Improving communication

1. Tool A3Chairing vs. moderating
Chairing a meeting and moderating a meeting are very different
things. It is up to the person who is responsible of organising a meet-
ing and of its results whether he or she prefers to chair or to moder-
ate or what ever he or she thinks might better lead to the successful
end of such a meeting. For both cases, it is important that the re-
sponsible person is able to distinguish between both tasks.
For identifying the differences the below table opposes both options
in a schematic way describing chairing in a relatively conservative
way.
Chairing meetings Moderating meetings
The chairperson … The moderator …
• mostly is a person with a higher
position in the organisation than
the rest of the group. He or she is
responsible for the success of the
meeting and being the chairper-
son is in line with his or her task
in the organisation, not a role.
• is methodically responsible for
the work process of the meeting;
he or she is external to the or-
ganisation or to the respective
part of the organisation. Even if
not, moderation is a strictly de-
fined role and independent of a
formal function or hierarchical
position in the organisation.
• always is concerned with the sub-
ject of the meeting. He or she
values contributions, backs or dis-
cards options.
• is formally (by definition of the
role) independent of the subject.
He or she has to take care of a
formally equal treatment of all
contributions.
• concentrates on the subject itself
and less on methods and proce-
dures.
• concentrates on choosing and
practicing methods and proce-
dures supporting the process.
• makes sure that his or her inten-
tions and priorities are covered.
• supports and considers contribu-
tions by all participants of the
meeting.
• introduces clear and specific ob-
jectives of what the meeting is to
achieve.
• supports the formulation of ob-
jectives common to the group.
• intervenes personally in the case
of conflict and personal attacks
inviting to argue strictly on the
case.
• registers upcoming conflict mir-
roring it neutrally and providing
opportunities to clarify the con-
flict’s relevance for the process.
21.07.2008, 13:10:10