Managing Meetings: How To Chair A Meeting - Canberra

Managing Meetings: How To Chair A Meeting - Canberra

You know the feeling. You walk into yet another meeting that could have been an email, watch half the attendees check their phones while someone drones on about nothing, and realize you've just lost another hour of your life you'll never get back. If you're the one running these meetings, you probably feel even worse knowing everyone's silently judging your facilitation skills.

Here's the thing - most of us were never actually taught how to run a proper meeting. We just got promoted or landed in a role where suddenly we're expected to chair discussions, keep people on track, and somehow make decisions that stick. But here's what I've learned after years of both attending terrible meetings and running great ones: there's actually a formula for this stuff.

When you know how to structure a meeting properly, people show up prepared. When you can facilitate discussions without letting one person dominate the room, you get better ideas. When you wrap up with clear action items and follow through, things actually get done. It's not rocket science, but it does require some specific techniques that most people have never learned.

In this course, you'll discover how to plan meetings that people actually want to attend. We'll cover how to write agendas that keep everyone focused, how to handle those colleagues who love the sound of their own voice, and how to end meetings with concrete decisions instead of vague promises to "circle back later." You'll also learn the art of virtual meeting management - because let's face it, hybrid work isn't going anywhere.

We'll work through real scenarios you probably face every week. Like what to do when the meeting gets hijacked by someone's pet project, how to get input from the quiet team members who never speak up, and how to keep senior stakeholders engaged without letting them take over. You'll practice managing difficult conversations that inevitably come up when people disagree, and learn techniques for building consensus even when opinions are all over the map.

What You'll Learn

You'll walk away knowing how to design agendas that actually work, not just lists of topics that sound important. We'll show you proven techniques for keeping discussions productive and on-topic, plus strategies for drawing out ideas from everyone in the room, not just the loudest voices. You'll master the skills needed to handle disagreements professionally without letting emotions derail the whole session.

The course covers practical tools for following up effectively so decisions don't disappear into the void, methods for managing time without being the meeting police, and techniques for running virtual meetings that don't put people to sleep. You'll also learn how to evaluate whether you even need a meeting in the first place - because sometimes that email really is the better option.

The Bottom Line

After this training, you'll be the person people actually look forward to having meetings with. Your team members will show up prepared because they know their time won't be wasted. Decisions will get made and actually implemented because everyone understands what they're supposed to do next. Most importantly, you'll feel confident taking charge of any meeting situation, whether it's a quick team check-in or a high-stakes project management session with senior leadership. Your meetings will become the productive, focused discussions they were always meant to be.