By Michael Wilkinson on July 15, 2014
A disagreement arises in a meeting you are facilitating. This is an inevitable scenario in many types of meetings where a group needs to come to critical decisions – such as strategic planning or issue resolution sessions. How do you – the person in the room responsible for building consensus – resolve it without breaking group dynamics or creating a tense environment of division? It’s a tough job, but you can (and need to) do it. Here’s one way to resolve the disagreement.
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By Michael Wilkinson on May 20, 2014
As a meeting facilitator, you must employ several techniques for recording information in a session to make it a manageable process. When you are gathering input, ideas, and issues from your group at warp speed, it will inevitably be challenging and tedious. Here are a few methods to make the process easier.
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By Michael Wilkinson on April 1, 2014
Here we go. It’s now down to the Final Four in this year’s NCAA March Madness. As I analyze the four remaining teams and highlights of their seasons (and take a look at my butchered bracket!), I think about how March Madness and – more importantly – the game of basketball really does embody what we know about facilitation.
Let’s consider that thought for these reasons.
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By Michael Wilkinson on February 4, 2014
Many times, we, as facilitators, are not prepared (or ill prepared) for meetings, and that leads to some horrific results – including those feelings you experienced while watching a fellow facilitator suffer through a meeting. What are some things you’ll hear in an unprepared meeting? Look out for these words. And, don’t let this happen to you.
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By Michael Wilkinson on November 21, 2013
While Richard Smith and I wrote CLICK: The Virtual Meetings Book, we received many questions on quick and easy ways meeting leaders can prepare for and begin virtual meetings on the right track. Here are 8 practical tips to help you prepare for and start virtual meetings to completely (yet easily) transform your outcomes.
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By Michael Wilkinson on October 1, 2013
Throughout a facilitated session, you use three parking boards to track important information:
The “decisions list” identified decisions or recommendations made by the group during the session.
The “issues list” included topics that need to be discussed later in the session or entirely outside the session.
The “actions list” documented actions to be performed sometime after the completion of the session.
At the end of the meeting, review all three parking boards, starting with the decisions list.
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By Michael Wilkinson on August 28, 2013
High energy does three important things:
It energizes the topic.
It engages the participants.
It elevates the facilitator.
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By Michael Wilkinson on July 18, 2013
My experiences has led me to conclude that “consensus” is a widely misunderstood concept. Many people believe that for them to be in consensus with a decision, they have to believe that the decision is the best decision. With this definition, therefore, they believe debate must continue until they convince the others or the others convince them. But, what does consensus really mean? How a group defines consensus is critical to being able to facilitate the group toward decisions.
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By Michael Wilkinson on June 18, 2013
Here are three common dysfunction types I’ve seen in the meeting room. (Haven’t we all?) Let’s look at these specific dysfunctions and simple actions you can take to address them.
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By Michael Wilkinson on May 31, 2013
Getting feedback on a facilitation process is an important part of ongoing learning, development and application for facilitators. However, people are often reluctant to give critical feedback. And, sometimes, when feedback is given, it isn’t clear whether the feedback is the view of one individual or the entire team. The rated feedback process is a vehicle to help ensure you get quality comments and that you understand the amount of support for those comments.
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Carter McNamara of Authenticity Consulting, LLC, provides organizational development, consultant training and Action Learning services, and is developer of the Free Management Library. [Read more ...]