Your team rotates who runs planning, and this fortnight the rota lands on you. You are the most junior person in the room. The architect will be there, and the lead, and the product manager who usually does most of the talking. You picture yourself saying, shall we move on, and nobody moving.
Here is what helps. When you run a meeting, your authority does not come from being the most experienced person present. It comes from the job. Everyone in that room wants planning to finish on time with a clear plan, and you are the one person whose task is to make that happen. When you keep things moving, you are doing exactly what they asked of you.
Prepare more than feels necessary. Read the tickets the day before. Ask the product manager what absolutely has to come out of the session, and put it first. Decide roughly how much time each item deserves, and write that down.
Open by saying the goal and the finish time. By half past eleven we want an agreed list for the next two weeks. That sentence gives you something to point back to later, which makes steering far easier.
When a discussion runs long, name it and offer a way out. This one is taking a while. Could the two of you settle it after the meeting and tell us what you decided? Most people are relieved, including the two who were arguing.
Ask the quiet people directly, by name, about the work they will actually be doing. Sam, does that estimate feel right to you? Some of the most useful comments in any planning session come from the person who was not going to speak.
You will probably have to interrupt somebody senior at least once. Do it warmly and keep it short. Thank you, I think we have that one, let us go to the next ticket. Nobody worth worrying about will be offended. Most will simply notice that the meeting ended on time, which is rarer than it should be.
Close by reading back what was agreed and who owns what.
Afterwards, ask one person how it went. Then notice what just happened. You led a room full of people with more experience than you, and the room was glad of it.
– Asael Shinder
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