Carlos Chavez

It is better to have more control by offering conference calls with less personnel possible, than a large group on where it could become overwhelming to manage!!!

Leslie Alexander

Dennis,
Groups of 15 or more can yield results if proper planning took place prior to the meeting/conference. The biggest lost with large groups is opportunity for discussion. With planning and proper activities this can be compensated. Is it as effective as small group discussions, this truly depends on the facilitation and report out. It can still yield results when small group meetings are not timely permitted.

Dennis Wilson

Recently I introduced a draft of a new dress code at my place of business. As I knew that it would draw a lot of comment, I invited all employees (more than 50 of them) to attend a meeting called for specifically this purpose. I did so because I did not want this discussion splintering into a number of different directions.

I presented the draft at the meeting and allowed a pre-determined amount of time for comment. I then invited the rest of the employees to submit their comments via email or paper. By doing it this way, I was able to determine the areas that were the most sensitive to my employees and get a feel for a direction that would lead to an effective solution.

The meeting worked out well and we were able to resolve the outstanding issues in very short order. By structuring the comment period, using effective listening skills and allowing those who were unable to contribute during the meeting the opportunity to do so afterwards, I received some much needed feedback in a controlled fashion. I have used this technique a number of times and it has always been successful.

Steve Nelson CHEP

You can yield results from large meetings within the parameters of the participants input. Even though it is called a meeting, when just giving information to a group of people that are expected to act based on the info that is more like a seminar.