In response to changing customer demands and strong competition, the new product development team of Z Company has been working on a new product range. However, the process has not been easy and conflict between different interest groups is a major problem.   For instance, the Marketing Department staff are complaining that the research and development staff are not working quickly enough in translating their ideas into possible products. Production staff are saying that no consideration has been given to the implications of the new product designs on the production process.

Discuss what the Finance Director should do to ensure that future meetings are effective in achieving satisfactory outcomes for all members.

Meetings can take up a important amount of time and should, ideally, be seen to advantage those who attend. Though, as in the scenario, people often leave meetings feeling frustrated at the time spent without any useful outcomes for them.  

As a first step, the Finance Director should prepare for the meeting, set clear objectives on the purpose of the meeting, and set up whom from the project team requirements to attend. This should ensure that the time is not wasted for people who do not require to be there and to make sure the objectives of the meeting can be achieved. A practical aspect is to make arrangements in terms of the location and time of the meeting to give confidence attendance.