Run great meetings by staying on task

Dear Medical Staff Leader:

It's happened to every medical staff leader while chairing a meeting. A meeting attendee starts talking and won't stop. On occasion, the physician attendee is talking about an issue that is not on the meeting agenda. When faced with such distractions, it's your job to keep the physician from derailing the meeting.

Your first step is recognizing what is happening in that moment. The physician is steering the meeting away from the tasks you are trying to accomplish. Therefore, your job at that moment is to interrupt the physician-whether he or she is an "elder statesperson" or campaigning for the job of "last angry man" on your medical staff, you must get the physician to stop his or her tirade. To do this, ask him or her, "How does this relate to the agenda item we are discussing?" You may have to use the referee sign for time out, and literally say, "time out." In some instances, you will have to escalate the volume of this command a few times before the physician stops talking. Don't hesitate to escalate as needed. After all, you are the chair of the meeting and as chair you must exercise control over the meeting.

You can also opt to take a respectful and controlled approach by saying, "The issue you're raising is important, but it's off the topic of this agenda item. Let's set up a time to address it at a future meeting or have a group work on it before the next meeting."

Use these techniques to keep your meetings on task and your fellow physicians will not only be grateful, they'll be more likely to show up at your next meeting.

That's all for this week!

All the best,

Rick Sheff, MD
http://www.greeley.com/seminars/