194 / IMPROVING YOUR SKILLS
Chairing a meeting
Calling a meeting
People often complain about how many
meetings they have to attend. At a time
when few of us have time to spare, going
to a meeting that results in no action is
just a waste of time. So before you call
a meeting, ask yourself: is this meeting
necessary or can it be done by another
means, such as by email or a conference
call perhaps?
Inviting the right people
If you do decide that a meeting is
necessary, next consider who should
attend. This will obviously depend on
the purpose of the meeting. If you are
briefing employees about changes that
are to be made to your department’s
structure, for example, then it’s essential
that everyone attends. If you want views
on how the structure should change, on
the other hand, you might want to invite
just a few key people. Once you have
decided who should attend, send out
notices of the date and place in plenty
of time. Give an indication of how long
the meeting will take, to help your
invitees plan their time.
Chairing a meeting is an excellent way to gain visibility. You don’t
need to have expertise in the subject of the meeting, but you do have to
develop a range of procedural skills. These range from the technical—
how to produce an agenda—to the diplomatic, such as how to keep the
discussion moving and stop participants from speaking for too long.
How to run the
meeting
Ensure that there is someone
to take the minutes and let him
or her know the format you
want the minutes to follow.
At the end of the meeting, remind everyone what
has to be achieved and summarize what has been
agreed, to help the minute-taker.
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CHAIRING A MEETING / 195
Inviting the right people
If you do decide that a meeting is
necessary, next consider who should
attend. This will obviously depend on
the purpose of the meeting. If you are
briefing employees about changes that
are to be made to your department’s
structure, for example, then it’s essential
that everyone attends. If you want views
on how the structure should change, on
the other hand, you might want to invite
just a few key people. Once you have
decided who should attend, send out
notices of the date and place in plenty
of time. Give an indication of how long
the meeting will take, to help your
invitees plan their time.
Setting the agenda
An agenda is essential to ensure that
your meeting has a focus and to enable
participants to prepare beforehand.
How you structure it will have a major
impact on the success of the meeting.
The best plan is to word the agenda so
that the type of treatment necessary
for each item is clear.
Creating items
An item labeled “To discuss” on an
agenda, means an open debate of the
issues. The term “To note” means
there will not be any real general
discussion unless there is a point
someone is desperate to raise. The
timings you allot to each item and
where you place items on the agenda
will give participants an idea of the
importance of that subject. For regular
meetings, it is usually a good idea
to ask participants in advance if
there is anything they want to add
to the agenda or whether there is
anything they want to raise under
“any other business.”
Running the meeting
The role of the chairperson is to ensure
the meeting achieves its aims. There
are a number of key techniques for doing
this. One of the main characteristics of
a successful chairperson is being able
to make everyone feel they have been
able to air their views, that their opinion
has been valued, and that they have
achieved something.
Let everyone speak, but
move the conversation on to
the next person when they
have had their say.
Keep to time, but allow
sufficient airing of the issues.
If someone is dominating
the discussion, politely say
“Thank you. That was useful
and I think we’ve understood
your point. I see Joe has
something to add.”
Try to bring quieter people
into the conversation. If you
think someone may have
something to contribute,
ask directly if he or she
would like to add anything.
A successful chairperson
is able to make everyone
feel that their opinions
have been valued
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