Employees need meetings that work – insightful, productive and collaborative – and hiring an experienced facilitator can play a big part in making sure that happens.
Can a good facilitator improve meeting quality? Yes.
Does every meeting need a facilitator? No.
This post brings together many of the questions and points-of-view about workshop facilitation that I’ve been asked over the years, including recommendations and suggestions, so you can make your own best decision.
Facilitation: Definitions, Advantages and Drawbacks
According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, someone who “facilitates” makes an action or a process easier.
So, a facilitator is someone who helps lead a team or group of people using a structured agenda to achieve a specific outcome in a specific time period.
For some organisations, the facilitator is internal.
They’re already an employee of the organisation, perhaps more so, they’re already a member of the team itself. Alternatively, the team leader or manager will play the facilitator. However, there are advantages and drawbacks of a person acting as their own facilitator.
Advantages of Internal Facilitators
- More often than not, they have existing knowledge, expertise and history on the current situation or issue that the team will discuss and make decisions.
- They’re likely to have existing or current relationships with key people, such as team members, employees, senior management, stakeholders, target audiences or end users.
- Little to no cost.
Drawbacks of Internal Facilitators
- They can come with existing biases, assumptions, perspectives – if not, emotional baggage
- Meeting attendees may see the internal facilitator as biased, particularly if they are senior leadership.
- Depending upon the relationships with the attendees, especially senior leaders, some facilitators may be reluctant to challenge key people or the status quo.
- They may even be unwilling to “push the envelope” in fear of risking their reputation, damaging a relationship or attracting controversy.
In other cases, the facilitator is external.
They are usually a hired contractor or free-lancer who comes in to conduct the meeting on behalf of the team. Like internal facilitators, there are advantages and drawbacks.
Advantages or External Facilitators
- Generally neutral, free of bias and expectations.
- Can offer fresh or new thinking or questioning, or new perspectives on the situation or problem.
- Depending upon their level or expertise (especially managing conflict), an ability to challenge key people, expectations and assumptions.
Drawbacks or External Facilitators
- An out-of-pocket expense: charging either as a flat fee or an hourly rate, sometimes with out-of-pocket costs (parking, mileage, etc.)
- You may need time to educate the facilitator, about the organisation, situation, team or audiences, problem, context. (This can be particularly difficult if you need a facilitator with specific, in-depth knowledge, such as accounting or specific procedures (Agile, Lean). More experienced faciltiators or those with advanced skills-sets may also be more expensive.
- No trust or rapport between facilitator and participants. External people can be seen as an outsider, or worse, someone who doesn’t care.
- May be present for only a part of the overall process or discussion.
What Roles Are Needed?
At the same time, you should consider the roles and duties of the meeting participants, including yourself.
What’s your role in the meeting?
Despite the advantages and drawbacks outlined above, a senior executive – perhaps you? – will try to facilitate their own meeting.
If the meeting is simple – simple goals, simple information and simple decisions among a small group of people – then go ahead and facilitate your own meeting. That is, if you can …
- Keep your opinion to yourself (certainly not force it on the group),
- Encourage all to speak truthfully, and
- Not already decide the outcome of the meeting before it occurs.
If the meeting is complex, including any of the situations below …
- Multiple and inter-related topics: where the conversation could easily become a mess, jumping back and forth between topics, or if the group tends to talk over each other. For example, interrupting is seem as ‘normal.’
- Opposing or contradictory points-of-view: often needing someone to manage conflict.
- People who bring their bias or personal agendas: , if not bias (this is especially problematic if you are both senior and the facilitator)
- People who overly dominate the conversation; introverts will need to be coaxed to contribute, which may not happen depending upon the personalities and relationships.
- Heightened emotions; some participants have a lack of emotional intelligence, and may take any criticism as a personal attack.
- Limited time: decisions need to be made, and someone needs to “crack the whip.”
… you should find a facilitator to run your meeting on your behalf.
As the team leader, what should your roles and duties be?
As the key decision maker or the team leader, you have several other roles to play. Depending upon the complexity of the meeting, here are your proper duties.
- Set the objectives and expectations of the meeting and, with the facilitator’s help, ensure they’re followed.
- Focus on what’s being said, and not said.
- Listen – for issues, politics, future external problems, future internal problems (especially between people), insights, ideas.
- Encourage constructive discussion and debate.
- Influence where necessary, but not to the point where you dominate the outcome so participants minimise their involvement or commitment.
As someone who’s facilitated for much my career, trust me on this. It’s nearly impossible to properly lead and properly facilitate.
What do you want the participants to do?
In complex meetings, a neutral facilitator helps the attendees focus on their roles, such as:
- Prompting participants with thoughts to stimulate subconscious thinking prior to the actual meeting.
- Participating actively in discussions, debates, idea generation, or idea criticism.
- Listening and encouraging strategies, concepts and ideas.
- Clarifying the purpose and direction of the meeting or brainstorm.
- Helping the group come to a wise and just decision.
What do you want the participants NOT to do?
In short, mentally check out (they’re bored, this topic has nothing to do with them, they’re being ignored, etc). To not be in the present. Not attend mentally.
Facilitators can perform many tasks which minimize distractions, stimulate discussion and idea generation, and coordinate meeting logistics which should remain in the background.
Here’s what a good, flexible facilitator can do to help:
- Focus the group in positive, constructive ways on the problem, issue or need.
- Create a no-risk atmosphere, including freedom of speech and dissension.
- Ensure everyone contributes in their own way, particularly to balance extroverted participants with introverted ones, or to engage less-than-attentive people to the conversation and debate.
- Inspire all participants to generate ideas across a full spectrum.
- Help participants collaborate to build upon ideas or strategies, or at least to share knowledge, opinions or beliefs to stimulate better decision-making.
- Introduce and conduct brainstorm exercises.
- Keep the group – if not individuals – energized and engaged.
- Minimize destructive or vague criticism.
- Keep distractions (either physical or mental) at a minimum.
- Act as the secretary, writing down ideas on flipcharts.
- Keep an eye on the clock.
Finally, here’s what a facilitator should never do:
- Sit down.
- Give up the pen.
- Offer their opinions.
In a similar vein, here’s an article outlining why you should use a brainstorm facilitator.
If you need to literally hire a facilitator, here are eight steps to ensure you get the right person for the task.
When I talk about simple vs complex meetings, there’s an existing post here outlining the seven different types of meetings.
Here too is an article featuring quotes from Dale Hunter’s excellent book The Art of Facilitation (2007).
A good experienced facilitator – hired or not – can make or break a meeting. When has a good facilitator helped a meeting? What else should a facilitator do to help make a meeting productive? Please add your thoughts and comments below.
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