What to Expect in Professional Facilitation
Originally written 2018 - Updated 2022
I recently worked with a client who felt the need to apologize for not giving me an agenda, and proceeded to keep talking, barely taking a breath, about the flow of the meeting. My response was, “I’m going to be rude and interrupt you. Creating the agenda is part of my job. You’re not getting your money’s worth if you just hand me an agenda.”
Let your facilitators do their job! It’s helpful if you first understand what professional facilitators do - so let me explain.
To facilitate simply means to make something easier.
Professional facilitation services make meetings go more smoothly. Facilitators help everyone present in the meeting - including the people responsible for the meeting - do their best thinking and their best work. Imagine being able to act like a participant in your own meeting! Instead of tracking time, taking notes, or worrying about why some people are quieter than others, work with a facilitation team and let them handle all of that. When you hire a facilitator, you get to fully participate in the meeting, just like every other participant.
An outside facilitator is especially helpful when your meetings require decisions. And honestly, why have a meeting where a decision isn’t necessary?
Reasons to have meetings:
Teambuilding
Building consensus
Reconsidering strategies
Collaboration
Making a decision multiple parties have input into
Project updates and management issues
Creating or updating a strategic plan
Considering a potential policy change
Troubleshooting team problems
Brainstorming
Some of the above reasons don’t require meetings. For example, collaboration can absolutely happen asynchronously.
When you decide to invest time into a meeting, it’s important to consider hiring a professional facilitator.
A professional facilitator will help your group:
Stay focused and timely.
Ensure all voices are heard.
Create decision-making criteria before an idea takes hold.
Generally, when you work with a professional facilitator, they will:
Help you refine (and redefine if needed) the purpose of bringing people together, in this moment.
Co-create the agenda with you.
They’ll be sure to include opening and closing activities that help welcome people into the meeting space and provide a sense of achievement at the end of the session.
Respond as needed to the group’s needs, live and in the moment, checking with you as they recommend last-minute changes to the agenda that will further the group toward the meeting goal.
