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Vol.5 Points of a Facilitator

As a consultant who participate in several projects, there are opportunities to join client’s meetings. Sometimes consultant takes a role of facilitator (one that facilitates.)
With just one word “facilitator,” there are so may things to do. If you attend to a meetings as a facilitator, what kinds of point will you pay attention? Not only the basic thing such as to conduct a meeting according to the agenda or to make sure to finish the meeting on time, but also you are required to pay attention to each participants. Check whether A director gets bored or not. Check whether  person “B”, a key person, has understood the details or not. Sometimes, it cannot get together because of different opinions and idea in a meeting.
Depends upon the situation, facilitator may need to handle meetings case by case. However, there are following common points that always need to be respected by facilitators. （Note: Some meetings have different person for following task)
  • Let the participants to have common understanding by addressing the purpose of the meeting at the beginning of the meeting Explain time schedule based on agenda
  • lTry to make the meeting within one hour (If the meeting get longer than one hour, make sure to insert a break
  • lIf the meeting seems not to finish on time, extend it with agreement from participants
  • lWhen you ask agreement or judgment from participant, make sure that person is fully understood
  • lWhen you ask question, make clear whether you want an opinion or an agreement.
  • lWhen you want an opinion, ask him/her to make augment points clear
  • lIf there are different opinion among participants,  try to vent what they think
    (But, facilitator need to lead it not to be off-topic and emotional augment )
  • lWith no good prospect for the solution, you need to ask “why” first. Then, lead the solution reasonably by asking  “what to” and “how to.”
  • lIf the topic is sidetracked, get back to the original topic without doubt
    （if it is highly important topic, suggest to set another occasion to discuss)
  • lWhen important opinion or off-topic come out, make a note on a white board as To-Do/Task/Issue to avoid forgetting and buried.
  • lEven if it is temporary, get some kind of conclusion. If the meeting closes without any conclusion, participants will be disappointed with sense of futility after long discussion
  • lWrite a minutes and ask participant to review it in order to shear common understanding （※Sometimes there is another person to keep minutes during meetings)
  • lWrite clearly down decisions, implementation team or completion date. Follow it up in the next meeting. (It is advisable to take a moment to follow them up at the begging of the meeting. )

 

All of  the points mentioned above are nothing special. But following basic points is the first step to be a trusted facilitator.

Uyama (EN: Uemura)