meetings
Rather than chairing or worrying that no-one is leading, concentrating on just your own contribution makes a meeting so much less painful and much more productive!
Or having someone objective in charge - when it’s vital, political, complicated or emotionally charged - makes it more orderly, less awkward and with meaningful outputs.
An external facilitator’s job is:
Safely steering the conversation
Stopping people speaking over others
Keeping to time
Preventing tension over the contentious
Making sure objectives are met
Warding off time-wasting
Encouraging hearing all the voices
Saving you hours of skirting around issues or revisiting the same debates, having a neutral, prepared, assertive and experienced chair can make meetings more than just manageable, by maximising the talents around the table.
“Having an external presence took the pressure off and allowed us to speak more freely”
CLIENT stories:
WHEN the board and senior leadership were at cross purposes:
The 5-strong Senior Leadership Team found The 8 Board members constantly changing expectations or making it difficult to execute strategic direction.
By having the neutral person guiding the quarterly and sub-board meetings, both parties took time to understand the workings and needs of the other.
The dynamic became much more relaxed within 6 months and The Board reported feeling more valuable and involved. The Senior Leadership Team and their senior managers reported feeling more appreciated and respected.
The parties fed back how they felt part of a solid wider team and how the work pace had picked up, with far fewer blocks, plus ways to overcome hurdles.
WHEN A cross-departmental project Team struggled to work together:
The team comprised specialists from 1 creative and 1 analytical function. It suffered from a lack of cooperation, when actions seemed to have been agreed in meetings but not executed.
With an intervening neutral facilitator they were able to firstly confide their concerns and aspirations. Then careful constructive and exploratory conversations unfolded across 2 meetings.
The team widened understanding of each others’ motivations, skillsets, breadth of experience and fears and limitations.
A fresh energy, a united perspective and a sense of ambition evolved. The team began to perform within weeks and surpass original targets.
WHEN a new management structure unsettled the middle managers:
A change in company ownership led to a restructure which altered most of the processes the 17-strong middle management were used to.
Whilst the 6 senior managers were less affected or already familiar with the new ways of working, the majority of the workforce felt the effects.
Working with all 23, in three meetings across one month, key issues were identified and solutions suggested.
They created a plan which encompassed compromises and new ideas which could meet the needs of both groups. By the end of the quarter, most of the disruptions had stopped and progress made faster than expected.