Bob Dignen looks at the art of facilitation – a skill as important in the classroom as it is the boardroom.
Much of professional life today is spent making decisions in meetings. Many of these meetings seem frustratingly inefficient – discussions go round (and round) in circles; there’s uneven participation among quieter and noisier individuals, who seem uninterested in listening to each other; and decisions, if reached, seldom seem to be implemented outside the meeting.
Facilitation is a vital skill set in this world. It’s both a mindset and a broad toolkit of behaviours which aims to bring people together in meetings to collaborate effectively. It connects the diverse perspectives and interests which otherwise threaten to undermine the actual business model of so many international organisations.
As a mindset, facilitation is primarily focused on the group, on making people listen to each other. It’s based on the belief that diversity, if effectively managed, offers great potential for innovation and high performance. Those who sit in meetings with a facilitator mindset pay a great deal of attention to things beyond themselves and their own point of view. And that’s true whether they’re formally the chair of the meeting, or more informally simply committing to this role. Yes, facilitators have an opinion, but their primary concern is to listen as well as to enable the group to listen and exchange views in order to find breakthrough. True facilitation is a deeply unselfish activity, the reason perhaps it is so rare in today’s business world where opposing individual or departmental targets drive individuals apart.
Behaviourally, and linguistically, facilitation is not a particularly complex activity. It is founded upon around a few simple behaviours which can drive group process towards effective collaboration. Let’s take a look at a few of these behaviours.
#1 Engage the group with energising questions
Questions come in many forms – closed, open, leading, even those rather accusatory in manner. Effective questions are those which inspire and energise groups, and individuals in groups, to think and innovate. Sometimes appeals to creativity will inspire; sometimes to ethics; sometimes to technical expertise. What kinds of questions would inspire your meetings?
#2 Make it safe and comfortable for people to contribute
Fear can prevent people from speaking up in meetings – fear of making a mistake; fear of ridicule; fear of being unable to remember the right English words once started. Facilitators act to create the confidence to speak among those with good ideas who deserve to be heard. I often ask people how they can make their meetings more comfortable. The answers vary: anything from bringing along cakes, to doing meetings standing up, or encouraging lots of positive feedback, to simply letting the non-native speakers speak first before the native English speakers. How can you make your meetings more comfortable?
#3 Encourage alternative viewpoints
Effective facilitators act to unleash a group’s creativity. Sometimes they simply model what they expect of the group and bring in fresh and exciting ideas, having invested a great deal of thinking time prior to the meeting themselves. They also appeal to creativity from other members at meetings, pushing for people to see think laterally – ‘Are there any other ways of looking at this?’, or ‘If we were to put ourselves in our customers’ shoes, what would we do?’ and so on. This is how innovation can be produced.
#4 Manage communication styles proactively
At all times, it is vital to manage the different communication styles around the table. The quieter individuals need to be given the space and courage to step in. The louder types need to be told to step back, in the interests of fairness, so that others can contribute. The unfocused need to be focused. Those who are weaker linguistically will need support to articulate their ideas. Each individual will need a specific strategy to ensure balance in the group.
#5 Connect ideas to reach a decision
And finally, people need to be encouraged to connect; to comment on what others have said, to add to and explore each other’s creativity, to produce decisions which everyone can commit to. This requires very simple bridging phrases which link people such as ‘Peter, what do you think about Bob’s idea?’; ‘Jacqui, what benefits do you think Sam’s ideas have for the customer?’; ‘Can we all agree with Paul’s suggestion and decide to…?’ These questions direct and mould a form of connectivity and collaboration.
Teams and groups which meet regularly should have occasional meetings to reflect on their meetings, to discuss the things which undermine their decision making, and to commit to behaviours which will facilitate their own success.
Naturally, facilitation generally works better when everybody commits to the process. It just needs someone to facilitate that first discussion. Why not make it you?