A formal meeting is a planned discussion on a predetermined topic and objectives, typically led by a chairperson. The meeting is recorded in a document known as minutes. These meetings are extremely organized and require an extensive amount of planning. They also assign specific roles to participants to ensure that the discussion on track.

Informal meetings are the most common kind of business gathering which includes staff meetings or brainstorming sessions. Meetings that are formal are often used to discuss more strategic discussions about high-risk matters like company strategy, budget cuts, and project management. The main distinction between formal and informal meetings is that informal ones tend to be more informal with more fluid www.boardroomrecords.com/why-boardrooms-need-great-marketing-leaders/ discussions.

Formal meetings are also more likely to follow strict procedures, like an agenda, a certain structure for notes taken by the official notetaker, and formal language in these notes. Those who aren’t attending the meeting in person can then go back and review the information later.

For a successful session, it is important that attendees arrive with the information and reports they require. Meeting software and a meeting task manager can be used to remind attendees of or to assign tasks. This can help them prepare for the next stage of the process. Then, once the meeting is finished, it’s essential to follow up with attendees to provide an overview of what was discussed, to highlight the most important actions, and gather feedback to ensure future meetings are more productive.