Make your meetings work for you

In Japan, it is not uncommon for business meetings to be held with all attendees standing up: no table, no chairs, everyone in a circle. The reason why is straightforward – with no distractions, no unnecessary comforts, the meeting is efficient.

Not so in meeting rooms up and down the UK – chairs on wheels that swivel and slide, discussions that go way off course, chirruping iPhones and BlackBerrys, tea, biscuits; chairing a meeting is a skill in its own right. How can you ensure you get the best out of a meeting?

Ahead of any meeting, ensure all attendees receive an agenda and ask participants if they would like to add anything. You don’t want to be too prescriptive, but an agenda will keep meetings focused and insure that all the important points are addressed.

First rule: phones off. Schools across the country have banned mobile phones from class and businesses would do well to follow. This is difficult. Everyone likes to believe they are indispensible but, if the meeting is important, it should command undivided attention. A successful chair will ask at the beginning if anyone is expecting or has to make an important call and will schedule breaks accordingly.

Accountants will often have to attend, or even chair, a meeting of participants with competing positions. You need to be able to overcome the difficult behavior of others so that you can contribute fully, whatever your role. One trick that works is to use the person’s name, make eye contact, lean forward and perhaps extend your arm across the table as if you are about to ‘rabbit chop’ the table, and then in your normal voice say: “Peter, you interrupted me.” And then make your point.

Handling distracting behavior can be dealt with by stopping conversation completely, and is particularly effective if you stop mid-sentence, or even mid-word. Those in their own discussion will quickly realise the meeting is on hold because of them.

Finally, to make a point in a meeting you must know your point. Work out what it is before you open your mouth. When answering a question the cardinal rule is: make the answer the first thing you say; elaborate briefly and then shut up! A guiding principle for the length of answer is thirty seconds.

Jack Downton is managing director of The Influence Business