We will take a look at the agenda for a business meeting. This is the key to an efficient meeting and if badly considered becomes, not only a significant demotivator, but can waste a lot of time.

The meeting agenda:

To start with, you will only need an agenda if a meeting happens. It is simple to begin creating an agenda for a meeting in advance.

The agenda will be circulated at some time to those invited. Mainly for the initial meeting, to fulfill the meeting objectives, make the team as small as required. For regular official meetings the list of attendees should be consistent but could be different for further meetings.

The template:

Many meetings should adhere to a similar style, so employ a template. Features of the agenda might be the following:

Time of the item…

This is the beginning of the agenda item but it may also indicate the duration of the item. This would naturally go into the next item start time. This enables everybody to identify the length of time allotted to the item on the agenda and allows the chairperson to encourage attendees to keep to it.

The time in the agenda should permit an introduction and a review of the discussion at the finish, say 5 minutes in total.

Item title…

It should be included after dialogue and gaining the leader’s (see below) agreement, before producing the agenda. The length of the item should be agreed. Furthermore, the chairperson might ascertain from the leader if there are any expected results that may emerge from the presentation.

Item reason…

This component ought to describe the purpose for incorporating the agenda item and possibly any expected conclusions. This will help concentrate awareness on the major issue and should encourage people to consider it more ahead of the meeting. It enables the chairperson to keep the dialogues on track.

Allowing individuals to reflect more on every item, by illustrating it in this manner, will help to secure added contribution from a broader region than merely from the department of the discussion leader.

The topic leader…

This establishes the person who will guide the discussion of this particular agenda item. The leader has a duty in presenting the argument and defining any conclusion in a summary at the end.

Preparation…

This is an opportunity to determine anything that should be performed before the meeting in support of the agenda item. This is for all attendees and not just for the leader of the dialogue.

Apart from forearming people, and enabling them to effectively contribute in the meeting, it can help to speed up the discussion and thus achieve the outputs for the agenda item more speedily. This can save considerable time and decrease blank and uninterested faces at meetings.

Hence, headings for the agenda template might be ‘time, item topic, purpose, leader and preparation’.

Agenda ideas:

You might want to add additional items to the business meeting agenda apart from the main points for discussion. For example, ‘an introduction’ which could be used to suggest any specific problems but also to reiterate areas of the meeting policy.

You could like to end the meeting with ‘any additional business’. This enables the highlighting of any impromptu concerns but significantly offers a point for the chairperson to thank the attendees for their contribution to the discussions and to agree the date of the next meeting.

Attendee suggestions:

If you must send a replacement, make certain that the chairperson realises it. Offer a justification for your absence and identify any concerns that this action might incur.

If you are unable to turn up, can you present the required data to the chairperson in person? This will guard against using up the time of another person. The chairperson can then introduce the results of the dialogue in the slot for the agenda item.

Make certain that you get a distributed agenda in lots of time to consider additional items in addition to your own.

If you must leave the meeting at a specific time notify the chairperson, who may tell the meeting at the outset, just in case it could influence the presentation of a separate item.

It is just as much the responsibility of the leader of the dialogue to retain focus as the chairperson, particularly when faced with questions that could be wandering from the item purpose. Protracted discussions might be more effectively served by continuing them outside of the meeting.

The leader ought to complete the talk by summing up and spelling out the main points.

When, as an attendee, you are not happy with the format of the meeting, take it up with the chairperson external to the meeting. Don’t disrupt a meeting on a personal campaign.

If you turn up at a meeting go equipped and primed to contribute, and not just on your own agenda topic.

If you’re looking to hold a business meeting or conference with international visitors or people from throughout New Zealand, you may be wondering where to find the right venue. Ideally you will be looking for a place that is accessible, meets your catering, size, and budget requirements, and suits the style of the occasion.

These days, many people are choosing a Nelson business meeting venue for its flexibility, quiet location, and range of function venue options. Nelson is situated at the top of the South Island of New Zealand, which is a great central location for both North and South Island delegates, and is easy to get to for international travellers.

Let’s take a better look at five reasons why the sunshine capital of New Zealand, Nelson, will make an ideal business meeting venue for you.

1. A range of venue sizes for a small meeting or a large function.

Whether you are looking to hold an intimate meeting with just a few important people, or a large seminar or conference for a wider audience, Nelson has a range of business function venues to suit you. Known for its hotels, historical buildings such as Broadgreen Historic House which was originally constructed in 1855, and award winning restaurants like Hopgoods and Boutereys, you can choose a venue to suit your style, budget, and size requirements.

2. Quiet, tranquil locations.

If you are holding a seminar, function or business meeting, you’ll know how important it is to have your audience or colleagues relaxed and focused. Having a comfortable Nelson business meeting venue in a tranquil rural setting means you are away from the hustle and bustle of the city, and you will have everyone’s full attention. If you prefer you could choose to spend time in one of the three national parks in the region – Kahurangi, Nelson Lakes and Abel Tasman.

3. Easily accessible.

If you have people coming to your meeting from all over New Zealand, Nelson is an easily accessible location for everyone. Avoiding the busier airports, your colleagues, guests or audience can simply fly in to Nelson airport from almost anywhere in New Zealand, and travel just a short distance to a nearby conference venue.

4. A choice of modern or historical venues to inspire any occasion.

Nelson is known for its history, but also for its artistic community. Many of the buildings feature beautiful, modern furnishings for a lavish affair, or select a more classic, historical building for serious business meetings.

5. Close to parking, restaurants and amenities.

In Nelson, you don’t have to worry about finding parking, rushing through busy traffic, or driving a long distance. Serviced by the fourth busiest airport in New Zealand, Nelson offers business meeting venues which are very close to the main city centre, hotels, restaurants, and cafes, so your conference or meeting attendees will spend minimal time in transit, and more time engaging with the topic at hand!

A Nelson business meeting venue will make sure your colleagues, clients or audience are well rested, comfortable and giving you their full attention. Have a look around for a venue that meets your specific style, size and budget requirements, and you’re sure to find the perfect fit!

When investing in real estate an important decision to make will be whether or not you want to have a broker help make your real estate deals. Often, the answer to that question will have to do with where you are in your investing career. For those that are just beginning a broker can be a very useful tool in finding opportunities, what an investor should look for and what they don’t want to see in a property, and negotiating a deal that will make everyone happy. Those that are a bit seasoned in this area may not need so much help, but still can benefit in one way or another.

When preparing to purchase a commercial property for investment you may want the assistance of a broker. Having as much experience as they do in this field, a broker will be able to give good, solid reasons why a property may or may not be a good investment. If an investor is considering purchasing a building in order to section it off and lease out “stores” to those in retail, a broker may be able to let them know that this is not a good idea because there will shortly be a large shopping center being developed within a mile of this building. This would make it more difficult to lease out the spaces and it may not be a worthwhile investment unless the investor can come up with a different use for it. Without the knowledge of the broker, the investor may have ended up losing money due to a bad investment once the shopping mall came along.

A broker may also be able to hunt up other properties for investment. If, as an investor, you find that a property that you’ve been considering is not a good investment, a broker may be able to tell you about a few other properties that could be good for use in the way that you’re planning. A broker will also have information about properties before they even get listed. Sometimes this can work in your favor. If the Realtor knows of the property and tells you about it, you see it and are interested, you may be able to negotiate with the owner of the property before it ever gets listed. This may give you the heads up on properties that others may have outbid you on. You will not have to worry about competing with other investors because they will not have known of the property. A broker may do this for you if they will still get a commission on the deal or they may forgo a commission or two in order to claim you as a client and keep you coming back. If they make you money, you’ll be more willing to make them money. This can be a win win situation on both sides of the fence.

If you’ve been working with brokers for a while and have a reasonably good idea of what you’re doing as an investor, you may not want to work with a broker at all. Even if a broker has given you a property or two, they will not continue to do that for long. All other properties will have part of the profits divided with the broker. If you feel that you’ve gained enough experience to deal without a broker, you can potentially save yourself thousands that would otherwise be a commission to the broker.

Being able to work without a broker will mean that you’ll have to have some communication with those that are selling properties. If you’ve done a lot of networking in the time that you’ve been investing, chances are that you have done some networking and meeting of people that do what you do. You may know owners of several commercial buildings of your area. They may know that you are a good business to deal with when they decide to sell their property. In this case, there is little else that a broker will do for you besides deal with the legal end of the sale.

If you’ve paid close attention in the closings and have looked closely at the paperwork that’s changed hands during the meeting at the close of the sale, you should be able to handle this part yourself. The documents that brokers use to close a commercial property sale can be purchased at most business office supply stores and several bookstores. Additionally, you can draw up these documents yourself with the help of your computer and printer. If you purchase the documents once and make several copies of the blank documents, you’ll have a good start. After you’ve done a few closings yourself you may add some documents that pertain to your business dealings or you may always use the documents purchased. Either way, you will be able to handle the closing of property transactions which will again save you thousands over using a broker.

A broker can have their uses. When you are starting out in the field of commercial investing, they can be a wealth of information and very helpful in your transactions. In the beginning, they may be well worth the investment that you have to put into them. Over time, they may not be as necessary as previous. If you make a point to network with others in the same or related fields, you will find yourself getting information thrown at you left and right when a commercial property comes up for sale. That will eliminate the need for the broker in that sense. If you pay close attention to the closings and gather the necessary paperwork to learn how a property closing works, you will eliminate entirely the need for the broker and this will save your company thousands at each closing. It makes good business sense to use a broker in the beginning, but learning about their job will ultimately raise your profit margins as you eliminate their need and then the use of them at all.