In today’s world, being a leader is much harder than ever. One of the skills that in my opinion a good leader should master is to be a good facilitator. As leaders we spend a lot of time in meetings, but it’s rare to see people using facilitation to keep even the most challenging group discussions on a focused and productive track.
Why should we care?
Because being an amazing facilitator will allow get better results out of your people and would help you:
- Identify and overcome barriers to participation
- Facilitate conversations that build trust and commitment
- Encourage people to contribute their knowledge and ideas
- Employ key decision-making techniques
- Choose the most appropriate decision-making style for the desired outcome
- Assess and manage the effectiveness of meetings
- Foster a collaborative environment
- Increase accountability for ongoing results
Here three things that we could practice to play facilitator role more often:
1) Prepare your meetings in advance
Having an agenda prepared with the topics that would be discussed and the goal of the meeting is not that complicated but it’s time consuming and it requires planning but
Think about it: what if all your meetings end up on time, follow an agenda and reach a goal?
2) Active Listening through curiosity
Listen to your people by following what’s in being said and put your energy and focus just on that by adding a little touch of beautiful curiosity. I know that it requires a lot of energy, observation and active listening but
Think about it: what if all people that share a room with you feels listened with authenticity? What could be possible if everyone is engaged and energized for real?
3) Be the mirror, use their words not yours
Confirm that you’re present in the room and far from your cell phone by repeating what’s being said, using their own words and adding this phrase “this is an interpretation” when you want to connect the dots between conversations. Yes, I know that I’m asking a lot but
Think about it: we’ve decided to inspire people so let’s use our positive intelligence to be sage and help others by mirroring their words and behaviors when in meetings and I can guaranty you that something will change.
Curious about how I do it?
Take a look to my workbook “Forming Agile Teams” and let’s connect and change the world one team at a time.
References
Here what others have said about the subject that could give you more hints:
- Luke Cavanagh, Why Facilitation skills are so important for communicators
- Seeds for Change, Facilitating meetings
1 Comment