peg carlson, phd ncccma summer seminar june 19,2015

Tips, Tools, and Tested Methods: Facilitation Skills

for ManagersPeg Carlson, PhD

NCCCMA Summer SeminarJune 19,2015

1. What are your biggest challenges running meetings?

2. What is one skill you would like to take away from today’s session?

In pairs, briefly discuss:

Learn and practice meeting facilitation skills to help participants:

Stay focused

Build on shared interests

Reach decisions that people are committed to implementing

Objectives

Creating Meeting Agendas that Work

1. Frame topics as questions that need to be answered.

Instead of “Office space reallocation”: Under what conditions, if any, should we

reallocate office space?

Instead of “Update on proposed sales tax redistribution”:

What are the implications of the proposed sales tax redistribution legislation for our county?

Creating Meeting Agendas that Work

2. Note purpose of each topic.

To share information

To get input

To make decision

Creating Meeting Agendas that Work

3. Estimate time needed for each topic.

Do the math . . . Number of participants? Purpose of meeting? Complexity of topic?

Creating Meeting Agendas that Work

4. Identify person responsible for leading each topic.

Creating Meeting Agendas that Work

Think of a recent meeting you attended where the purpose of the discussion wasn’t clear.

Rewrite the topic as a question to be answered.

Share your rewrite at your table and discuss how/whether this would have helped.

Individual Reflection exercise:

What typically happens in a meeting when someone makes a comment that you or others see as off-track?

What to do when someone is off-track

Format for testing your inference:“(Name), a minute ago the group was

discussing ___A___, and you said ____B____.”

“I don’t see how ___A___ is related to ___B___, but I might be missing something.”

“Can you say how your comment is related, or if it isn’t, can we decide which topic to discuss now?”

What to do when you think someone is off-track

Scenario: You are in a meeting discussing the budget for employee training and professional development in FY ‘15-16. One participant comments that everyone in his department requests vacation leave at the same time.

Take turns practicing what you would say to this participant and get feedback from others at your table.

Practice

Focusing on Positions

We need weekly

recycling

No, we need

biweekly

What should the solution be?

Focusing on Positions

Weekly

Bi-weekly

So, should we pick up weekly or bi-weekly?

Focusing on Positions

Weekly

Bi-weekly

Well, this isn’t getting us anywhere

Focusing on Interests

I want us to provide a high

level of customer service

I want us to be good stewards of our tax

dollars

What about your solution is important

to you?

Focusing on Interests

Hmm.

Let me think

about this for a

minute.

What solution can we come up with that meets both of your interests?

Steps for Focusing on Interests1. Identify Interests

“Regardless of the specifics of any solution we develop, it needs to be one that…”

2. Agree on interests to consider“Are there any interests that you think should not be taken into account when developing solutions?”

3. Craft solutions that meet interests“Let’s see if we can come up with solutions that meet all of our interests.”

4. If necessary, revisit assumptions then set priorities “What unnecessary assumptions are we making that prevent us from coming up with a solution?”

“Which interests are more important to meet?”

Scenario: Your team is deciding whether to outsource printing or keep it in-house. People have different positions on the issue.

Practice as a group with one person in facilitator role, using the steps on the previous slide to help people identify interests and brainstorm solutions.

Practice

Schwarz, Roger. How to Design an Agenda for an Effective Meeting. On Harvard Business Review website: https://hbr.org/2015/03/how-to-design-an-agenda-for-an-effective-meeting

Schwarz, Roger. Dealing with Team Members Who Derail Meetings. On Harvard Business Review website: https://hbr.org/2013/09/dealing-with-team-members-who-derail-meetings

Resources