Whaddaya hear, whaddya say? Welcome to episode 30 of the Career Consigliere podcast: your no frills, no BS forum for navigating the corporate job scene. We’re back with you once again for what we hope to be a highly informative and engaging half an hour, or so! Today we continue our series on properly structuring a meeting by talking about phase 2: the execution. Translating from consigliere to English, that refers to what you actually do in the meeting. We’ll go through all the sub-steps/mini-phases involved, and along the way you’ll learn some useful ways you can put all of this into action. Podcast land, lettsssss get it!
Let’s start by acknowledging the obvious: no two meetings are exactly the same. Phase 1, the set-up phase, that we talked about in the last episode, is WAY easier to generalize. Every meeting has to be arranged in some kind of a structured way, and a formula like the one I laid out for you should apply pretty much across the board. But moving into phase 2, execution, things are way less predictable. What actually happens during the meeting and the direction things go will vary wildly depending on what’s being discussed, how long you have booked, who’s involved – many, many factors at play here. Nonetheless, for everything we’re about to say, we’ll assume that YOU listening are the organizer, the quarterback, whatever other analogy you want to use to represent “the one running the meeting”. And yes, you know me and my structured brain by now: we’ll break the process into three different sub-steps. Let’s get down into it!
Step 1: The Kickoff
No question, this is the easiest and least complex of all the steps. As you kick things off, first, thank everyone for joining the meeting. Whether you have 2 people with you, or 200 people with you, they’re taking time out of their day to meet with you, so a thanks is in order: it’s basic professional courtesy. Next, you reiterate the set-up by stating verbally what you put in the meeting invite: the what, the how, and the why. This does a few things: it signals to everyone that they’re in the right meeting, and that they’ll be getting what’s been advertised. Also, it furthers your brand as an organized, reliable professional, by demonstrating that you’re buttoned up and able to keep a group on task and focused. Think about it: do you feel confident and comfortable with someone who’s scatterbrained and all over the place? Do you feel like you’re in good hands? I do this every episode for you. A solid kickoff is easy, and sends such a strong message about your professionalism and execution capabilities.
Step 2: The Moderation
Now we do a total 180: we jump from the easiest component of the meeting process, to the most difficult. The primary reason why is that you no longer have total control in the moderation phase. Often times you’ll be the first speaker and get the wheels in motion, but you need the input and contributions of others in order for the meeting to be a real success. And THAT’s where things can get dangerous. Let’s go into why.
First, you do your thing. After you kick things off, usually you’ll start going through your slides, or sharing your screen to show the audience whatever visual aid you have for the topic you’re discussing. And very often, you’ll get cut off. Somebody, usually a higher-ranking person or somebody with aspirations (or delusions) of mega career advancement, will chime in and take the ball from you. I had this happen to me once, I’ll never forget: this story is a great example of a meeting gone bad, and I think it’ll illustrate my point with moderation way better than just preaching rhetoric at you, so grab your popcorn and get ready for another consigliere tale!
I was 26, and working full-time for a big mega corporation. I had a great leader at this place: to this day, she’s probably the all-around best manager, and one of the greatest human beings, I’ve ever worked for. We had a good relationship, and she trusted me to give a presentation during a meeting with some pretty senior people. No executives or anything like that, but a few senior managers and directors that had some influence. I was presenting an analysis I had done, so my manager kicked off the meeting (in consigliere-approved fashion!) and then turned it over to me to start going through my spiel. I think it was a total of 10, maybe 12 slides I had to present. I made it as far as slide 2, and I guess whatever I had on the page prompted one of the audience members to think of something else he had going on. And that’s when he interrupts and goes “Hey Chris that reminds me, what do you think about blah blah blah....”. And then the next 15 minutes was a back-and-forth between this chiacchierone and Chris. This was a 30 minute meeting, so by the time they were done hijacking and completely running this meeting off the rails, I completely lost my mojo, and other people started dropping off either for other meetings, or because they saw no reason to be there anymore. Got almost nothing accomplished, and I can promise you, NOBODY left having gained anything useful.
Now, granted: that was more-or-less the culture at this company. It was a very “me me me” type of environment, and stuff like this was very common. And to make matters worse I was new, only 26, and in the lowest possible ranking eligible to be salary exempt. So you add all that up, and there’s no way anyone was going to show me respect in this meeting. I don’t agree with that mindset, and I’ve worked tons of places where those kinds of things DON’T happen, but that’s how it was there.
Why do I tell you this story? Because you CANNOT let that happen to you. I’m not saying you need to get all territorial over your meeting, but look: you called everyone there for a reason. There’s a topic that needs to be discussed, and you invited all these people because they need to hear it. My example here may be a bit extreme: it takes a high degree of unprofessionalism and disrespect to wind up with that kind of outcome, but that’s the kind of stuff that will happen if you allow it .
So what do you do about it? Remain firm and refocus the conversation. Let the other person finish their sentence, and then say something like “Hey Chris: I’d suggest we take that offline, because we only have 20 minutes left to cover (whatever the topic at-hand). And if Chris (or insert name here of rude egotistical person at your organization) is a reasonable human being, this should rectify 90% of cases of someone trying to hijack your meeting. It also signals to the other attendees that you’re on a mission to get this topic discussed, and that you’re not going to stand for people trying to sidebar and ruin what you were trying to do.
Yes, you will absolutely need the input of others in your meeting. Let them say their piece, but as soon as the question is answered, or the point is made, be diligent and firm to get them refocused and back on task. Remember, YOU are the moderator: this is YOUR meeting. You may not have formal authority on the organization chart, but for these 30 minutes YOU’RE the boss, and you’re going to develop a bad reputation if you let people run you over during an important discussion.
But what if it IS an executive doing this? We all know how everyone fears the person with the sexiest title and highest number of direct reports: what happens if THEY’RE the one interrupting and trying to shift the focus of the meeting? I would first say that they’re out of line: a leader at that level needs to be a role model for professional behavior, and they shouldn’t be doing this. If they have concerns about what’s being discussed, they should get in touch with you and your team AFTER the meeting, and I’d argue that they probably should have contacted you or your manager BEFOREHAND to address any major concerns proactively. But, as we all know, things rarely go as they should. So what do you do in the heat of battle? My opinion here may be unpopular, but I vote to take the same approach as you would with anybody else. “Hey Jose: I’d really like to get a few more key points across, because what’s coming up may address some of your concerns. Let’s keep going with this and you’re welcome to ask questions at the end.” Keep calm, be professional, but remain firm regardless of who’s interrupting. And if you show that you’re not afraid to hold your own to a higher-ranking person, you’ll FURTHER signal signs of strong leadership and this may actually benefit your reputation at the company.
The bottom line about moderation? We can some it all up by saying that you’re running the discussion, and YOU decide what gets allowed, and what does not. And I’m not telling you to play an ego game: it’s all done in the interest of achieving the outcome that the meeting was designed to achieve. Be firm, be objective, and keep everyone on-topic. Let them talk and share their input, but then always bring the conversation back to the topic at hand in a constructive way. This can be VERY hard to do: there are always lots of opinions and egos to manage in a meeting, and this will take practice. It’ll be way easier if you’re an authority figure, but much harder if you lack the formal authority, or don’t have the experience yet. But you know what? Even if you're getting run over in the early days, experience is the best teacher. You’ll learn a TON from doing this, and you’ll get better at moderation every time. Most of the examples you see out there are TERRIBLE, by the way: a lot of what goes on during corporate meetings is poorly structured and ineffective, so keep all this in mind as you’re in meetings and stay committed to being as focused, structured, and outcome oriented as possible
Step 3: The closeout
And finally, the execution phase ends with what I call “the closeout”. Even if the meeting went fantastically, you got your points across, everyone is in agreement, and it’s 75 and sunny outside, you need to end it the right way. First, give a brief summary of all the main takeaways from the conversation. As you go through the meeting, different follow-up points and action items will come up, so for anything that needs to happen next, make sure you summarize all that. This is why I recommend for EVERY meeting, regardless of whether it’s in-person or virtual, always have a notepad, or some kind of blank canvas in front of you where you can take notes. I promise, as conversations get complicated and lots of people start talking, you WILL forget things, so writing down main points as they come up will help you bring the conversation to a constructive close.
As you do this, hold the different parties accountable for the different action items that apply to them. Call them out specifically: “Ok Dan, you’re going to run this report.....Sarah, you agreed to handle the video editing.....Sameer, you’re going to get the approval from finance”. During meetings, especially if you’re NOT the moderator, it’s easy to zone out and not be listening or participating actively. So hearing their names again will perk up your attendees and remind them that they’re part of the equation, and that things are expected of them .
Then, you say what the next step will be. Let’s say the next step is another meeting: you can take advantage of everyone being in the same place to ask them to check their schedules and come to agreement on a time to meet again. Or if the next step is a document that needs to be prepared, you can set a deadline for what needs to happen, by when, and how the deliverable will be met. The possibilities here are endless, but the main message is to keep everybody as accountable as possible and aware of what happens next. This signals not only that you’re organized as a moderator, but it also reassures everyone that their time has been well-spent and their contributions are leading towards the accomplishment of something. Finally, thank them once again for attending, reiterate that you appreciate their time, and then you adjourn.
People, that’s phase 2 “the execution” in a nutshell. Let’s recap with today’s.....consigliere call to action. The execution phase has three sub steps, mini-phases, whatever you want to call them: The kickoff, the moderation, and the closeout. The kickoff is easy: simply thank everyone for being there to reiterate that you appreciate them spending their very limited time with you. Also, you reiterate the what, the how, and the why from the set-up phase. This signals to everyone that they’re in the right place, that they’re getting what they came for, and that they’re in good hands for the duration of this meeting.
Next, the moderation. Much, MUCH more complex. The principal reason for this is that, up until now, you’ve been in complete control. But once you hit the moderation phase, not the case anymore. You need the input and contributions of your fellow meeting mates, and things can get real out of hand, real quick, if you’re not careful about how you steer the meeting. That’s why you need to maintain a strong position as the moderator: it’s YOUR meeting: you took on the responsibility of setting it up, you went out of your way to do all the preparation, so YOU get to run the show.
Your meeting is your opportunity to reach the outcome it was designed to achieve. But beware: others will try to take advantage of all the hard work you’ve done, and use your meeting as a platform to push their own agenda. I’m not advocating for approaching your meeting with a defensive mindset, but I am STRONGLY recommending that you stay on the lookout for this kind of thing. And if you see it starting to happen, your job as the moderator, as the quarterback, is to refocus everyone’s attention back to the subject at hand. Sometimes the detractors will bring up perfectly valid topics that do in fact need discussion....just not during your meeting. Regardless of who’s trying to take the wheel from you, if and when this happens, just be professional and politely turn the focus back to the topic at hand. Moderating meetings is TREMENDOUS practice for showing leadership and managing people. If you’re able to keep a group focused, productively addressing a topic, and achieving fruitful outcomes, you’re demonstrating the kinds of leadership behaviors that just about any corporation wants to see. It’s hard to do this, but the practice you’ll get by moderating meetings is some of the best career development out there.
And finally, the execution phase ends with the closeout. Summarize brief highlights of what was discussed, and all the action items that need to happen as a result. Hold the different attendees accountable for what their contributions and follow-ups need to be, and lay out a clear path for what happens next. This reminds everyone that they’re part of a team working towards accomplishing something, and keeps them accountable for doing their part. Not to mention, it further establishes you as a good leader. The closeout naturally leads into phase 3 of effective meeting management, “the post-mortem”, which we’ll talk all about in episode 31.
Sadly folks, that’s all the time we have for today. But have no fears, and shed no tears, because I’ll be back with a new episode very soon. As they say in the industry: no listeners, no show, so do me a favor, and stay loyal! If you find value in my content, please leave me a nice review, tell all your friends, and don’t forget to like, subscribe, and follow on whatever platform you use to get your podcasts. Beyond the confines of your headphones, speakers, TV screen, or any other crazy contraption with the ability to stream audio, I also provide one-on-one career assistance, so visit my website at career-consigliere.net to learn more about me, book me for a private consult, join my email list, or explore some of the other career services I offer. And to all of you out there in podcast land, remember this: Who’s the boss in your career? You, nobody else.
