{"id":1200,"date":"2012-11-29T04:42:32","date_gmt":"2012-11-29T09:42:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/facilitativeleadership.wordpress.com\/?p=1200"},"modified":"2026-05-01T15:22:57","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T19:22:57","slug":"meeting-boundaries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/meeting-boundaries\/","title":{"rendered":"Meeting Boundaries to Closely Manage: Directed or Facilitated"},"content":{"rendered":"

While\u00a0there are three primary types of business meetings<\/a>: information-sharing, instructional or directional task-related meetings, and facilitated or developed task-related meetings, an effective leader must closely manage the meeting boundaries to prevent scope creep and get done on time.<\/h2>\n

Information-Sharing Meetings<\/strong><\/h4>\n
\"Control<\/a>

Control Meeting Boundaries<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

Information-sharing meetings primarily capture one-way communication with the information presented by the speaker to the group. Furthermore, this type of meeting includes symposiums, instructional groups, staff meetings, and other presentations<\/a> that attempt to communicate essential information to a group. Interaction from participants with the meeting leader normally gets limited to questions and comments.<\/span><\/p>\n

Task-Related\u00a0<\/strong>Meetings<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Task-related meetings use the knowledge and experience of group members to accomplish a work task, such as problem-solving<\/a>, decision-making<\/a>, fact-finding<\/a>, planning, etc. These meetings are highly interactive and involve two-way communication between all participants. Task-related meetings also tend to fall apart more quickly with poor meeting management. The two differences include:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Directed<\/em>\u2014the leader runs the meeting and controls the agenda. These are the most common types of meetings.<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Facilitated<\/em>\u2014an impartial facilitator runs the meeting and controls the agenda and technique. These are the least common but are growing in use, as they are the most effective for decision-making and building consensus.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The Model Meeting<\/strong><\/h4>\n

    To effectively manage a meeting, a meeting leader must pay attention to the dynamics of the group. Having a model to work from helps the leader understand the group\u2019s behavior to keep meeting dynamics in balance. This enables the leader to sort problems from non-problems and respond appropriately.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Why a Model?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

    Looking back on the list of the 14 most frequently mentioned problems in meetings (see “Some of the Challenges and Costs Associated with Hosting Meetings”<\/a>), we can attribute all of them to one primary cause; a lack of structure<\/span>. If this sounds like an oversimplification, it is, but only partially. You may be asking yourself, \u201cIf structure has been the only problem with meetings, why are meetings in corporate America a waste of money?\u201d It seems like unstructured meetings are\u00a0the effect of meeting dementia. Take a closer look at the components of the model meeting.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Meeting Boundaries<\/strong><\/h3>\n

    Meeting boundaries provide the limits or scope, which separate the meeting and its components from the external environment. Clear and unbroken boundaries are essential to good meeting management. It is the meeting leader\u2019s responsibility to keep the boundaries from being violated (broken) resulting in a breakdown in structure. Therefore, consider both types of meeting boundaries:<\/span><\/p>\n