Chairing Contentious Meetings

Increase your confidence and competence in chairing contentious meetings.

As part of a leader's or manager's role, they will often have to chair meetings at which there is likely to be a high level of contention, disruptive conduct, or other behaviour that may have to be addressed.

Chairing Contentious Meetings, delivered over a full day, teaches delegates how to structure, manage, and conclude such meetings more confidently, and provides access to some new tools that would enhance their competence as meeting chairs.

About the course

The aim of this one-day course is to increase your confidence and competence in chairing meetings at which there is likely to be a high level of contention or disruptive conduct.

At the conclusion of this course, you will be able to:

Structure, manage, and conclude meetings more confidently
Managing time and sticking to the running order. Understanding the importance of an agenda.
Address disruptions and be able to get things back on track
Using 'LEAP' to address challenges from attendees and the 4-step appeal to get back on topic.
Use some key skills to enhance competence as meeting chairs
Communicating assertively and fostering collaboration in the meeting.
Reflect on meetings: continual improvement
The benefits and importance of de-briefing with a colleague. Thinking about what you have learned and how this will affect your next chaired meeting.

Chairing Contentious Meetings provides you with new tools to enhance your competence as meeting chairs.

This includes:

The four main responsibilities of the meeting chair
Forming an agenda and ensuring that it is stuck to
How to maintain behavioural standards and general order
How to address disruptions and getting things back on track
How to conclude a meeting: pulling together points of agreement

Our trainers have a wealth of practical experience and are able to adapt the course content to the make-up of the particular group.

All of our courses are live interactive events run by a practising mediator who is an expert in the field.

This course includes a combination of:

Custom-made video clips
Lecture and live discussion
Group exercises

Practice sessions with simulated case material
Real-life case studies

The course is delivered face-to-face at your location, or online via Zoom or Teams, where we can use custom-made video material, run small-group exercises, and take part in some case simulations.

What our learners say

"A very useful session. I really appreciated the tools and advice given, and this has really made me reflect on how I will chair meetings."

David Warner Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

"The trainer was fabulous - really informative and supportive. Thank you!"

Melissa Hovell Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust

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Want to find out more or get a quote from us?

We're a friendly bunch at UK Mediation and we're always happy to talk about our training courses.

Whether you're interested in a specific course of ours, or if you would just like some friendly advice, just fill out the form and we'll get straight back to you.

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Course FAQs

We understand that you may have some queries about the course’s content or about how the training is delivered.

We’ve gathered together some of the most Frequently Asked Questions and have answered them below.

Who should attend this course?

This one-day course is ideal for those who may have to chair challenging meetings from time to time. We have delivered this programme for a wide variety of leaders and managers across multiple sectors.

Will I be a mediator after doing this course?

No, this course is part of our Conflict Competence for Leaders suite, and therefore does not incorporate mediation skills. This programme will instead equip managers and leaders with the confidence and competence to address more low-level and frequent disagreements.