How supervisors should handle meetings
Handling business meetings can be quite hard for first-time or long-tenured supervisors. This is especially true when your colleagues always expect you to lead the meeting in an efficient fashion.
Supervisors need to have great management experience and patience. They should be able to deliberate plans to make meetings a success – easier said than done I hear you cry!
With that in mind, here’s our list of useful tips to help supervisors handle meetings more effectively.
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Do not try to please everyone
This doesn’t mean you should put on a poker face throughout the meeting. Exude a warm and friendly demeanour towards every participant to clear the tension in the air. If you are faced with an opposing opinion or negative reaction, allow them to speak up and engage them with practical and intelligible discourse.
Run a good meeting
Make a sincere effort to make all of your meetings a smashing success – especially if you are a new supervisor. Once you have created a good reputation in chairing good meetings, people will soon be lining up to attend them. You can also expect participants to actively take part to seek productive results.
Say ‘No’ with respect
One of the hardest parts of dealing with people in a meeting is saying “no.” You should accept that it is necessary and not every idea or suggestion is suitable for the problem at hand.
What you can do however, is to deflect ideas with proper respect and explain why such an idea might not be beneficial or appropriate.
Display integrity
Be committed to providing only honest, sincere, consistent and credible information during meetings – whether it may offend or reap negative responses. Speak your mind and follow your plans and courses of action.
Have humility
Do not let your ego lead the direction of your meetings – this often leads to ineffectiveness and intimidation. Influence the participants to follow up on plans by inspiring them instead of commanding compliance.
Acknowledge others
Make employees appreciate your efforts by acknowledging everyone at the end of the meeting. Point out their value to the team and commend their achievements and idea contributions – participants are more encouraged when they are publicly acknowledged.
Ask for feedback
After you have presented all your ideas and information, ask the participants for questions, constructive comments and suggestions. As a supervisor, you should not push yourself to know everything; you have already done a good job in leading that meeting in the first place!
For a supervisor, facilitating a meeting is not just for the sake of holding one or discussing pressing matters at hand. Treat every meeting as the chance to develop the whole team so that they can function even better!
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