior to the meeting, you will also be required to make notes on your own ideas for social activities. Research and make notes on at least two ideas to take to the meeting.
2. Send an email to the staff who will attend the meeting (your assessor).
The text of the email should be in grammatically correct English, written in an appropriate (polite, business-like) style.
It should introduce and summarise the contents of the attachment.
Attachment to an email to staff (your assessor). The email should confirm the meeting arrangements and include an outline of the agenda.
3. Conduct the meeting
You are required to run an informal meeting with the staff (roleplayed by your assessor and two other students). Review the Meeting Policy and Procedures to make sure that you understand the role and responsibilities of the Chair for an informal meeting, as well as the requirements for minutes.
The Administration/Project Officer will be roleplayed by your assessor and the other two staff will be roleplayed by two other students. Each student roleplaying a staff member will be briefed by the assessor to research and make notes on their ideas for social activities to share at the meeting.
Chair the meeting in accordance with the meeting policy and procedures. This includes:
- Introducing the meeting by stating the purpose of the meeting and encouraging all team members to contribute
- Ensuring that the meeting follows the requirements of the Chairperson as outlined in the meeting policy and procedure
- Ensuring that the meeting is kept to time and focused on the specified purpose
Conduct the meeting according to the agenda in the email ensuring that:
- You share your own ideas for social activities
- You seek the ideas from the staff team
- All ideas are discussed and at least four ideas are agreed on.
- You facilitate a consensus on the best day and time for the social activities
- Explain that you will send an email to report on outcomes.
During the meeting, you are required to demonstrate effective communication skills as follows:
- Use of appropriate style (informal), tone (encouraging, respectful) and vocabulary (professional, business language) for the meeting
- Active listening skills
- Asking questions and listening to responses to clarify understanding
4. Report on meeting outcomes
Assume that you have agreed on all of the social activities discussed at the meeting, as well as the time that the activities will be conducted.
Draft an email to be sent to the staff (your assessor) that briefly details the meeting outcomes and lists the social activities agreed on, as well as the agreed times.
5. Send an email to your assessor.
Send the draft email to your assessor.
Finish the text with a note that you will be correcting the email, and sending the corrected version shortly.
This email should have the word "Draft" in its title.
6. Send an email to your assessor.
Re-open the email you sent in the last activity, and carefully check itfor spelling and grammar and ensure that it is a true and accurate record of the meeting. Part of this assessment task requires you to demonstrate to your assessor that you are able to correct your own work accurately, so this email needs to contain text that is an improvement on the previous one.
When finished, send this final draft of the email to your assessor.
This email should have the words "Final draft" in its title.
It should be sent within the timeframes set out in the Meeting Policy and Procedures.