Are you facilitating a meeting and want to foster open communication? Well, in this video,
I'm going to give you five facilitation skills that are going to help you do
just that. And if you stay tuned to the end of this video, I have something very
special for you that's going to help you ensure that your meetings, your workshops,
and your projects are successful. So definitely check it out. Hi, if you're new here, welcome.
Thank you so much for tuning in. For the best career and project management advice, subscribe
to this channel because a new video comes to you every Wednesday. Now, if you're excited about
these facilitation skills that foster open communication, well then, let's get to it.
Be open to change. Now, I know, if you're conducting a meeting or a workshop,
you probably are very organized, have everything set up, and yay, good for you as you should. But
if you're going to foster open communication, it's not just being able to execute your plan,
it's being able to be flexible with your plan. Because if you're in the moment and you're seeing
things unfold and it's not working out the way you want it to work out, or it's going to give
you the deliverables that you want, then you have to be flexible to the flow and to change.
So this becomes critical because it shows that you're listening. And if you're going to foster
open communication, then you need to be listening and observing as to what's going around you. Now,
when you do this, let the participants know, saying, "Hey guys, you know what? I'm listening.
I want to make sure that we get the best end result. So as a result, I'm going to shift things
up a bit." And then go for it. So always have that backup. But the key is, be open to change.
Question, don't lecture. Now, the goal of a facilitator really is to be neutral
and to ensure that everything that you've prepared is to get you to your end result.
You want to bring the team along for the ride. So you really have to make sure that you keep your
opinions to yourself, because it's not about you. It's about the participants, and ultimately, the
goal that you're trying to deliver on. So ensure that in order to have that open communication,
if you start lecturing, people are going to close down. So foster that openness by
giving them really good exercises, setting it up, listening, ensuring that they're participating,
asking questions to generate more conversation. If things are stalling,
see if you can ask a question, you say, "Hey, tell me what you feel about this.
I've been hearing that someone's been saying that, can you expand upon it?" So you really want to
foster that openness. You want to ensure here that you're there to be leading everyone and to get all
the information. So ensure that you question. You ensure participation, but do not lecture.
Be patient. The surest way to shut down open communication is to get frustrated as a
facilitator. Because when we get frustrated, what do we do? We start blaming. We start wondering,
"Why is this not working?" Our attitude changes. And that has a huge impact on our participants.
So be patient. Realize that it's a process, particularly if you're in a workshop setting
that you're trying to brainstorm ideas with. Maybe they're not getting there,
but maybe you have to take a look, "Do I have to be open to change? Do I need to shift things
around to make sure that we actually get what we need to get by the end of this session?"
So just be patient. Take some deep breaths,
realize that if you've done your due diligence with the preparation and you have some backups,
go ahead, switch those things up. But do not get frustrated and don't try to push the process.
Also, check in with your group. Maybe they're feeling some frustration too,
because if you're feeling it, they probably are as well. So maybe foster the open communication
at that point in time, like, "Hey guys, how are you feeling with this exercise?
Are you connecting with it? Is there something you may need? I know personally for myself,
I have a little bit of frustration because I was expecting to get more to the point quicker,
but it's not happening. So did I miss something for you?" You'll be amazed. That in itself can
bring about a whole bunch of things like, "Yeah, you know what? I'm not liking this part of it," or
whatever it may be. But the fact is, you're all there together in order to get an end result,
it's not good, bad, right, or wrong. So be patient. It really pays off in the long run.
Build rapport. This is really important, particularly when you have a brand new
group together, but it's actually also important for a group that's been existing for
a while as a collective team. You want to build rapport. You want to have some sort
of connection with your participants. You also want to have trust. So it's really important in
your sessions to build that in because when we feel connected to individuals around us,
we actually are apt to give great information, put ourselves out there a little bit more,
maybe put out those crazy ideas that are the idea that's going to get you to your end result.
Why? Because we feel safe, and that safety is important. And as a facilitator, it's your job.
So think about building rapport. Now, how do you do that? I have a few videos for you. If you look
under this YouTube video that is linked to some other videos I've created on some really fun,
quick exercises that allows you to do just that. Ask for feedback. The best way to build open
communication is to ask for feedback. Now, I just don't mean at the end of a session,
absolutely ask for feedback and evaluation, "How did it go?" Because that's going to help build
your next session, so allowing you to be an awesome facilitator and foster more open
communication. But you need to ask for feedback during your sessions as well, during a meeting,
during a workshop, whatever that may be. You want to ask them, "How are you guys doing?
Let me check in with you. Are you resonating with what's going on? I can feel the room. It seems
like everyone's really tired. Maybe we'll have our break right now." When you show that you're
connected to the present moment, it plays a huge part on people feeling comfortable, like you're
really paying attention to what's happening. Now in the virtual world, this could be a
little bit more trickier because all you have is participants on the other side of a camera.
And if you followed my advice before, they should all have video on. So at least you can physically
see or visually see whether or not people are paying attention and you can ask people for
their opinion in the chat window. So if you're live, verbally ask them. If you are on a virtual
meeting, you can ask them in a chat window, "How you're doing?" Or better yet, you can even pull
it, "Let's check in, let's see how you're doing," and you can give them some criteria around that.
But definitely ask for feedback throughout your meeting, workshop, as well as at the end.
Now that you have five facilitation skills that are going to help you foster open communication,
I'm so happy for you, I would like for you to go below, under this YouTube video and grab this.
Because if you are running strategic initiatives, if you have activities that are deliverables to
other organizations or even other departments or other areas in your company, or better yet,
you're actually running projects, you need to understand how to ensure that you are successful.
And the principles in here are applicable to everything from a business perspective. So please,
it's yours for free so you can be successful. On that note, I want to thank you so much for
tuning to this video. If you can like this video, subscribe, share it with everyone that you know,
I would really appreciate it. Now, if you have any other additional facilitation tips, I'd love
to hear from you. Please, put it in the comment below. Until the next video, see you later.