During meetings, your key responsibility is to facilitate discussion. You should create an environment where ideas are viewed fairly, no matter who contributes them, and where the group’s energies are positively, productively focused. For instance, let’s assume one participant not only criticizes another participant’s idea but also the participant. Your task is to remind the member that the remark was uncalled for. You may also have to apologize to the individual who was attacked by a colleague: “Claire, I’m sorry that remark was made. It was totally uncalled for, and we welcome your ideas.”
Confront disagreements. How you confront disagreements will depend on the degree of conflict and the stage of the team’s mission. But it is imperative that you act immediately when conflict arises. For instance, Helen is sitting quietly in her chair, obviously upset. You might say, “Helen, you seem upset by what you have just heard. Could you share your concerns with the rest of us?”
When someone is monopolizing the discussion, you need to step in to draw out contributions from the rest of the group. Give the individual time to have a say, then interrupt and ask for others’ opinions. While you don’t want to put any one member on the spot, you might want to ask Jack what he thought about the previous comments or the discussion so far.
You may have some people whom you know have ideas but are reluctant to speak up. Under such circumstances, as meeting leader, you may want to en- courage more active participation. For instance, you might ask one of these individuals, “What do you think of Joe’s idea?” Better yet, you might ask, while looking at a specific member who hasn’t spoken up yet, “Who has another suggestion about how we should proceed?”
If a member seems confused about another participant’s comment, you may want to ask the speaker to clarify his remark. “Let me see if I understand your position. Are you suggesting that . . . ?” “What am I hearing is. . . . Am I right?” “Let
me restate your last point to see if I understand.” You might also want to paraphrase someone’s comment if it seems to have angered another member. Putting the remark in your own words may help the upset participant realize that they were overreacting to the initial statement.
Periodically, in your role of meeting leader, you might want to stop the discussion to review conclusions reached so far. Not only will doing this ensure that participants stay on course, but it also allows the group to catch its collective breath if the discussion was heated.
There will come a point when the group will be ready to make a decision. You may want to call for a vote to see if you are correct that all discussion is over. If the group feels further discussion is needed, then allow that. If the group seems as if it can’t get over this hump, then you may want to ask, “What do we want the end result to be? What are we trying to accomplish here?” Focus the discussion on critical issues. As the chair of the meeting, you should always be moving the team toward completion of its mission—which is often deciding which idea of several should be pursued.