How to chair a meeting?
Anne de Wergifosse delivers the essentials of how to chair a meeting when no one is the boss. Even under those circumstances there are some tips, tricks, and formulae you can use to make your meetings more streamlined and effective.
Having effective meetings can be a daunting exercise. This holds especially true when we are talking about a meeting amongst peers without a formal hierarchy or a formal chairperson. Even under those circumstances there are some tips, tricks, and formulae you can use to make your meetings more streamlined and effective.
The fact that the meeting has no formal chair does not need to mean that there can be no role division of tasks. You can even argue that in this case having a role division only becomes more important. One effective and interesting way you can divide tasks is by looking into the three P’s.
The first of these P’s is the P for Product. The person in charge of Product makes sure that that the meeting has clear objectives, as well as a workable agenda. This person is essential for making sure the meeting is effective and does not stray too much of the path.
The second P stands for Process. No meeting can be effective without proper time management, so it is important that someone keeps close watch on this. This task can be neatly combined with taking notes or minutes of the meeting to make sure that the discussions and their outcomes will not be lost from memory in due time.
Lastly there is the P for People. Everyone in a meeting has a reason to be there and has the potential to contribute something meaningful to it. The important and rewarding task to make sure this diversity of thought and experience is used to its fullest falls to the person in charge of this P.
Giving some thought into who will take which task can make your meetings much more structured, effective, and efficient. Of course, there is no reason that the same person should always have the same tasks, so feel free to shake things up a bit every once in while!
Product
Process
People
Who is Anne?
Anne de Wergifosse is one of our key trainers at AIM & Associés, she is passionate about individual and collective support. She delivers the Productive Team Meetings at the European School of Administration, as well as many tailor-made team buildings for the European Institutions, agencies and bodies.
