Chairing (running) Meetings
This can be one of the most rewarding experiences at work and as such I strongly recommend that you Chair (or run) as many meetings as possible. There are a number of benefits in chairing meetings as follows:
• You mature fast. Yes, this is pretty much an automatic process. The first time you chair a meeting (just like the first time you present) you may feel quite nervous. But as long as you prepare for meetings beforehand, don't bluff your way out of difficult situations and treat the participants with respect, things should be fine.
• You learn to make decisions and direct people. The Chair will often be looked upon as the person who makes the final decisions (even if this isn't the real purpose of their role). But perhaps even more importantly the Chair should direct the conversation, ensure that all the relevant arguments are heard and that air-time is properly distributed amongst the group.
• You become better at time-keeping. Although as Chair you could always appoint someone as timekeeper it is your responsibility to ensure that the meeting runs to the allotted time and that all the items on the agenda are discussed. You should think hard before the meeting about the length of time each topic requires and ensure that the time set aside for discussion is sufficient. From my experience meetings often overrun and if they don't you still find that there was insufficient time to discuss some of the agenda items. It's your job to ensure that this does not happen. After all, others may have prepared thoroughly about a topic that is very important to them. They'll be disappointed and may not see you in a good light. So what are the tips to ensure a meeting runs on time:
o Be clear about the rules on timing. No overruns. If a discussion looks like it will blow out of all proportion then it's probably best to take it 'off-line' and have the relevant individuals (perhaps a sub-group of the original meeting) look into it further. If you are tight on the timings those involved in your meetings will be forced to get better with their own conciseness.
o Allow enough time for a topic to be discussed. Don't tag on an extra item at the base of the agenda with a 10 minute slot if it is clearly going to last longer. In fact, spend some time making sure that the time slot available for each agenda item is sufficient (and whatever you do make sure you get buy-in on the length of the time slot from the individual).
• You learn to set action po