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Facilitation
Skills
Meetings - A Nightmare!
Harveen
Salaria , Instructional
Designer, The Business Workshop
 It
was 10:30 a.m. on a Monday morning and I was still in my meeting.
It did not seem to be coming to any conclusive end and all of us
were feeling the need to rush out and attend to our work. The new
HR manager seemed to have no clue that we did any other work besides
attend meetings on company policies. It was beginning to get on
all our nerves. I sat there tapping my fingers in exasperation and
suddenly a plan began to formulate in my head.
The staff in our company
spent nearly 50% of its time in meetings. Most of these turned out
to be unproductive because we had no clear objectives at the onset.
I sat there day dreaming and realised that it was time to put an
end to this sheer waste of time. I remembered something about a
good facilitative process that makes meetings more productive and
decided to do some reading and come up with a plan that works. My
objective was clear - we had to make our meetings short and productive,
at the end of which there would be an action plan to implement.
I guess if one were
to start on a journey with no real plan of the route to take then
that would be an exact parallel to our meetings. We would typically
meander away from topic to topic, getting lost in discussions and
not reach the goal. A good navigator is like a good facilitator
in a meeting. The facilitator keeps the participants on course,
stops them from getting lost in arguments and always keeps the objectives
in mind. So this was what I thought would make it easier for us
at meetings:
The purpose of the
meeting:
A little preparation can go a long way. Always decide how long
the meeting should last beforehand. Then the most important aspect
of the meeting - why are you calling the meeting. Is it to share
information, collect information, solve a problem or make a decision
on a topic? It could also be a combination of the above. For each
agenda one should plan ahead and be clear of the outcome one is
looking for. Once you are clear about why you are calling a meeting,
you can state a clear objective for the meeting.
It is important to share
the objective of the meeting with all the participants. This should
be done before the meeting starts and then probably have it pasted
at a prominent place during the meeting so that participants can
see for themselves when they are steering off the course.
Basic Guidelines
Just like a traffic police controls the flow of vehicles, a
good facilitator has to control the overall mood of the meeting.
It is very important for the facilitator to make sure that everyone
gets to speak. One needs to be non judgmental and not evaluate what
is being said until it is time to make a decision. Then the decision
should be stated keeping in mind all the important points that each
member has made.
It is very crucial to
the facilitative process that everyone gets an opportunity to speak.
If one person is rambling on then one needs to paraphrase the statements
he is making and then give the quiet ones an opportunity to come
forth. A facilitator needs to keep his ears very alert and deftly
understand the point being made.
Conflict resolution
is an important aspect of good facilitation. If two members or more
members enter into a misunderstanding, be sure to articulate each
point very clearly. This should be unbiased and easy for all to
understand. If the issue needs to be resolved immediately then take
inputs from everyone, make a decision or take a vote. Issues should
not be left lingering or allowed to fester into bad feelings.
At The End
Always end your meetings on time - honour everyone’s time
commitments. I f one makes a habit of prolonging meetings, then
either people will find an excuse not to attend or to leave early.
So to gain maximum input form all participants and ensure participant
it is important to stick to a time line which should be prepared
in advance.
A meeting can be termed
productive only if the decisions reached or the resolutions made
are adhered to. So it is important to identify and write down an
action plan. This can be done on a flip chart. The action plan for
each member should be charted, and make sure that everyone receives
notes of the meeting.
A follow up o the meeting
is a must. One should check in to see if the appropriate actions
as per the plan are being taken. One needs to make sure if additional
resources are require. Hold a follow up meeting to chart progress
and keep everyone informed.
There can be nothing
more irritating than sitting in a meeting and wishing you were not
there. But it happens so very often in the corporate world. Everyone
has the same disposable time and those same eight hours to complete
your work. An unplanned meeting can be the one time waster to be
done without. A meeting in which everyone only recalls the off topic
discussions and not the action plan is a sure time waster and business
cannot afford that.
As I sat writing these
points I realised that with planning our meetings could not only
be productive and innovative, they could also be fun. The keyword
I guess is planning. I intended to pass this paper around with the
hope that it would make a difference to our Monday-morning-endless-meetings.own
facilitation skills!
-Graphic done
By Alistair
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