THE MAKINGS OF A GOOD MEETING
By
Kevin Wolf
This booklet was written April - September 1994, by Kevin Wolf and was based on the booklet. "Meeting Facilitation: the No Magic Method." by Berit Lakey of the Movement for a New Society. Some sections came from the work of John Glaser of Glaser and Associates, Jim Hickman and the Support Center. However, much of the material has been culled from 15 years of experience in facilitating meetings, making agendas and training. For more information on this material contact:
WOLF & ASSOCIATES
724 N Street
Davis, CA 95616
Phone (530) 758-4211
Fax (530) 758-2338
This manual can be found on and downloaded
from the World Wide Web at the following address:
http://www.wolfandassociates.com
© 1997, Reprint policy: You are allowed to reprint and use this manual
as long as you include this cover page with any copy.
I would appreciate, but do not require, a contribution to Friends of the River whenever you reprint this manual since they are the ones
who initially taught me how to facilitate.
Suggested donation: $1.00 for every time you reprint or distribute this manual.
Send Checks to Friends of the River, 915 20th St Sacramento 95814
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
THE MAKINGS OF A GOOD MEETING
Page
4 The Facilitator
4 Tricks of a Good Facilitator
6 Specific Tasks of the Facilitator
9 Co-Facilitator
10 Other Roles - "Vibes Watcher"
11 PLANNING A STRATEGIC Agenda
11 Brainstorm and Prioritize the Meeting "Objectives"
12 Dividing Up Time in the Meeting Agenda
13 Ordering of the Agenda Items
14 Standard meeting components
14 Introductions
15 Agenda Review
16 Meeting Ground Rules
17 Proposals
17 Committee Agenda Items
18 Announcements
18 Evaluation
19 Closing the Meeting
APPENDICES
20 A: Definitions
22 B-1: How to Enforce Ground Rules
22 B-2: Sample Ground Rules
23 C: Brainstorming
24 D-1 Consensus Decision Making Model
25 D-2: Reaching Consensus: The Final Steps
26 E: Weighing Exercises
28 F: From Positions to interests
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 kind 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 agreed upon agenda and process for 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 foolproof 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 clerk in a Quaker meeting. 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. Please see Appendix A.
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.
4. Keep eye contact with everyone. When a person raises their hand, you can acknowledge them with a nod or gesture to let them know they have been added to the list. This allows them to put their hand down that they may better listen to the speaker.
Eye contact is important for many reasons. It establishes a rapport between the facilitator and participants that fosters trust. It allows the facilitator to read faces and know who is agitated, confused, or unhappy and should be called upon to speak. Eye contact helps keep everyone centered and in the "here and now" of the meeting.
5. Use the ground rules established in the meeting as early as possible. For example, interrupt a speaker politely and diplomatically if they are off subject, and ask how their point deals with the agenda subject being discussed. If it doesn't, tell them where it will be dealt with in the meeting, or write it in the "bin", where items and ideas that aren't immediately pertinent are put for later consideration. A diplomatic, early intervention to enforce the ground rules establishes the seriousness of the facilitator. It helps everyone be more self-disciplined. If the ground rules are applied unfairly or erratically, problems will often result. See the following section on ground rules and Appendix B.
6. Make the group come up with a proposal when enough discussion and process has occurred for a decision to be made. The facilitator can summarize what has been said and try to formulate a consensus proposal for the group to discuss, or they can stop the order of hands and ask someone in the group to come up with a proposal. For example, “It seems that what I hear everyone saying is...” or “a rough consensus might be...” Whenever the facilitators are “stuck” they should not hesitate to ask the group for help.
Once a proposal is on the floor, ask who has serious objections to the proposal, and call on these people to speak. Once the serious objections are before the group, ask if someone can come up with a proposal that will resolve these concerns. Less serious concerns can be dealt with through wordsmithing the proposal and through friendly amendments.
Specific Tasks of the Facilitator
1. Help in the development of the agenda. Arrange (before the meeting) to have somebody present background on each item if appropriate. (The more others speak, the better. The facilitator will speak enough in the meeting.) Make sure the agenda is put in writing, either on butcher block paper for all to see or in a handout.
2. Set-up the room. If possible, set chairs in a U-shape with the flip charts/blackboard at the open end of the U. If possible, keep the chairs only one-person-deep. Have an agenda posted, plenty of paper ready and pieces of masking tape strategically placed to make it quick and easy to post the completed sheets of paper. Place finished sheets on the walls, on the windows, or wherever there is convenient viewing and room.
3. Introduce yourself (or have the meeting chair introduce you). Then begin introductions all around. (Make a personal "cheat sheet" name chart of meeting participants relative to the their seating positions.)
4. Make sure there is a time keeper and note taker. Don't let the meeting start without them. Give brief instructions to each (e.g. "With hand signals, so as not to interrupt, Timekeeper please let me know when half the time is gone, when one minute is left, when we are out of time." "Note taker, please take down decisions, only, or try to take details of what people say, or whatever the groups preference is.")
5. Review the agenda and ground rules. Get agreement on these before proceeding. This will be the first consensus agreement of the group. See the following section on ground rules and Appendix B.
6. Keep the group and speakers focused on the agenda item and task at hand. Add "off-subject" items to the "bin" list. Always keep your "eye on the prize" of the big picture objective the group is trying to accomplish.
7. Make sure that people's comments and ideas are properly recorded on butcher paper. This can be done by the facilitator or by an official recorder.
8. Protect the process by enforcing ground rules and time allotments. The facilitator is responsible for protecting ideas and individuals from attack, suggesting processes for following the agenda and devising other approaches if the process bogs down.
9. Encourage the expression of various viewpoints - the more important the decision, the more important it is to have all pertinent information (facts, feelings and opinions) on the table. Call on people who haven't spoken as much to give them an opportunity to address the issue. Notice who is confused, agitated or unhappy with the debate, and call on them to speak to the issue. See Appendix C.
10. Don't let discussion continue between two people, but ask for comments from others in the group. After all, it is the group that needs to make the decisions and carry them out. One of the easier ways to do this is to keep the order in which hands are raised, or ask who else would like to speak and then proceed with the other speakers.
11. Hold people to speaking for themselves rather than making vague references to others. For example, discourage: "some people say...", "we all know", "they would not listen..." Even though this is difficult in the beginning, it will foster trust in the long run.
12. Help the group make a decision. Keep looking for minor points of agreement and state them - it helps morale. Encourage people to think of fresh solutions as well as to look for possible compromises. See Facilitator Tricks #6, and Appendix D-1 and D-2.
When you test for consensus, state in question form everything that you feel participants agree on. Be specific: "Do we agree that we'll meet on Tuesday evenings for the next two months and that a facilitator will be found at each meeting to function for the next one?" DO NOT merely refer to a previous statement: “Do you all agree that we should do it the way it was just suggested?”
13. Make the group deal with going beyond the allotted time limit for an agenda item. Where will the additional time come from? What agenda item should have less time, or does the group agree to extend the time for the meeting and adjourn later. Be careful in this because it can sometimes take more time arguing for more time than it would have taken to resolve the issue. It is often wise for the facilitator to be flexible about time, especially if a decision is about to be made.
If it is obvious that a decision will not be made in time, bring this up to the group as soon as possible, so the group can spend the last five minutes deciding when and how they will finish the agenda item. If you wait until the time is up to begin discussing whether to continue on the agenda item or to postpone discussion, you will take time from the agenda items that follow.
14. Focus on closure by insisting that discussions be resolved with the identification of appropriate next steps, and that agreements and decisions are suitably identified and recorded.
15. Make sure that the next meeting is scheduled. It is much easier to schedule the next meeting when everyone is present. Allow time for it on the agenda, and insist that people consider it.
16. Try to ensure that the next agenda-making team is identified so everyone knows who to contact to offer input or committee items for the agenda.