Ensure meetings do not drag on forever

When chairing a business meeting, it is important to keep an eye on the time and make sure proceedings do not drag on too long.

While it is important to avoid stifling productive debate, a tight grasp is needed to ensure the meeting does not roll on indefinitely.

Each participant is likely to have a packed schedule, and be unable to spend hours discussing relatively minor points or those which are off the agenda.

So the chair has a responsibility to ensure the business of the day is attended to in reasonable time, before people start worrying about the clock.

Another problem with long meetings is that the concentration of participants may start to wane – and this can detract from the quality of the discussion.

It may not always be possible to prevent meetings running over time, but where possible the chair should attempt to ensure proceedings are kept under control.

Posted by Steve Moore