Facilitating Meetings
Facilitating Meetings
Once an agenda has been created and dispersed to meeting attendees prior to the meeting, the next step is facilitating the actual meeting. There are many techniques and principles to meeting facilitation. In fact, a quick Google search will lead you to several resources for training courses and articles to help improve your facilitation skills.
In this section, we will discuss some general techniques of meeting facilitation that apply regardless of meeting type. Once you learn the general techniques, you will then learn some specific principles for each of the four types of meetings discussed in this chapter.
GENERAL FACILITATION TECHNIQUES
Facilitating an effective meeting of any type requires an awareness of how to open a meeting, facilitate discussion, and bring the meeting to a close. Meeting attendees will look to the leader or facilitator to run these aspects of the meeting. The job of the facilitator then is to create a space where attendees can contribute their best to the overall meeting goals set forth in the agenda.
Opening Meetings
Facilitators should arrive at least 15 minutes prior to the meeting start time. Those 15 minutes are crucial for several reasons. First, they allow time to prepare the meeting space, whether that involves moving furniture, getting any visual aids prepared, testing software, and any other tasks that need to be completed before the meeting begins. Second, arriving early provides assurance to members who also arrive early that the facilitator is in control and will be prepared to start at the designated meeting time. Lastly, members should be greeted as they arrive with introductions for new attendees as needed. There is no harm in arriving to your own meeting early, but there are numerous disadvantages if you arrive late.
When considering punctuality, it is important to begin the meeting on time regardless of who is missing. Because your agenda indicates the start time, it is important to stick with it. There are three problems with waiting on late arrivals to start the meeting. First, it risks delaying important agenda items from the very beginning which will then impact the amount of time for the discussion items planned. Second, it symbolically sends a message to meeting attendees that it is acceptable to arrive late to meetings. Third, beginning on time demonstrates respect for the attendees who did arrive on-time and the time/effort that they put into being punctual and prepared.
What if the missing attendee is an absolutely essential figure or is assigned to lead a discussion item? In this case, go ahead and begin the meeting as planned with the introduction and first agenda items. However, it is important to be aware of the time and order of discussion topics. If it becomes necessary, rearrange the order of items so that any topics to be discussed for which the essential person needs to be in attendance come up later in the meeting. Re-ordering topics during the meeting, however, is advised only when there is absolute certainty the late attendee is still coming. Managing agenda items can be further complicated when the status of late or missing attendees cannot be confirmed. Developing contingency plans to deal with the unexpected is an important part of group facilitation skills. The audience should always be informed of the necessary changes to avoid confusion, and be made aware of any deliverables or follow-up needed to account for missing content or information.
Welcoming and purpose statement
Effective meetings begin with a general opening to welcome everyone and thank them for attending. While it might be their job to attend, as facilitator, it is important to communicate respect for members’ time and appreciation for their commitment to attend the meeting.
To build goodwill among meeting attendees, it is a good idea to include a round of self-introductions early in the meeting. This can be particularly important for teams with members who are not familiar with each other (e.g., distributed teams, remote workers, new employees, etc.). Introductions can also serve as a short ice-breaker or comfort building exercise. Ask attendees to simply state their name and job title. For more formal introductions, ask them to share a personal fact about themselves such as their weekend plans, favorite food, etc. Be careful with “cheesy” ice-breakers, however. Busy professionals will often become frustrated with unnecessary banter especially if it has no relation to the purpose or goal of the meeting. If your team is already familiar with one another from previous meetings or work roles, introductions may not be necessary; and attendees will be glad to get to the “work” portion of the meeting.
When using icebreakers in professional settings, a brief description should be included with the meeting agenda. It is also important to be sure to allot the appropriate amount of time. Introductions and icebreakers should be short; however, except for team-building meetings where icebreaker activities are more common and less formal. If a member begins to ramble or go into too much detail during an icebreaker, do not be afraid to ask them kindly to wrap-up to allow the group to move on to other planned discussion items.
After introductions, it is time to transition to the business portion of the meeting by reminding attendees of the meeting’s goal and purpose. While this information was provided on the meeting agenda, it is good for the attendees to hear it again from the meeting facilitator directly. Any additional background information that was not written in the agenda should also be provided.
Once members have been reminded of the meeting’s purpose, it is time to preview the meeting by mentioning the items planned for group discussion. Before the work portion officially begins, identify any ground rules, etiquette, or constraints for the meeting. For example, you may want to indicate if you want attendees to put away their devices, raise their hands before speaking, etc. These ground rules should be stated clearly before proceeding. Likewise, if the meeting is under any time constraints, mention those constraints so the members can be reminded to focus if they get off-track.
After opening the meeting successfully by welcoming attendees, stating the purpose, previewing the agenda, and establishing ground rules, you are now ready to tackle the items on the agenda.
Facilitating Interactions
Stick to the agenda. The first principle of facilitating meeting items is to stick to the agenda. Adhering to the agenda means two things: keep all discussions related to agenda items; and remain within the time allocations provided for each item.
Let’s consider a common problem. If you have a person who is a “talker” in a meeting, encourage that person to be brief and feel free to ask them to put something in a report if they feel the need to include details. More importantly, do not be afraid to challenge the relevance of statements. For example, suppose you have someone make a statement that does not pertain to the topic. You can politely ask, “Can you share how that is related to the item at hand?” Perhaps there is a connection; but if not, you can redirect the discussion or decide to include the talking point as a discussion during a future meeting.
It may be necessary to periodically remind the group that the meeting is under a time limit. If the meeting is anticipated to last only an hour, make attendees aware the meeting is not expected to exceed the planned time frame. As meeting members probably have much work to do afterward, they will agree and manage their comments accordingly.
Enhance the value of every member. While effective facilitators should strive to keep the meeting on-time and all comments relevant, at the same time, it is also important to respond to every member’s contribution with positive verbal and nonverbal feedback. Of course, there will be times where doing so will not be easy. If a member makes a comment or suggestion that “misses the mark,” ask them nicely for clarification. You might also consider incorporating the following communication strategies:
1. Acknowledge the merits of the idea. Respond to the positive aspects of the idea, and thank them for their participation.
2. Explain your concerns. Kindly explain why you believe the idea has barriers or challenges. Stick to critiquing the idea, not the person.
3. Ask for improvement. After voicing any concerns, ask the member if they have an idea for improving it. If they do not, then take a second to ask the other attendees for suggestions to build on it. Perhaps a member will be inspired by the idea and will suggest something that would work.
When crafting an agenda, it is a good idea to include “buffer time” where emergent meeting topics can be addressed so someone suggests a great idea that is not relevant to the agenda item at hand, there is time in the agenda to talk about it later in the meeting. This is also helpful if time becomes an issue on a specific meeting item as time can also draw from the buffer to extend the discussion.
Encourage participation of all members. The major advantage of having a meeting is the ability to draw on the expertise, viewpoints, and voices of the individuals present. By asking good questions of meeting members, discussion and ideas can be sparked quickly.
There are four types of questions that can be used as a discussion facilitator (Adler, Maresh-Fuehrer, Elmhorst, & Lucas, 2019):
Direct overhead questions to the whole group and allow anyone to answer. These types of questions work well until a few people start to dominate the discussion. If a few people begin to dominate, it is a good idea to use one of the other methods for encouraging interaction.
Direct questions are aimed at a specific individual. These types of questions can be used to encourage participation from quiet members, but should be used sparingly. The overuse of direct questions can make one person feel “singled out” and make others feel as if their voice is not being heard.
If a member asks a question that has already been answered, or it would be beneficial to get the questioner’s perspective, use reverse questions. Suppose a member asks, “What should be done about the recent promotional event cancellation?” You can simply reply by saying, “Well, what ideas do you have?” This method works well when you suspect the questioner has a specific answer already in mind.
Relay questions can also be used if you prefer not to answer a question by a member. Rather than reversing the question, the question is directed to the entire group as an overhead question. A relay question makes sense when you want to remain as a neutral part of the discussion, or if you think revealing your personal opinion on an issue first will influence team members’ willingness to offer alternative perspectives.
Regardless of the type of meeting, remember these four types of questions can be used as general tools for evoking participation from all group members during a meeting.