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CONDUCTING THE MEETING

Your two primary objectives in conducting any meeting should be to keep the meeting focused on the goal(s) and to stay on schedule. Following are some specific suggestions to help you accomplish these objectives:

Always begin the meeting by welcoming the participants and briefly summarizing the agenda. Emphasize the goal(s) of the meeting and the results you hope to obtain. Ask for their cooperation and participation.

If you are starting a regular series of meetings (for example, regular staff meetings or project review meetings), develop a “code of conduct” during your initial meeting. A code of conduct specifies rules of behavior by which the meetings will be conducted. Let the participants come up with their own rules. For example, say: “We're going to be meeting like this on a regular basis and I thought one of the first things we might discuss is how these meetings should operate. I would like your ideas about what we, as a group, should do (or refrain from doing) in order to make these meetings more enjoyable and productive. What do you think?” Establish rules such as: “Meetings will start and end on time,” “No smoking.” “No criticism of others' ideas…”

While it sounds simple, establishing a code of conduct from the beginning can be tremendously helpful to you in maintaining order and control at later meetings. If the participants come up with the rules themselves, they will help you to enforce the rules if they are violated.

As a rule, limit the time you are talking to no more than fifteen to thirty minutes. Since you want the participants' ideas and opinions you should listen and guide the discussion, not make speeches.

To stimulate discussion, ask open-ended questions (those that cannot be answered with a yes or no).

To encourage a quiet person to talk, call on them and use their first name. Say, “Jane, what do you think about . . . “  Reinforce Jane's response by saying: “Thank you, Jane, that was a good point.”

If a single person or a single point of view begins to dominate a discussion, listen for the person speaking to pause and interrupt them to ask another question. For example, listen
for a pause and say: “Thank you, John. Now I'd like to hear what Ted thinks. Ted?” Alternatively say: “Well, I've heard some good reasons why we should not do this. Now tell me some of the advantages in doing it.”

If the discussion tends to wander off track of the main point, again, listen for a pause from the person speaking and say: “Those are good points, but I think we are getting a little off track. What I'd like us to focus on is how do we . . ..? Mary, what do you think about that?”

If you feel you are losing control or need to get their attention, do one or more of the following:

a. Stand up.
b. Walk around the room.
c. Walk to a point where you are standing just behind the person talking or disrupting the meeting.
d. Raise the volume of your voice.
e.  Pick up an object (marker, pointer, etc.) and hold it in your hand—yes, that simple act will get their attention.
f.  Tap on the table or on the side of a glass or cup.
g.  Flip the light switch on and off.

A distraction will usually shift your staff's attention in another direction.

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