Meetings, Teams and Negotiation, and Listening Skills

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STEP 1

My meeting was a project meeting on launching a supply management course in a hospital.
The objectives of the meeting: To set the budget for the project, to fix responsibilities for the different tasks and to set deadlines for the phases of the project.
How were the objectives communicated? First, the objectives were communicated through the agenda of the meeting. Next at the commencement of the meeting the objectives were communicated once again by the project manager.
Were the objectives achieved? Yes, the objectives were achieved, the responsibilities for selecting and appointing the faculty were allocated. The deadline for the task was set at 31st July, the responsibility for enrolling students was allocated to a team and this was to be completed by 15th July and the task of renting the classrooms was assigned.
How was the meeting controlled? The project manager controlled the meeting. He disallowed digressions and loose talk, he used the agenda to bring the discussion back to the task at hand and used his powerful personality to prevent deviations from the critical issues.
What were the best and worst aspects of the meeting? The best aspect of the meeting was that every responsibility was distributed; the budget was allocated and deadlines fixed without any major dispute or objection. The worst aspect of the meeting was when two members started discussing the blunders committed during the previous project and the project manager had to heavy handedly stop the discussion and point out the agenda for which the meeting was being conducted.
How did you feel (before, during and after the meeting)?
Before the meeting I was apprehensive because I did not know what duties would be allocated to me. During the meeting I felt relaxed because of the smooth manner in which the meeting was being conducted and after the meeting I felt relieved because the work allocated to me was appropriate to my skills and abilities, my budgetary allocation was comfortable and the time was adequate.

STEP 2

On did you find yourself identifying a "most likely" candidate, based on these details?

The company manufactures a range of expensive fashion accessories, the job is that of a secretary and in addition, she would have to work in addition as the headquarter receptionist. First, we do not know the country in which "Elite Fashions" is located so we do not know which accent will be suitable for the position. However, the additional work of the headquarter receptionist requires an energetic candidate and young candidate. The reason we mention young is that expensive fashion accessories are associated with young people, the models who display the accessories are young and the company would like to project a young image.
From this perspective Nathalie Brown would be an excellent candidate. She has secretarial experience that is relevant and she is 21 very close to the models who display expensive fashion accessories.

On would your choice alter if Marie was younger, if Nathalie was a single parent of five, if Besim was female, if Dimitri spoke with a "home country" accent, or if Crystal had five years' experience in a rival fashion house?

If Marie were close to 21 and had experience to match Nathalie then she would be able to surpass Nathalie. Her UK accent would be an asset. However, there is a problem with Marie if we subtract 25 years of secretarial experience from her age of 58 she would still be 28 years of age and would not have any secretarial experience! So she is unlikely to be selected.
If Nathalie were a single parent of 5 then it would have to be examined if she has adequate and satisfactory day care facilities for her child. If she has facilities, Nathalie's candidature remains equally strong.
If Besim were a female, it would not make much difference because she is 33 and has no secretarial experience. If Dimtri spoke home country accent, she would have a strong advantage of 10 years secretarial experience. Still, the decision would tilt in favor of Nathalie because of the age advantage. Crsystal Scott would become ...