What is the business case for effective meetings?
First, let us recognize that, in general, meetings are a huge waste of resources. The opportunity cost of bringing people together – even virtually – to talk about an issue [...]
Not All Business Meetings are Alike
Generalizing about meetings – whether to complain or to recommend “best practices” - is easy. What is challenging is to recognize and respond to the ways in which meetings differ. [...]
When facilitation is not the answer
Facilitation, understood as designing and leading a participatory group process, can have a transformative effect. In the hands of a skilled professional, a facilitated process can help a group discuss [...]
Meeting mistake 1: Unclear objective
If the objective or main purpose of the meeting is not clear, participants will not grasp why they should attend. Or you might invite the wrong people. Example of an [...]
Meeting mistake 2: Invite the wrong people
It is not necessary or useful to invite the whole team to every meeting. When the meeting objective and the topics on the agenda are of no relevance to them, [...]
Meeting mistake 3: Beginning and ending late
In many organizations lack of punctuality at the beginning and end of meetings is so common that it has become the norm. Some participants arrive at the scheduled time… and [...]
Meeting mistake 4: No written agenda
If you want your staff to arrive on time, ready to contribute to the objective announced in the invitation, you must prepare an agenda in advance and, when possible, share [...]
Meeting mistake 5: All talk and no action
Workplace meetings are not just for talking… and talking… and talking without arriving at a conclusion. To avoid the waste of time and energy caused by interminable speeches, you first [...]
How Facilitators Can Help After Disasters
In a recent training offered by Global Facilitators Serving Communities (GFSC), I learned a lot about the range of facilitation skills needed to help communities recover from disasters and other crises. [...]
Team Leader’s Secret to Good Meetings: Think Like a Host
A good meeting is like a meal that leaves participants feeling nourished and energized. A not-so-good meeting leaves people hungry, tired and irritable. A really-bad meeting can feel like food [...]
Beyond Ice-Breakers: What Do We Mean By “Participatory Processes?”
For years I have described myself as a specialist in participatory processes, naively assuming that people will understand what the work entails and why it is important. Now that “participatory” [...]
Similar but Not Identical: Speakers, Trainers and Facilitators
At first glance, the roles of speaker, trainer and facilitator look very similar. All involve standing in front of a group and talking. All require excellent communication skills. All call [...]
Meetings as Ritual… revisited
Reflecting recently on the banality of most meetings, I turned to “Meetings as Ritual,” an article I wrote in May 2005 and later included in the Bonfire Collection (2014). Here [...]
The Deceptively Simple Question That should be in Every Facilitator’s Toolkit
The setting: A meeting to resolve an important issue, about which there are conflicting points of view. Scene 1: The facilitator has just explained the purpose of the meeting. WHAT [...]
A Cure for “Failure to Follow up” Syndrome
One of the most frequent complaints I hear about meetings is that there is no follow up to the discussion. The meeting is held, issues are debated, decisions might be [...]
The Boss with Bad Meeting Habits
I hear with alarming frequency from employees who report that when they suggest ways to improve their organization´s meeting culture, they encounter resistance from managers who do not believe in [...]
The Balance between Results and Relationship in Meetings
Some people experience a tension between achieving results and building relationships in a meeting. They see these as two competing – and possibly mutually exclusive goals. For me this is [...]
The Facilitator’s Tightrope
Inserting a facilitator into a group´s existing power dynamics is a risky business. Often a facilitator’s help is requested because dysfunctional behaviors are inhibiting the group´s effectiveness. The client allegedly [...]
Hidden Agendas in Meetings
When you hear the words “hidden agendas,” what comes to mind? Clandestine plots? Power games? Conspiracies lurking in the meeting room? What if, in the planning phase of a meeting, [...]
How long should a meeting last?
When someone asks me “How long should a meeting last?” the underlying question often is “How can we avoid meetings that drag on with no apparent end in sight?” The [...]
Imagine meetings that surprise and delight
Imagine that the participants at your meetings arrive full of curiosity about the discussion to come and leave feeling energized by the work they accomplished together. Imagine that the conversation [...]
What Is Your Policy For Setting The Meeting Agenda?
When I ask people how the agenda is set for meetings in their organization, too often I receive responses like these: Agenda? What agenda? Most of our meetings do not [...]
What to do about “conflictive” people?
In a recent workshop, “Excellent meetings at work,” this question came up: Is it valid not to invite someone because we believe s/he is conflictive or will create conflict? The [...]
Establishing a meeting “time budget”
Making optimal use of the group’s time is one of the critical success factors in any meeting. So how do you decide how much time to allot for each issue [...]
Are “meeting” and “conversation” synonymous?
Quick answer: No. Here are some typical distinctions between these two formats for human interaction. Meeting Conversation Formal Informal Set time and place Spontaneous Conference table Kitchen table Protocol-driven Arise [...]
How to be inclusive without being boring?
With the good intention of 'being inclusive,' meeting organizers sometimes propose dynamics that are more boring than productive. Some typical examples of these mistaken practices include: A round of introductions [...]
Stage fright: It happens to all of us!
In the same way that an actor can have a moment of stage fright before the curtain goes up, facilitators sometimes experience a similar sensation before taking our place in [...]
Unmotivated people or badly planned meetings?
Our students and colleagues often ask us how to motivate people to attend meetings. If you face a “motivational problem” in meetings that you convene or facilitate, please take a [...]
Co-facilitation: Mutual support or power struggle?
Sharing responsibility for the facilitation of a complex meeting or a large event such as a workshop or conference presents challenges and opportunities that are different from those we face [...]
What can everyday meetings learn from special events – and vice versa?
As consultants in participatory processes, we have observed that many organizations plan their special events such as conferences, workshops, forums, assemblies, etc. differently than their everyday business meetings. We wonder, [...]
Facilitator – Not super hero, not martyr
Facilitating a participatory process is not the job of one person. Even though those who are in the role of facilitator usually stand in front of the group where we [...]
Technological support for facilitators
While the primary tool for a group facilitator is his/her own, integral presence expressed through gestures, tone of voice and gaze, other technologies exist that can make our work more [...]
Why and how to say "thank you" in meetings
When people think about working in groups, they often focus on unpleasant aspects such as conflict, boredom or rampant egos. They almost never mention saying “thank you” as a memorable [...]
How to "facilitate" a content expert
In the context of a meeting, the content experts are those who have knowledge and experience related to issues under discussion. They can be members of the group or invited [...]
How to get participants back in the room after a break?
IIFAC facilitators are firmly committed to the importance of breaks during meetings. We also recognize that getting participants back in the room after a break can be a challenge. Here [...]
Coffee break snacks: More important than you think!
We have written in the past about the importance of scheduling breaks during meetings. Now we want to go a step further to investigate what is on the table beside [...]
Are your large meetings and conferences trapped in the middle ages?
Consider the language we use to name the elements of most large meetings: Dignitaries on a podium (raised platform) in the front of an auditorium Plenary sessions that everyone is [...]
Boredom: The tragic result of poor meeting planning
We believe that meetings should be meaningful, dynamic, interesting, engaging, productive – or cancelled. Too often, however, everyday business meetings are neither interesting nor cancelled, they are BORING. Too many [...]
The art of closing a meeting
Having focused on the human factor in meetings, we want to also reflect on a meeting moment that everyone eagerly awaits but often no one has planned for very well: [...]
To gossip is human… to evaluate is divine – and requires facilitation
We would like to highlight an element that is often neglected when thinking of ways to engage, respect and treat people well: the evaluation at the end of the session. [...]
Why your meetings need breaks
Breaks are strategies to increase participation and satisfaction in meetings. Let´s reflect for a moment about the meaning of this statement from the point of view of the three principal [...]
Take a moment so that the soul can arrive
We always suggest the importance of taking into account the group's context and overall state of mind when planning a meeting. Now we want to share some ideas about how [...]