Q. I often run our meetings, even though I’m outranked by others in the room. I need to control the session, but I don’t have formal authority over anyone. How can I keep things moving, especially with the higher-ups in the session?

A. It’s clear that others see you as having leadership skills; otherwise they wouldn’t continue to ask you to run the meetings. Use questions to lead the discussion; they’re an easy way to keep gentle control, without appearing to be “bossy.” You become the facilitator, and can run the entire meeting, just by asking questions.

Types of questions

Several kinds of questions can help you do this:

Overhead—You ask without saying who should reply. Use it to start discussion and get the group’s attention. (“What do we know about the current profit problem?”)

Direct—You ask a specific person, usually for specific purpose. (“John, what’s your take on the current profit problem?”)

Reverse—turn the question around to the one who asked it; have the person answer his or her own query. (John: “Why do we have this problem with profits?” You: “John, why do you think we have this problem?”)

Relay—pass the question from one participant to another, possibly re-worded; you can use it as a lead-off or follow-up question. (“Mary, what do you think about John’s answer to that?”

Pick-up or follow-up—bring up a question that was asked previously, but hasn’t been answered yet: use it to expand or extend discussion. (“Ted, earlier we postponed discussion on the regional performance problem. What’s your take on it?”)

Complimentary. It gives extra credit or recognition to questioners, and lets you highlight their know-how: "Ms. Brown has been a legal secretary for 10 years. Ms. Brown, what do you think about this issue?”

Barrage. This is a "spread-shot" technique you can use to challenge the group’s thinking: "How many complaints do we get each month? For what reasons? Who makes them? What are we doing about them? Or are we doing anything? How do they affect us?”

Double-Headed. To challenge thinking, you can join two questions and ask them at the same time: "Why do you think the proposal was defeated, and how do you feel about it?"

Motivational. Gets to the fundamental issues by appealing to basic motives: "How is this going to affect your paycheck?"

Postponing. You put off discussion of a topic until a later time. "Can we hold that thought for a moment? Here's another question on our current topic we might want to discuss a little further.”

Humorous. This keeps morale high, can change the pace, and can also diffuse potential problems or ease tension when someone makes an inappropriate comment. "Isn't this a little like the civilian woman in World War II who volunteered her services as an air raid siren?"

Clarifying. Use these to confirm understanding or reinforce a point: "Do you mean that...?” Or, "How do you others perceive what was just said?”

How to Ask

Asking questions the right way can make the difference between success and failure at getting the appropriate response. Some suggestions:

• Prepare and write down key questions before the meeting starts.

• Don’t ask “leading” questions—those that establish a bias: “Are we still having a problem with the regional performance?” (Maybe there wasn’t a problem to begin with.)

• Avoid vague or general questions. For example, "What do we know about employee morale?" is too broad. "What are things that break down employee morale?" is better.)

• Avoid questions that can be answered YES and NO, because they don’t get the discussion going very effectively. Instead, use questions that ask how, what, why, who, when, and where.

• State the question in a normal, conversational tone, so it doesn’t look like you’re putting someone on the spot, or placing undue importance on the question.

• After you ask, pause…and give the person a few seconds to think about the answer. (But don't let anyone struggle with an answer. Once it’s clear that this person isn’t ready, pass the question on to someone else. You might say something like, “Bob, maybe I’ve caught you off-guard; how about I get back to you a little later?”

• Acknowledge the answer. (“That’s helpful.” “I didn’t realize that; thanks.” “That’s an idea we should explore further.”

• Don't repeat questions. It’s not only annoying, but it subtly encourages people not to listen the first time. Ask the question clearly, and slowly enough, so everyone hears it correctly—once.