Leadership / Meetings

Leading a Meeting Without Being in Charge

8 Tactics to Make Them Work

Photo by Campaign Creators on Unsplash

I was leading some training this week on how to have successful meetings when someone asked if there was anything you can do if you’re not in charge of the meeting. Yes, Virginia, there is something you can do!

At the time, we were working off this slide:

Picture by author. All rights reserved.

The cool thing is you can take this list, which was created with the meeting organizer in mind, and use it as a guide for improvement from the outside in. I’ve told people countless times: your personal example is the most powerful tool in your leadership toolbox. This is how you can use that to lead up and sideways.

Before the meeting

• Contact the meeting organizer and ask for the purpose.

Explain you want to make sure you’re well prepared. They may not have it but you’ve started the wheels turning in their mind. Ask by email if you want to be thoughtful and kind. That allows them the opportunity to scramble and create one without looking bad. Ask them by phone to email it to you if you want to be a little more forceful. Go…