Why Have a Meeting Professionally Facilitated?

1. To ensure clarity and focus on purpose
   
2. To achieve effective communication
   
3. To diagnose and intervene when necessary
   
4. To demonstrate respect for your participant's time and commitment
   
5. To have an overall more enjoyable and fulfilling experience
   

Facil: To make easier. To make clear.

Clarity and Focus on Purpose
To have a meeting professionally planned and implemented ensures the development of a clear and practical purpose. All participants are focused on the achievement of that well defined purpose. A professional meeting facilitator will design an agenda (see the "Task Cycle" Agenda format below) which identifies specific outcomes and processes to achieve the meeting's goals.

Effective Communication
"I know you think you understand what you thought I meant, but what you think you heard is not what I said! "

A meeting facilitator is neutral, non judgmental, flexible, and open to what is needed to achieve a meeting's purpose. They are there to assist participants to listen from the perspective of, "I'll open my mind up to you," instead of the way people normally listen which is from the perspective of, "You open your mind up to me." Facilitators can help give participants room to release their fixed positions and consider alternatives. It is "fixed " positions which can block effective communication. Professional meeting facilitators can open up communication avenues in ways not previously imaginable from those within an organization.

Diagnose and Intervene
A professional meeting facilitator is watching for conflict or resistance in participants. They assess if a proactive action is needed to be taken. They analyze what the cause of the resistance might be and what the impact on the group or team might be. A facilitator focuses on behaviors not attitudes or assumptions. They recommend what action could be considered to get a meeting back on track.

Demonstrating Respect
Professionally developing and fine-tuning an agenda and focusing on clarity of purpose demonstrates a high level of respect for the participants attending a meeting. No one has time to waste. We all must work smarter not harder. One way of doing that is hiring a professional meeting facilitator who is trained in organizational development tools and processes which will achieve more in less time. Retreat type meetings will achieve more from the "special time " carved out of the normal work schedule.

Enjoyable and Fulfilling Experience
Meetings don't have to be painful. Redesigning processes doesn't have to be boring. Facing problems doesn't have to create tense filled situations (and if a tense filled situation does occur, every one in the room feels safe because a neutral and professionally trained meeting facilitator is guiding the process). A professional meeting facilitator listens for the emotion and tone in what participants say. They're watching each person's experience throughout the meeting and doing whatever they can to make it a positive one.

The "Task Cycle" Agenda
One basic yet powerful organizational development tool is the creation of a Task Cycle Agenda. By creating an agenda of this type before a meeting you are implementing the carpenters rule: Measure twice and cut once! This agenda format includes a well thought out purpose statement, specific outcomes, and implementation process using organizational development exercises and tools, and then identifys the required "capabilities" (what is needed and who is responsible for obtaining it) for implementing a successful and appreciated meeting.

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