Successful Meeting Facilitation

 By Gina Abudi, on November 23rd, 2009

As defined by Wikipedia, facilitation “concerns itself with all the tasks needed to run a productive and impartial meeting.” Facilitation is key to ensure productive meetings and it takes someone skilled to be an effective facilitator.

The facilitator’s role in meeting management includes, but is not limited to:

Drafting the agenda (timed agenda) and getting feedback from attendees Working with the participants to set ground rules and helping them to adhere to ground rules during the meeting Monitoring the agenda during the meeting – including keeping track of time Facilitating participation among all attendees Ask questions to clarify or to keep the conversation moving along if it stalls

Ensuring minutes are kept of the meeting Keeping attendees on track and resolving conflicts that occur Using consensus and collaboration strategies to make decisions Staying neutral and not taking sides in conflict or discussions – not offering personal opinions on what should occur Ensuring ideas presented are understood Summarize points made Consistently “check in” with the group as to how things are going

The main goal of the facilitator is to manage the process of the meeting, not the content of the meeting, to ensure the individuals are able to make decisions and reach a goal.  The facilitator is there to ensure that the meeting is productive.

Facilitation

A facilitator may be used for a variety of reasons – not every meeting necessarily needs a facilitator at the helm, although, without a doubt, every meeting needs to be managed.  You may call in a facilitator for various reasons, including:

A meeting that may be contentious A meeting that involves a large group of people Brainstorming or strategic planning sessions

To help resolve conflict or assist in negotiations To ensure decisions are made/progress is made or goals are reached

Summary

For key meetings, include a facilitator to lessen frustrations among participants and increase participation.  A neutral facilitator keeps the individuals and the meeting on track – thereby making it easier to accomplish the goals of the meeting.

QUESTION:  How have you successfully facilitated meetings? Have you been part of meetings that have been facilitated?  What were the pros/cons?  How did it work out?

Please share your thoughts in the Comment field below.

Thanks!

Resource

This resource is a great handy reference guide to facilitation!  It has everything you need to successfully facilitate your next meeting:

Facilitation at a Glance! A Pocket Guide to Tools and Techniques for Effective Meeting Facilitation

Author: Ingrid Bens,
Publisher: Goal/QPC and AQP

November 23rd, 2009 | Tags: Leadership, Professional Development, Team Building | Category: Professional Development

3 comments to Successful Meeting Facilitation

• Primoz Frelih, PMP

  November 24, 2009 at 4:20 am

  Dear Gina, thank you for your very comprehensive answer. I expected it wasn’t black or white. In the case of a project manager he is the main person who carries the project goals in mind, that way he should also run his meetings. And under the special circumstances, when hiring the external facilitator, I guess they would need to do intense preparation before the meeting.

  Best regards,
  Primoz

• Gina

  November 23, 2009 at 5:41 pm

  Hi,

  Thanks for your comment. An excellent question! I don’t think it’s black and white. I think PMs should be able to facilitate their own meetings much of the time. If they aren’t good at it – it is definitely a skill they want to improve. On the other hand, I can see the benefit of hiring a professional facilitator for a meeting that will be contentious and full of conflict, or, possibly in the case of a large meeting to work toward, for example, a strategic plan or to solve a problem to move the project forward. I have attended meetings where the entire meeting is facilitated (by a professional facilitator) just to keep everyone on track and moving along – they do a great job in getting all attendees involved and reaching consensus.

  Of course, hiring a professional is likely not inexpensive, so you might choose to hire one only in special circumstances.

  Many thanks again for your comment!

  Best regards,
  Gina

• Primoz Frelih, PMP

  November 23, 2009 at 3:03 pm

  Hello and thanks. The PM should be an allround facilitator, project-wise, meeting-wise.. So the question is: should we hire or appoint someone else to facilitate meetings?