Did you know that Executives view more than 67% of meetings as failures!
If you want to ensure that the next meeting that you facilitate is a success, then be
sure to like this video and stick around because I’m gonna give you the 10 pillars of effective
facilitation.
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enable the group to achieve the meeting goal Establish the role of the attendees
Developing a guide or script (if applicable) Determining Logistics (location.
Schedule, format of the meeting, geographical considerations such as time zones)
Preparing Attendees includes Communicating logistics
Sharing the agenda at least 24 hours in advance Provide context or information on applicable
tools and techniques for the meeting - This may also occur at the beginning of the meeting
but the earlier the better Inform the stakeholders of their roles
Inform the stakeholders of any information needed from them in order to contribute to
the meeting Nothing is worse than meeting attendees who
don’t know why they are there!!!
Now let’s look at conducting faciliation.
This is where we are actually dealing with people.
It involves Being objective
Ensuring every is actively participating Understanding the group dynamic
Adapting your approach Effective negotiation
Staying on track And Recordkeeping
Now let’s look further into each of these.
Be Objective involves maintaining a third-party perspective
Mediating conflict in a fair and non-bias manner, Ensure a conclusion is reached based on relevant
data and information. Ensuring Active Participation from ALL attendees.
Essentially, if an attendee isn’t participating, then they don’t need to be invited to the
meeting.
Incorporate processes for eliciting participation for have designated timeslots for participants
to share their ideas or experiences. Round Robin is an excellent way to elicit participation from all attendees
so that you don’t have to call out attendees who have not been engaged.
Invite feedback throughout the event - This can be don’t by having Q& A time or eliciting
meeting feedback toward the end of the meeting.
Now let’s talk about understanding the group dynamic.
Every group of people has individuals who are more likely to dominate the conversation
as well as individuals who need more prompting to participate.
Also, a certain mix of people may be more likely to support or challenge one another,
so it will be important to navigate through this.
Essentially, you’ll need to Be prepared to complement or leverage the way the group
interacts in order to optimize the meeting objectives.
The ability to Adapt will also be important
A good facilitator evaluates non-verbal communication And has the ability to gauge the audience’s
mood and enthusiasm to adjust their approach to increase the engagement.
Facilitators also need to Stay on Track
This involves Following the agenda.
Essentially, the agenda is the guide or script for your meeting.
This helps the group stay focused and helps keep track of time.
Focus on Objectives ensures the meeting goals are met.
A useful tool for this is a Parking Lot list.
A method used to keep meetings on track by deferring and tracking important issues that
arise but don't directly relate to the current topic.
These items are listed for discussion at a later time.
Keep Track of Time can be executed by timeboxing the agenda items.
Depending on the amount of attendees and the complexity of the agenda, the facilitator
May need to designate a timekeeper.
Facilitation may also require the ability to negotiate.
There may be times when conflict arises, and the facilitator will need to mediate to help
the opposing parties understand one another’s perspective.
Effective Negotiation requires active listening and problem-solving skills to ensure the conflict
is resolved.
Ideally, the facilitator will help identify win-win situations so that both parties are
satisfied.
Keeping Record is also a key part of conducting facilitation.
This involves: Recording key information - This activity
may even warrant someone else to take on the Scribe role to capture the information, while
you facilitate.
The scribe captures: Key points
Decisions Made Outstanding issues or concerns
Action items and responsible parties And Key outcomes or any other relevant information
The last Facilitation component is the wrap-up This consists of the End of the meeting wrap-up
as well as the post-meeting wrap-up.
Now let’s look at each of these.
End of meeting Wrap – up involves Briefly recapping and parking lot items
Eliciting last-minute concerns Setting deadlines for action items
Discussing the Next Steps Post-meeting Wrap-up includes
Confirming recorded information.
In some cases, the scribe may need to follow up with stakeholders to confirm recorded information
prior to distributing documentation to the attendees.
Other typical post-meeting wrap-up activities include:
Summarizing the key points and information Following -up on OPEN action items
Distribute documentation to attendees So to conclude this section, I’ll leave
you with a quote by Yehuda Berg that says “In every relationship, the work is never
just in the positive actions we do for each other, but in the follow-up.
So, in summary, the 10 Pillars of Effective Facilitation are:
Plan Ahead Prepare Attendees
Be Objective Active Participation
Understand the group dynamic Adapt
Negotiate Stay on Track
Keep Record Wrap-up
Alright, well there you have it, folks!
Those are the 10 pillars of effective facilitation!
Thank you so much for watching the video!
If you learned something new today let me know in the comments!
I’d love to hear from you!!!
As always, have a productive and prosperous week and I’ll see you next time!
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