Tip: If you’re a clinical hospitalist without hierarchical authority and have been asked to lead a project or task force, use Dr. Holman’s “transfer of authority” method. Ask someone with recognizable importance, such as the hospital CEO or a department chair, to stop in your group’s first meeting for a few minutes. While they are there, they should offer their resources for any necessary support, and voice their confidence in you as the leader and in the group in general. This simple visit will transfer their authority to you as the group leader.
Structure Is Key
Roger Schenke, executive vice president of the American College of Physician Executives (ACPE), believes that when the right structure is imposed any meeting is easy to run—without personality conflicts or wasted time. Schenke, who teaches an introductory ACPE course on management that includes a section on meetings, explains, “A structure approach [to meetings] takes proven techniques and superimposes them on any group. Once you start using structure, you don’t have to manipulate the meeting; people will simply follow the structure. They’ll feel that they’re part of a process.”
Schenke outlines an ideal meeting scenario, which can take place as a single, long meeting within a pre-set room, or be broken into separate, sequential meetings:
- Briefing. This should last no more than 30 minutes. A single speaker or a select panel provides information to participants and then allows questions. “Everyone knows the rules for this type of meeting,” adds Schenke.
- Problem-solving or problem-identification meeting. “The room should be set up with small tables and a flip chart for each. Small groups are assigned a specific task,” says Schenke, such as solving the hospital’s nursing shortage. A committee or task force should be broken into small groups so “you can’t go above seven people when you want people to interact,” says Schenke. “Above that, and little subgroups and factions form.”
- Parliamentary meetings should take place at a conference table. “Everyone eligible to mandate policy hears recommendations from other groups, such as the problem-solving groups,” says Schenke.
Obviously, each of these meetings has a unique structure with a unique room setting. “Structure determines or controls behavior,” says Schenke. “When people are put in these situations, they understand the rules. The key is not preparation; all it takes is letting the group know the purpose of the meeting.”
Practice, Practice, Practice
There are many theories and styles regarding running successful meetings, and you’ll find a wealth of information on how to become a better meeting leader. Just as meetings are a fact of life, it’s also true that you can improve your facilitation skills with each new meeting you lead. TH
Jane Jerrard writes “Career Management” monthly for The Hospitalist.