Speaking of Bunisess: Facilitators bring order to business meetings speaking of business

Q: Do you have any suggestions on how my colleagues and I can accomplish more at our meetings? I know it’s important for us to meet regularly, but I feel as though we never make any real progress.

A: I would suggest you obtain some facilitation training or hire a facilitator. The job of a facilitator is to make it easier to accomplish the goal(s) for which a particular meeting may have been called. Facilitators help people think in terms of interests rather than positions while they oversee the organization and progress of meetings.

A good facilitator will help relieve tension so people can get past their individual agendas and get on with the group work that needs to be done. Facilitation is a story in teamwork and consensus with a beginning, middle and an end.

At the beginning of facilitation, the facilitator must pay attention to the pre-meeting agenda, any available surveys, and any and all protocols. The facilitator will discuss where the group will meet, how often, who will handle administrative functions (meeting notices, survey preparation, mail-outs, typing of group memory flip chart notes, etc.), how participation is to be determined, who will represent different stakeholder groups, decision-making protocols, whether the media should be involved, deadlines and resources for work to be done (i.e., money and time).

The beginning chapter ends with the setting of the agenda, which is developed with input from participants. The facilitator must know the group and the work to be accomplished before attempting to design a preliminary overall agenda for the total of the meetings as well as specific agendas for each meeting.

The middle of the facilitation consists of the facilitated meetings themselves. The facilitator should know the meeting guidelines for participants, keep the meeting moving and on track and keep the group’s activity. The facilitator must structure the participation of the group by helping everyone feel included and encouraging participation. This may involve helping the group identify common goals, calling on those who have not spoken, reducing the speaking time of those who would dominate, and helping to identify who may be missing from the table as the meeting progresses.

In this regard, the facilitator also ensures that group procedures are adopted and followed. Decision-making guidelines and protocols are developed with the group, group etiquette is discussed and accepted, and discussion guidelines are determined. The group must outline the method of presenting theories, ideas, and positions; and, the facilitator must obtain a “buy in” by the group.

One important aspect of this chapter of the facilitation is keeping of the group’s “activity.” This generally consists of keeping notes of the group’s activity on a flip chart, which is important both during and after the meeting. During the meeting, it provides a visual confirmation that the views of each speaker are being heard and considered by the group. After the meeting, it provides the basis for the meeting report.

The facilitator must facilitate group maintenance. Several techniques and skills come into play here such as “gate keeping” and “harmonizing.” Facilitators bring attention to how a group is working, a task that must be done delicately, usually with suggestions for a different process, or for opening the discussion to suggestions for a different process. This could also just be a “heads up” that the group has moved away from its stated discussion item and a discussion of whether it wants to continue forward or go back.

These techniques require several additional skills. For one, a facilitator must pay attention to the body language of the members of the group. Also, the facilitator must help and encourage the group through frustrating times. Complimenting the group can do this; putting frustrations into perspective, recalling other times the group was stalled and succeeded in moving forward, and talking about the benefits of staying with the process.

Finally, the facilitator should “debrief” the group before it adjourns. This is done for 5-to-10 minutes, but allows each group member to reflect and state how he or she is feeling about the group, the group process or the result of the meeting. Like flip chart management and other aspects of facilitation, debriefing is a skill that must be learned and practiced.

The last chapter of the facilitation story includes preparing the report recording the items covered at the meeting and follow-up activity. The report typically includes a table of contents, introduction, background, explanation of procedure, process and guidelines, as well as the transcription of all the flip chart notes put into the context of the meeting. This is an important aspect of the process because it provides either a basis for what work will be included at the next meeting or a guide for what work must now be done by group members and when it’s to be completed.

Windsor resident Russell Disberger is a founding member of Aspen Business Group, a Northern Colorado-based specialty consulting and venture-capital firm. He can be reached at (970) 396-7009, or by e-mail at russell@aspenbusinessgroup.com.

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