How to Conduct a Great Meeting

Group Based Strategic Planning

Facilitator’s Guide

The Strategic Planning Process

Who Should Be Involved in Planning?

Strategic planning should be conducted by a planning team. Consider the following guidelines when developing the team. (Note that reference to boards of directors is in regard to organizations that are corporations.)

1. The chief executive and board chair should be included in the planning group, and should drive development and implementation of the plan.

2. Establish clear guidelines for membership, for example, those directly involved in planning, those who will provide key information to the process, those who will review the plan document, those who will authorize the document, etc.

3. A primary responsibility of a board of directors is strategic planning to effectively lead the organization. Therefore, insist that the board be strongly involved in planning, often including assigning a planning committee (often, the same as the executive committee).

4. Ask if the board membership is representative of the organization’s clientele and community, and if they are not, the organization may want to involve more representation in planning. If the board chair or chief executive balks at including more of the board members in planning, then the chief executive and/or board chair needs to seriously consider how serious the organization is about strategic planning!

5. Always include in the group, at least one person who ultimately has authority to make strategic decisions, for example, to select which goals will be achieved and how.

6. Ensure that as many stakeholders as possible are involved in the planning process.

7. Involve at least those who are responsible for composing and implementing the plan.

8. Involve someone to administrate the process, including arranging meetings, helping to record key information, helping with flipcharts, monitoring status of prework, etc.

9. Consider having the above administrator record the major steps in the planning process to help the organization conduct its own planning when the plan is next updated.

Note the following considerations:

10. Different types of members may be needed more at different times in the planning process, for example, strong board involvement in determining the organization’s strategic direction (mission, vision, and values), and then more staff involvement in determining the organization’s strategic analysis to determine its current issues and goals, and then primarily the staff to determine the strategies needed to address the issues and meet the goals.

11. In general, where there's any doubt about whether a certain someone should be involved in planning, it's best to involve them. It's worse to exclude someone useful then it is to have one or two extra people in planning -- this is true in particular with organizations where board members often do not have extensive expertise about the organization and its products or services.

12. Therefore, an organization may be better off to involve board and staff planners as much as possible in all phases of planning. Mixing the board and staff during planning helps board members understand the day-to-day issues of the organization, and helps the staff to understand the top-level issues of the organization.

The Makings of a Good Meeting

Meetings are occasions when people come together to get something done, whether it is to share information or make decisions. Too many meetings are unsuccessful; too long, unfocused, petty, unproductive, led by domineering or disagreeable individuals, meandering, time wasting, boring... the list goes on. These kinds of meetings leave participants dreading the next one. Most of us have personal knowledge of what can go wrong with meetings.

But what makes a good meeting?

  • A strategically designed agenda with commonly understood goals and objectives.
  • A clear, agreed upon process for reaching those goals and running the meeting.
  • An awareness that people come with their personal preoccupations and feelings, as well as an interest in the subject at hand.
  • A sense of involvement and empowerment; people feeling that the decisions are their decisions; that they are able to do what needs doing.
  • A skilled facilitator.

There is no fool proof way to ensure successful meetings, but guidelines aid in sustainability and increasing productivity. Most people can learn how to facilitate a good meeting and develop a strategic agenda, but it does take time and attention. The more people within a group who have good group process skills, the easier the task of the facilitator and the more satisfactory the meeting.

The Facilitator

A facilitator is not quite the same as a leader or a chairperson, but more like a mediator. A facilitator accepts responsibility to help the group move through the agenda in the time available and make necessary decisions and plans for implementation in order to accomplish common goals.

A facilitator makes no decisions for the group, but suggests ways that will help the group move forward. He or she works in such a way that the people present at the meeting are aware that they are in charge, that it is their business that is being conducted, and that each person has a role to play. It should be made clear whether the facilitator is an equal participant in the decision making, or if the facilitator is only limited to a monitor/facilitator role, and not a participant.

It is important to emphasize that the responsibility of the facilitator is to the group and its work rather than to the individuals within the group. The group gives the facilitator additional rights to accompany the increased responsibility. These rights depend on the decision made by the group, but often include:

  • the right to interrupt a speaker to ask if they are on subject, being concise, or repeating another person;
  • the right to be a participant and follow the same rules for speaking to the subject as everyone else;
  • the right to speak out of turn in order to assist the meeting process;
  • the right to make minor judgment calls on the agenda as the meeting progresses without asking permission of the group.

Tricks of a Good Facilitator

1. Know the agenda. Have a good understanding of the big picture. Why is the group trying to accomplish certain objectives? Why are certain decisions important, and why can others wait. The facilitator can be much more flexible with the flow of the meeting if the objectives are clearly understood. When an impasse occurs, the facilitator can bring the group back to the goal of the item being discussed. Sometimes it is valuable to meet with key meeting attendees ahead of time.

2. Get everyone's name so you can call on them by name. Either make a seating chart during introductions, or make sure that they wear readable name tags. It helps to tell them you are making a "cheat sheet" so you can call them by their name.

3. Call on people in the order in which they raise their hands. Keep a running list of the order. Get all the hands in the order they are raised, so that they can lower their hands and pay attention to the speaker. If it has been agreed, facilitators may want to comment as a participant, and if so, they must put their name into the order and then call on themselves at the appropriate time.

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