CONCLUSIONS

CONCLUSIONS
The principal conclusion to be drawn from both our Input and Interaction sections are that managers and trainers should invest more care and professionalism into meeting arrangements and implementation. Whether it is a weekly staff meeting, an annual stockholders' gathering, a regional sales conference, an employee retreat, an appraisal interview, or a regular meeting between supervisor and subordinate, performance can be enhanced. This can be accomplished first, by utilizing established guidelines and group dynamics in the planning, conducting, and evaluating of such events; second, by employing multimedia technology to interest and involve participants; and third, by remembering the human element-making provision for people's comfort and relaxation. The manager or trainer has many resources to call upon for assistance in improving meetings-the organization'S HRD specialists, the staff at the meeting site, the external speakers or consultants employed as presenters, and the suppliers of meeting or game materials and services. (See Appendix A and B.)

INSTRUMENTATION
As indicated throughout this text, meetings can be used for data-gathering, especially by means of instruments. This same device can provide information during a meeting for group discussion and analysis of the findings. Apart from their feedback and other values, questionnaires, inventories, and checklists can be devised to improve the performance of the manager or trainer. Our last two examples, the Meetings Management Planning Inventory (Exhibit 8.5) and the Managing People Skills Inventory (Exhibit 8.6), will help leaders to assure that meetings are planned and conducted effectively, as well as to provide a means for further evaluating how people are managed in the workplace .