Facilitation Skills: What to Do About Bad Meetings?

Posted on | August 3, 2009 | No Comments

Many people think that their work meetings are either out of control or a waste of time. Worse, they feel that they can’t fix the problem because they are not in charge. But in fact, anyone can positively impact the meetings they attend. No matter where you sit (metaphorically) at the table, you have the power to effect a change. It’s actually pretty simple.

First, let’s review the elements of a good meeting:

All meetings should have an agenda. But what does an effective agenda include? Here are the elements:

  • Overall purpose: What is this meeting supposed to produce?
  • Leadership: Who is formally in charge of the meeting?
  • Attendees: Do we have the right people in the room for what we are doing here today?
  • Topics: What are the topics we want to cover, and in what order, to achieve our purpose?
  • What is the desired outcome of each of these “conversations” (information sharing, information gathering or a decision)?
  • Who is in charge of each of the conversations?
  • How long will each conversation last?
  • Decision-making: Who are the decision makers? How will they be making the decisions, and when?
  • Accountabilities: At the end of the meeting there should be a written agreement detailing who is doing what, when they will do it, and how people will know it was done.
  • Evaluation: How did this meeting go?

Now that you know the elements of a good meeting, YOU can start positively impacting the productivity of a meeting.

First, you have three opportunities to influence a meeting:

1. Before a meeting
2. During the meeting
3. After the meeting

At any of these points you have four simple but POWERFUL techniques for supporting good meeting performance. You can notice, question, request or offer:

1. Notice: Simply state the data or information that you are observing
Example: I notice that…
“there are two conversations going on.”
“we are missing some key ‘data points.’”
“I am confused.”
“the right people have not been invited.”

2. Question: Ask a question or put an inquiry on the table.
Example: I’m wondering…
“is there a written agenda?”
“who is making this decision?”
“what information do we need to make this decision?”

3. Request: Ask for something.
Example: I would like…
“an agenda.”
“to know what you are hoping I will contribute to this meeting.”

Or

Could…
“ someone summarize what we have discussed?”
“take notes?”

4. Offer: Offer a suggestion that might improve the meeting.
Examples:
It might help if we…
I would be willing to…..
Maybe we could……

“take the notes.”
“make the next agenda.”
“decide on who should attend the next meeting.”

Before you use any of these techniques, be clear what you want, which technique you are using, and to whom you are speaking. Ask yourself:

  • What do I (or the group) want or need?
  • From whom do I need it?
  • Which technique will work best?

After you have used your techniques, it is imperative to wait for the answer and be sure that the person or persons to whom you addressed your comments answers.

Make a commitment now. What meeting do you lead or attend that you want to improve? What needs improving? Pick one element. Who do you need to address and which technique will you use? Let me know how it goes.

Category: facilitation
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