McDougle offers a list of five meeting types that partially overlaps Reith.
Information Flow: As organizations become more complex, specialization increases; and the dissemination of information becomes more difficult. Meetings are often designed to facilitate the flow of information and bring various units of the organization together.
Decision-Making: Meetings are often called for the purpose of making decisions. People are more inclined to be enthusiastic about carrying out directives and implementing decisions if they have been involved in the planning and/or decision-making process.
Two-Way Communication: Meetings provide supervisors with an opportunity to ask questions and seek clarification with regard to announcements from higher levels of management. They also provide supervisors with an opportunity to present their own ideas and suggestions regarding matters under consideration.
Introduction of Change: Meetings provide an excellent forum for introducing changes. Meetings can bring the principal actors affected by the change together to insure that all the implications are considered and analyzed. Necessary revisions and modifications can be discussed and finalized before the changes are implemented. Follow-up meetings can serve as effective evaluation instruments to make certain desired results are being achieved.
Team Spirit: Meetings can be a valuable tool in developing a spirit of teamwork. No organization can be successful and expect to show a profit if its employees are not pulling together. Successful organizations are seldom the ones with the strongest supervisor; they are the ones where supervisor and employee pull together to achieve a common goal. Any meeting that succeeds in developing a greater sense of teamwork is worth every minute it takes.
