How to get the most out of meetings you chair
Good meetings are led; bad meetings are not. The success of a meeting will depend largely on your ability as chairperson to get things done efficiently and to reach group decisions in minimum time. The following strategies will help you conduct a successful meeting. Directly or indirectly, they all point to the one goal - ensuring that the meeting achieves its purpose...
1. Create a member-centred meeting.
A domineering chairperson will stifle a meeting. As chairperson, your primary job is to realise the expertise of the group. This means you should refrain from voicing your opinions until everyone else has had a chance to be heard. Good ideas are lost when participants are reluctant to contradict or disagree with a manager who has already stated an opinion. Know your own biases and be prepared to deal with contributions that may violate them. Be persuasive but not overly partisan. Be seen by all to have a balanced approach.
2. Encourage participation.
Make sure everyone has an equal chance to express a view. Allow no-one to monopolise. Avoid calling on the same speakers, even though they may be the most experienced, knowledgeable, and eloquent. Encourage different points of view. Defend the weak against the strong. Tactfully draw out the reticent members by asking them for their opinions or comments.
Tom Peters, in 'In Search of Excellence', writes:
"Why not strive to apply the essence of success in the school classroom to your meetings - drawing others out, getting them to share their knowledge, their hitherto hidden assumptions, to commit to one idea or another? Unfortunately, such commitment rarely occurs in adult group settings, even though most managers spend much of their working days in such settings."
3. Stimulate discussion and ideas.
A good meeting should be an exchange of ideas and information. The chairperson must foster this exchange by probing and asking open-ended questions:
- to clarify issues: 'Are you saying you can provide this material by the end of the week?'
- to restate certain points: 'So let's confirm this point…'
- to confront issues: 'Are we really prepared to…?'
- to question critically: 'What exactly do you mean by…?'
- to seek solutions: 'What should we do?' 'What do you think?' 'Why?'
