Your ability to run a meeting well is a reflection of your leadership skills. Your staff, peers, and boss will judge how you lead meetings and, in turn, whether your meetings accomplish results.

In other words, your leadership skills will have a direct impact on the organization's bottom line because the meeting is not an end in itself; it is a vehicle to accomplish the work of the organization.

While there are different meeting styles, some practices and procedures make all meetings better.

Encourage Discussion And Participation

Your most valuable resource is the collective knowledge of others. A good leader encourages participation in order to harness others' creative power. All will benefit when you make the atmosphere safe and easy for everyone to get involved.

Take note of those who remain silent, and make it a point to ask them what they think. You don't want those who disagree to not say anything, and then leave the meeting and attempt to undermine the decisions later.

Encourage participation by saying:

"Stan, you shook your head just now. What else do we need to consider?"

"I would like to hear from Amanda on this."

"Jack, you and I talked about something before the meeting. Would you share it?"

"Do we have all the issues on the table?"


--Source: Suzanne Bates is an executive coach and communications consultant. She is President and CEO of Bates Communications and the author of Speak Like a CEO: Secrets to Commanding Attention and Getting Results.