PMI Chicagoland Professional Development Day – Accelerated Facilitation

Brian Richardson, PMP

Agenda

Time Activity 2:45 – 3:00 Session Introduction

3:00 – 3:30 Accelerated Idea Generation

3:30 – 3:55 Accelerated Prioritization

3:55 – 4:25 Accelerated Assessment

4:25 – 4:45 Wrap-up and Q & A

Introduction

Session Outcomes

At the end of this session, you will be able to: 1. Articulate principles for effective meeting facilitation

2. Use structured techniques to make meetings more

interactive, efficient, and effective

3. Apply structured techniques to a variety of situations

4. Request an electronic copy of session materials. (Leave a

business card and write, “AF Materials” on the back.)

Principles for Effective Meeting Facilitation

1. Waste time

2. Have an open discussion

agenda

3. Value input based on

position and/or personality

4. Have unclear outcomes

5. Have unclear ownership

and next steps

1. Accomplish real work

2. Have a task list and

structured techniques

3. Gather input from all

participants

4. Produce visible output

5. Create buy-in, ownership

and clear next steps

Ineffective Meetings Effective Meetings

Accelerated Facilitation Principles

1. Advance planning.

2. Separate facilitator (process) role from participant

(content) role.

3. Focus participants on tasks, one task at a time. • Inspires creativity and innovation • Separates generating ideas from judging ideas

4. Each task: • Starts with a question • Ensures everyone’s input is captured • Uses participant time efficiently and effectively • Eliminates or structures debate and discussion • Produces visible output

Accelerated Facilitation Benefits

Sessions are structured to maximize participant time, allowing them to get more done in less time than in traditional meetings.

Sessions are designed to fully engage all participants and ensure everyone’s ideas and opinions are captured. This results in high levels of participant buy-in and commitment.

Productivity

Participant Satisfaction

Accelerated Facilitation - Roles

• Determines topics and

techniques in advance

• Plans inputs and outputs

• Prepares materials

• Provide clear instruction

• Manage process

• Asks questions

• Follow instructions and

complete tasks

• Provide content and

perspective

• Separate generating ideas

from evaluating ideas

• Generate visible output

Facilitator Role Participant Role

Accelerated Facilitation Materials

Paper and Spray Glue (or Whiteboard or Sticky Flipchart Paper)

Cards (or Sticky Notes)

Voting Stickers Markers

Tape

Accelerated Idea Generation – Simple Inputs None Outputs List of Ideas Benefits • Generates many ideas quickly

• Eliminates debate, discussion and judging • Structures idea generation to ensure everyone

can provide input • Reduces influence of position and personality • Gives ownership to participants to state and

clarify their ideas, creating higher buy-in and ownership

Exercise

Accelerated Idea Generation - Facilitator

Work as a team to: 1. Select a facilitator and timekeeper for the group. 2. Print the question “What meetings are required to lead successful projects?” on

a card. 3. Facilitator starts at their right and moves left. Each participant takes a turn stating

one idea. Do not debate, discuss or judge. 4. Each participant writes their idea on a card and sticks it to the wall.

– It is okay to pass. – It is okay to write an idea before your turn, then state it when it is your turn.

5. After one round, facilitator asks, “What other ideas do people have?” 6. Participants state their additional ideas, write them on cards and stick them to the

wall. 7. After all ideas are captured, facilitator says, “I’ll read each idea. Let me know if any

ideas are not clear.” 8. Facilitator reads each idea. If any ideas are not clear, participants re-write on new

cards and stick to the wall. Participants can write new ideas.

15 minutes.

Accelerated Idea Generation - Participant

Work as a team to: 1. Select a facilitator and timekeeper for your team. 2. Generate ideas to answer the question: “What meetings are

required to lead successful projects?” 3. At your turn, state one idea. Do not debate, discuss or judge. 4. Write your idea on a card and stick it to the wall. 5. State any additional ideas, write them on cards and stick them to

the wall. 6. The facilitator reviews the cards with the group.

15 minutes.

Debrief

Accelerated Prioritization Inputs List of ideas Outputs Prioritized list of ideas Benefits • Prioritizes ideas quickly

• Eliminates debate and discussion • Ensures everyone provides input • Eliminates influence of position and personality • Produces visible output created by participants,

creating higher levels of buy-in and ownership

Exercise

Accelerated Prioritization - Facilitator

Work as a team to: 1. Select a facilitator and timekeeper for your team. 2. Facilitator writes, “In which meetings is it most important to gain buy-in and consensus from a

group?” on a card and posts it to the wall. 3. Facilitator gives each participant 10 voting dots. 4. Without discussing, each team member places dots to vote on most important items.

– Place dots on cards – More dots = More important – You may place as many or as few dots as you want on each item. – You must use all your dots.

5. Facilitator counts the number of dots on each card and writes the total on the card. 6. Facilitator arranges the cards in order, highest to lowest and says, “<Idea name> is most

important and gets <#> votes. <Idea name> is next most important and gets <#> votes . . .”

Voting – 7 mins Summary – 3 mins

Accelerated Prioritization - Participant

Work as a team to: 1. Select a facilitator and timekeeper for your team. 2. Use voting dots to answer the question: “In which meetings is it

most important to gain buy-in and consensus from a group?” 3. Distribute your 10 dots to the most important items.

– Place dots on cards – More dots = More important – You may place as many or as few dots as you want on each item. – You must use all your dots.

4. The facilitator summarizes the votes.

Voting – 7 mins

Summary – 3 mins

Debrief

Accelerated Assessment Inputs List of ideas Outputs List of ideas - assessed Benefits • Evaluates ideas quickly

• Structures debate and discussion • Ensures everyone provides input • Eliminates influence of position and personality • Produces visible output created by participants,

creating higher levels of buy-in and ownership

Exercise

Accelerated Assessment - Facilitator

Work as a team to: 1. Select a facilitator and timekeeper for your team. 2. Facilitator writes, “To what extent are these meetings currently successful gaining buy-in and

consensus from a group?” on a card and posts it to the wall. 3. Facilitator posts assessment (1-5 column) card next to top 3 items from previous exercise 4. Facilitator gives each participant 3 voting dots. 5. Without discussing, each team member places dots to assess top 3 items from previous

exercise. – Place dots on assessment (1-5 column) cards – You have one rating vote (dot) for each item. – Dots on the line do not count

6. Where the highest and lowest votes are more than 1 column apart, Facilitator says, “There are some different opinions on <Idea name>. Why is that?” Participants volunteer opinions. Do not discuss ideas where there are dots in 2 columns or fewer.

Rating Scale 5 = Definitely

4 = To a large extent

3 = To some extent

2 = Only slightly

1 = Not at all

Voting – 5 mins Discussion - 10 mins

Accelerated Assessment - Participant Work as a team to: 1. Select a facilitator and timekeeper for your team. 2. Use voting dots to answer the question, “To what extent are these

meetings currently successful gaining buy-in and consensus from a group?”

3. Without discussing, distribute your voting dots to assess top 3 items from previous exercise. – Place dots on assessment (1-5 column) cards – You have one rating vote (dot) for each item – Dots on the line do not count

4. The facilitator discusses the results.

Rating Scale 5 = Definitely

4 = To a large extent

3 = To some extent

2 = Only slightly

1 = Not at all

Voting – 5 mins Discussion - 10 mins

Debrief

Wrap-up

Application of Core Techniques

Sample applications include: 1. Stakeholder feedback

2. Project/program charter development

3. Work breakdown structure (WBS) development

4. Requirements gathering and analysis

5. Solution planning

6. Risk planning

7. Issue identification, prioritization and assessment

8. Vendor evaluation

9. Brainstorming

10.Small groups (up to 10)

More Accelerated Facilitation

Additional Accelerated Facilitation techniques: 1. Idea Generation

• Accelerated Idea Generation – Complex

• Accelerated Statement Formulation

• Accelerated Action Planning

2. Idea Evaluation • Accelerated Prioritization – with structured discussion

• Accelerated Sequencing

• Accelerated Summarization

• Accelerated Categorization

• Accelerated Negotiation

• Accelerated Debate

• Accelerated Options Analysis

Application of Additional Techniques

Sample applications include: 1. Strategic planning

2. Product and service innovation

3. Project/program planning

4. Organization effectiveness

5. Process improvement

6. Training

7. Team offsite

8. Larger groups (10 – 100+)

Final Tips

Move from discussion agenda to task list and structured

techniques. Think about inputs, outputs and flow.

Incorporate techniques into your meetings to generate

ideas, prioritize and/or evaluate.

Replace cards and paper with sticky notes and

whiteboard/sticky flip charts as needed.

Request an electronic copy of course materials. Leave a

business card and write, “AF Materials” on the back.

Contact Information

Brian Richardson, PMP • Email: brian@richardsonconsultinggroup.com • LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/briandrichardson • Twitter: @briandrichardso • Web: www.richardsonconsultinggroup.com

Consulting Staffing Training Accelerated Facilitation