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Key Takeaways
- Plan your structure: develop a clear, flexible plan to guide the event towards its goals.
- Create an agenda: ensure that the agenda is outcome-focused and facilitates smooth event flow.
- Get the conversation flowing: use icebreakers and ground rules to foster open, respectful dialogue.
- Pay attention to group dynamics: monitor interactions, promoting balanced contributions and addressing conflicts.
- Maintain momentum and energy: keep discussions on track and adapt facilitation styles as needed.
- Record and action outputs: document decisions and actions accurately, and ensure that agreed commitments are followed up.
- Reflect and improve: continuously evaluate your facilitation skills and seek feedback for improvement.
Whether you're facilitating a one-off meeting or multi-session event, it's your role to manage discussions, to encourage ideas from all participants, and to get buy-in for the outcomes you reach as a group.
Here, you'll explore the preparation required for effective facilitation, and learn some key tips and strategies for making your event a success!
What Is a Facilitator?
A facilitator plans, guides and manages a group meeting or event to ensure that it meets its goals.
To facilitate effectively, you must be objective and focus on the "group process." That is, how groups work together to perform tasks, make decisions, and solve problems. [1] Good facilitation involves being impartial and steering the group so that its ideas and solutions flow.
Tip:
It's difficult to both contribute and facilitate. So, if you are keen to play an active part in the discussions or use your authority to add value to meetings, then consider bringing in an external facilitator to run the event.
How to Facilitate Effectively
To facilitate an event well, you must first understand the group's desired outcome and the background and context of the meeting or event. When the group has a clear objective, you can structure the meeting and use the best tools to reach your outcome.
Let's explore a seven-step strategy for doing this:
1. Plan Your Structure
Open, well-facilitated discussion is the simplest option for your group. But if you have a large group, you may need a structured process to get everyone to participate, generate ideas, and cover various topics.
Consider setting up smaller "breakout" groups (at an event or via virtual meeting apps) to make people more comfortable contributing ideas. Also, give participants time in the agenda to consider points they want to raise. You can schedule a brainstorming session to get ideas flowing.
Tip:
Whether planning a straightforward meeting or a big event, always keep the outcome in mind – and how you'll help the group to achieve it. If the event spans different days and topics, be clear on the desired outcome for each and how they contribute to the overall objective.
Read our article, Running Effective Meetings, for more tips on setting and sticking to objectives.
2. Create an Agenda
A solid agenda focuses on outcomes and lets the event flow. When planning it, consider the following:
- In what order will you present topics?
- How will participants get to know each other? In-person and virtual icebreakers can help.
- How will they understand the objectives? The Modified Borda Count is useful for prioritizing issues to reach a consensus.
- If an event is spread over separate sessions, how much time will you allocate each?
- Will all participants be in every session? As well as breakout groups, the Charette Procedure can help large groups to brainstorm effectively.
- How and when will breakout groups feedback to the wider group?
- When will you recap and summarize?
- How will the outcomes of one session flow into the next?
- How will you achieve closure of the overall event?
Other considerations when facilitating include:
Information and materials: what do participants need to know before or at the event? How and when will you provide this information?
Room or online arrangements: what setup will best encourage participation? Do you need separate rooms or to set up a virtual meeting space?
Tech: is your presentation saved offline in case of WiFi issues? Or do you need to give participants access to virtual whiteboards?
3. Get the Conversation Flowing
With the agenda and group process in place, it's time to think about how you'll guide and control the proceedings. These tips and suggestions will help to get things started:
- Introduce some ground rules. Participants should agree upon these behaviours from the outset. Rules might include respecting everyone's contribution, letting only one person speak at a time, and avoiding disparaging comments.
- Set the scene. Run through the objectives and agenda. Ensure that everyone understands their role and what the group seeks to achieve.
- Break the ice. Let everyone introduce themselves, or perhaps use appropriate icebreakers to start the meeting positively.
4. Pay Attention to Group Dynamics
It's important to quickly get a handle on how well the group functions, as this will inform how you facilitate the session.
Positive signs to look for include participants chatting with each other in a relaxed and friendly manner at the start of the session and during breaks; a willingness for participants to contribute their ideas, experiences, hopes and concerns; participants input into and build upon suggestions from other group members; a general mood of enthusiasm within the group.
On the other hand, signs that all might not be well include participants sitting in cliques; one person dominating discussions, with little input or challenges from others; a lack of energy or initiative within the group; a tendency for participants to focus on what has gone wrong in the past.
5. Maintain Momentum and Energy Levels
Hopefully, your event will prove engaging and productive from the start. If momentum or energy levels dip, here are some things which will keep people focused and engaged:
Adapt your facilitation style
If participants are slow to open up or the discussion stalls, you might need to use a "coaching style" to get things moving. For example, "I was interested in that last point. Would anyone like to expand on that?" On the other hand, if one person is trying to dominate proceedings or there is arguing within the group, you may need to adopt a firmer approach.
Listen, engage and include
As the facilitator, stay alert, listen actively and remain interested and engaged. This sets an excellent example for other participants. Is everyone engaged? If not, how can you bring them in - particularly the quieter members of the group? How can you get better participation? Watch out, too, for signs of Groupthink.
Keep the conversation focused
Don't let the group get bogged down in too much detail, go off-topic or start side conversations. If this starts to happen, refocus the group’s attention with a polite but firm, "Can I draw everyone back into the main issues for discussion?" Remind them about the required outcomes of the session and suggest they pick up their own discussions after the event.
Watch the clock
Be flexible and balance the need for participation with the need to keep things running efficiently. If a discussion isn't reaching a natural conclusion, you may need to park topics, gather more information, and schedule time to address outstanding points.
Monitor checkpoints and summarize
Keep in control of the agenda, tell people what they've achieved and what's next; summarize often.
6. Record and Action Outputs
Effective recording ensures that key decisions and actions are documented, shared and followed up on. Among the responsibilities of a facilitator are recording outputs and ensuring they are actioned.
To successfully record outputs from an event, it is crucial to define what will be recorded and who will be responsible for recording it. This clarity prevents any confusion and ensures everyone involved understands their roles.
Make sure all participants can hear, see and understand the information presented. Use clear language and, when in doubt, record first and summarize later. Ask the group to provide the wording if you're unsure. Using the participants’ words when taking notes ensures accuracy and clarity in capturing the group’s ideas and decisions.
Document all decisions and actions agreed upon. You may want to enlist a note-taker to help you focus on facilitating. Tools like taking photos of brainstorming notes or using collaborative whiteboard apps can be very helpful.
Follow up on the recorded actions to ensure they are being implemented. This step is crucial for maintaining momentum and ensuring that agreed-upon actions lead to tangible outcomes. Recording outputs and ensuring follow-up keeps the group accountable and drives the event towards its intended goals.
7. Reflect and Improve Your Facilitation Skills
After you facilitate a meeting, reflect on your own performance and consider how you could do things better next time. You could ask for feedback from the group or a trusted colleague. Here are some useful tools and techniques to improve:
Key Points
To be an effective facilitator, you must plan and guide your event effectively and remain focused on the group’s desired outcomes. To do this, follow these seven steps:
- Develop a clear, flexible plan to guide the event towards its goals.
- Ensure that the agenda is outcome-focused and facilitates smooth event flow.
- Set icebreakers and ground rules to foster open, respectful dialogue.
- Observe group interactions, ensuring balanced contributions and addressing conflicts.
- Keep discussions on track and summarize key points regularly.
- Record decisions and actions accurately, ensuring follow-up on commitments.
- Continuously evaluate your facilitation skills and seek feedback for improvement.
References[1] C, Stangor (2017). Group Processes [online]. Available
here. [Accessed December 6, 2021.]
