Leading a meeting is often treated as a fairly straightforward task. You have an agenda, you work through the items, keep an eye on the time and make sure you reach the end.
But good chairing is about more than getting through the agenda.
The chair has an important role in shaping what happens in the room. That means knowing when to move a discussion on, when to give someone more space to speak, when to challenge a point and when the conversation needs to change direction.
It also means paying attention to the dynamics of the meeting. Who is speaking? Who isn’t? Are some people being interrupted? Are the same voices dominating the discussion? And are people actually listening to each other?
Start with a Clear Purpose
Before the meeting starts, be clear about what you need it to achieve. Is there a decision to make? Are you asking for views before making a decision? Do you need to explore a problem or simply share information?
This sounds obvious, but it makes a difference to how you manage the discussion. If the purpose is to make a decision, you need to know when you’ve heard enough to move towards one. If you’re looking for ideas, you may need to give people more time to explore different possibilities.
It’s also useful to make the purpose clear to everyone attending. People are more likely to contribute appropriately when they understand what the meeting is there to do.
Pay Attention To The Conversation, Not Just The Agenda
When you’re chairing, it’s easy to become focused on getting through each item. But you also need to pay attention to what is happening between the lines of the agenda.
Perhaps one person is doing most of the talking. Someone else has been interrupted twice. A useful point has been raised but hasn’t been picked up. Or the discussion has moved away from the question you’re actually trying to answer. These are all things the chair can influence.
You don’t need to control every contribution or make sure everyone speaks exactly the same amount. Some people will naturally have more to say on certain topics. The point is to notice when the conversation is becoming unbalanced and decide whether you need to intervene.
Think About Who Is Being Heard
This is particularly important when we think about gender and workplace meetings. Research and writing on the authority gap have highlighted that women can be taken less seriously than men, including when they have the same (or higher) level of expertise or experience. Mary Ann Sieghart’s The Authority Gap looks at the ways this can show up in everyday interactions, including women being interrupted, talked over or having their expertise questioned.
That doesn’t mean every difficult interaction in a meeting is caused by gender. Nor does it mean that every interruption is deliberate or that men always dominate conversations. But it does mean that we shouldn’t assume that everyone enters a meeting with the same experience of being heard. As a chair, that is worth being aware of.
If someone is repeatedly interrupted, you can intervene. If one or two people are dominating the conversation, you can create space for other views. If someone makes a point that isn’t acknowledged and the discussion moves on, you can bring it back.
You might say: “I’d like to go back to Sarah’s point.” or “Let’s let Sarah finish what she was saying.” Or simply: “We haven’t heard from everyone yet. Who else has a view?”
These aren’t complicated techniques. They are ways of recognising what is happening in the conversation and deciding when you need to do something about it.
If you’re the person who regularly finds yourself being interrupted, talked over or struggling to get your point heard, I’ve written more about this in Struggling To Speak Up In Meetings? It May Not Be A Confidence Issue.
Make Space For Different Views
One of the easiest ways to chair a meeting is to ask a question and wait for whoever wants to answer. The problem is that this can favour the people who are quickest to speak.
If you want a wider range of views, you may need to be more deliberate. You could ask for views from people who haven’t contributed yet. You could give everyone a moment to think before inviting responses. Or, if you’re discussing a decision, you could ask whether anyone sees a risk or has a different perspective.
This doesn’t mean putting people on the spot for the sake of making everyone speak. It’s about recognising that silence doesn’t necessarily mean someone has nothing to contribute.
Keep The Meeting moving Towards an outcome
Time management still matters, but I think it’s less useful to think of this as simply watching the clock. The more important question is whether the conversation is taking you towards the outcome you need. If an agenda item is generating useful discussion, it may be worth allowing it more time. If you’re repeating the same points without getting anywhere, you may need to move on.
You might summarise what you’ve heard and ask for a decision. You might suggest taking a detailed issue away for a separate discussion. Or you might recognise that there isn’t enough information to decide yet and agree what needs to happen next.
The chair doesn’t need to have all the answers. But they do need to help the group understand where the discussion has got to and what happens next.
Good Chairing Is About Judgement
There isn’t a script that will tell you exactly when to intervene, when to let a discussion continue or when to challenge someone. That’s part of what makes chairing a useful leadership skill. You’re constantly reading the room and making decisions about the conversation. Sometimes you’ll need to step in. Sometimes you’ll need to hold back. Sometimes the best thing you can do is give people more time to think. And the more you practise, the easier it becomes to recognise those moments.
For women in particular, there can be an additional layer to this. If you’ve spent years being conscious of how you might be perceived when you speak, being the person who interrupts, challenges or redirects a conversation can feel uncomfortable. But chairing isn’t about becoming more forceful for the sake of it.
It’s about understanding your role and using your voice when the conversation needs you to. A good chair doesn’t need to dominate the meeting. They need to make sure the meeting works.
Want To Develop Your Confidence And Communication Skills?
If you want to feel more confident leading discussions, speaking up and communicating your ideas at work, my group coaching programme gives you the opportunity to develop your skills, practise in a supportive group and learn alongside other women facing similar challenges.
Find out more about the group coaching programme.
