One important aspect of a good meeting is control. The people who assemble either intentionally or unintentionally either knowingly or not knowingly; purposely or not purposely; and forcefully or less forcefully make a point of deciding who will be in control at any meeting. The party which is in control will be able to gain the most from the meeting.

In any meeting there is conflict and both sides would like to gain in the conflicts. The way that they gain is via control. They try to control the meeting and to have it go their way. After all a meeting is rarely a true meeting a true meeting of minds. It is rather a compromise situation or a situation in which one side can claim victory while the other side loses. If all of the decisions were obvious and if everybody knew precisely what was going to be said and done, they would just do it. It would rarely be a case for a meeting except to reinforce that which is already known and decided. For this reason the meeting is to work out a community of forces and one community will be partially or completely victorious over the other community. When this happens either by democratic means or by one side being more forceful, outgoing or dynamic than the other side but there is always going to be a situation where one side convinces the other of the right way that things have to be.

So you can move the slider of control from absolute control to zero control, that’s the control where the leader is accepted by all or is forced by all to accept him to zero control in which people get together either for brainstorming or they get together without the purpose of accomplishing any serious business at the meeting and you can move the slider along and add any category you want in between. The job is to determine a level of control that is required, the amounts that the meeting is going to be businesslike, who is going to determine the policy, how important it is to determine the policy, and what is the purpose of each of the players in determining the policy in gaining or holding power. Once these facts are determined and based upon the slider of the control of the meeting that will determine the outcome of the meeting.

Good meetings often have people who are interested in the subject and in some cases this may lead to a power struggle or a power play. This can also be the result of behind the scenes influence of certain people. It is the job of the person running the meeting to make sure that things are being handled in a fair manner.

When people speak, you should watch their body language as the one leading the meeting to make sure that people are not making undue control over the situaiton. Those who are vying for positions of authority and control can influence the people more than they should. On the other hand, it is the job of the person running the meeting to allow some people to take control to some degree. After all, this is the way that new leadership is developed and fostered.

On the other hand it is necessary to watch out for those who are trying to hide from responsibility and to encourage them to take a more active part.

Some people remain silent during certain parts of the meeting or entire meeting in order to be able to gain control. Silence is a way of gaining control. And some people know how to use that all too effectively.

All meetings have power struggles, in which at least one person tries to be dominant or to wrest control. It may take the form of wanting the power or the control or wanting to relinquish the control or the attendant responsibilities.

The individual who calls and runs the meeting and prepares the agenda is not necessarily the one who wields the power. It may be useful to see who is the real strong man.