The Virtual Manager Collection (3 Books) (HBR 20-Minute Manager Series)

Conduct the Meeting

With your prep work behind you, it’s time to transform those efforts into a great meeting with tangible accomplishments. When you log off after leading a productive discussion or resolving a difficult problem, you’ll feel exhilaration and relief. But to get to that result, you’ll need to be “on” in the meeting: mediating conflict, clarifying misunderstandings, enforcing rules, and maintaining the group’s momentum. It’s hard work. In this chapter, you’ll learn best practices for each phase of the interaction.

Just before the meeting starts

For you, this meeting starts early—by at least 15 minutes. As with a traditional appointment, you’ll prepare your physical space to maximize participants’ comfort and communicativeness, and ...