UK: ON THE WAY UP - How to keep cool in the hot seat - Having to chair a meeting can be daunting, but it ...

ON THE WAY UP - How to keep cool in the hot seat - Having to chair a meeting can be daunting, but it needn't end in tears. Here is some advice on how to control the troublesome lot in the back row.

The first time you found yourself running a meeting it probably came as a bit of a shock. First, you were unlikely to have received any training in how to go about it. Second, the chances are that nobody formally asked you to run the meeting: it just somehow happened. A group assembled to discuss something - and you suddenly realised you were in charge. It was swim or sink time.