A formal meeting is a structured discussion of pre-determined topics and objectives, usually led by a chairperson, and then recorded in a document referred to as minutes. These meetings are extremely organized and require a lot of planning. They also assign roles to certain people in order to keep the meeting on the right track.
The majority of business meetings held every day are informal in nature, such as staff catch-ups and brainstorming sessions. formal meetings are typically used for more strategic discussions about high-risk issues such as company strategy, budget cuts, and managing projects. The primary distinction between linked here informal and formal meetings is that informal ones tend to be more loosely structured with more fluid discussions.
Formal meetings also typically adhere to strict guidelines for agendas, such as a timetable and a standardized way to record notes by the person taking them. People who aren’t present at the meeting can then review and access this information later.
In order to have a successful meeting, it is essential that attendees arrive ready with the required information and reports needed to run the meeting. For example using software for meetings that incorporates an event task manager to send reminders and tasks to attendees is a successful method of keeping everyone on track to move on to the next phase of the process. When the meeting is over it’s crucial to follow up with attendees to provide an overview of what was discussed, and highlight the key actions, and gather feedback to ensure that the following meetings are more effective.