Five golden rules for chair people

Time is god in meetings. Don’t let a discussion run on unnecessarily. If an issue can't be resolved in this meeting, cut the discussion off and continue it in a later meeting. But if 1'ou and your colleagues have to reach a decision today, be honest and tell them that they'll have to sit there until the job is done. Don't call meetings outside office hours. You u ant participants to be enthusiastic about being at your meeting, so never schedule meetings for evenings or weekends.

Meetings are for business, not socializing. A certain amount of small talk at the beginning and end of a meeting definitely helps to create a friendly atmosphere and build team spirit. But time is money. Make sure that participants get down to business after a few minutes of pleasantries. Also make sure that business is concluded before someone changes the subject to football again.

Give people enough time to prepare for a meeting. It's surprising how many chair people call meetings at short notice and then complain that the participants haven't prepared properly. With advance notice, participants will come to your meeting having thought about your agenda, read through the background papers, prepared presentations, and come up with solutions to problems.

Meetings should be democratic in approach and spirit. The only point in bringing people together for a meeting is to let them discuss an issue. If you want to announce decisions that have been made, don't do it in a meeting but find another way of communicating it. Your meetings should have a creative and open atmosphere so that your people can make interesting contributions to the discussion.

Oxford University Press, 2010

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