Whether I’m delivering a keynote address, sifting through my email correspondence or training facilitation skills, one central issue consistently surfaces – who runs the meeting, the Chair or the Facilitator? The distinction between ‘chairing’ and ‘facilitating’ a meeting or an agenda item is vital, but can be tricky for novices.
Predicting all the potential challenges and pitfalls of an upcoming facilitation is an onerous task, even for the most seasoned facilitator. During one of my recent facilitation training sessions, stories of decision-making events gone wrong were the pervasive theme among participants. As a result of these discussions, I decided to reflect on my own personal […]
Meetings therefore need leaders who are disciplined in structuring the meeting while also managing how people interact, but who can leave the generation of ideas to the group. This poses difficulty for many CEOs.
Whenever the group goes off track, having a clear and aligned purpose to fall back on, contributes to an on-track discussion and time well spent.
The more the group participates in the process management of their issues, the more they will be committed to their collective decisions/recommendations.
Your ability to engage members in defining the how and what of an agenda will determine the degree of buy-in they will demonstrate towards owning the agenda and any resulting outcomes.