Because of my increasingly involved role chairing trustees’ meetings at Headway Cambridgeshire, I have signed up for a two-day facilitator’s course in London next week.
I am quite shy in the leadership role and am keen to learn the skills required to carry out this new role with confidence. I am undertaking lots of other new tasks for the first time too, helping to set up sub-committees for this fantastic charity which supports people with brain injury, and will also be involved in giving an appraisal to our CEO.
I wondered what advice you would give for facilitating meetings so I can go to my course well equipped with the best info. How is it that some people make it look so easy and effortless?
Good luck with it, Ellee. Wish I could help you there.
Wear 6″ stilettos with an ankle strap.
I know how you feel, it doesn’t come naturally to me either. But I think the trick is to allow everyone to get a chance to speak. This means calming down the noisy people and encouraging the quite people so the speak too!
Can you give me a call Ellee. I’ll gladly chat to you.
With your enthusiasm im sure you will be fine.
Hope you enjoy the course.
Patience will be what you’ll need most
The people who have best facilitated meetings I’ve been in did three things effectively; they started by laying out the groundrules and making sure everyone understood both what they were and that they were there to make a given meeting as effective (and short) as possible. Secondly, they kept the loudmouths from talking to much; thirdly, they encouraged an atmosphere where more reserved people could express their views (without being picked on as ‘shy’) knowing that they would be taken seriously.
I’m sure there are particular skills and techniques that make that easier to put into practice, but generally making sure that everyone knows where they stand helps. Tea and biscuits are also good.
xD.
Oh wow! Good luck with that, Ellee! I agree with Dave here in his suggestions. I was just at a church business meeting on Sunday where the vocal minority managed to overpower the silent majority, who ended up voting in favour of the VM just to shut them up! I agree that laying out the ground rules is very important but patience will be the key. Again, good luck!
Set out the objectives of the meeting.
keep to time,
have rules and make sure everyone respects them.
stay neutral – you are the facilitator not a participant.
maintain control by breaking meeting into task sections and ensuring each reach a conclusion.
Spend several days doing research
Thanks everyone. What’s interesting is that as vice chair, soon to be chair of an organisation where all trustees have common aims and objectives, I have to remain neutral. These are the kind of issues I need to know about.
We have our next trustees meeting at the beginning of September and I want to see if I can put my new knowledge into practice, whether my new skills will shine following this course.
Relax, Ellee. You’ll be brilliant. Just be yourself!
i used to have to chair meetings, and the best advice (also perhaps the most unusual) is to bring an alarm clock to the meeting.
we had 90 minutes assigned each week for the meeting, and i would set the clock in front of the group…and refer to it often.
because of the clock things went faster than they might otherwise, “drag-on” talkers get a hint when you pick up the clock and look at it…and if truth be told, in a year of chairing meetings the alarm never went off once.
one other tip…if you need to verbally “encourage” a participant, try to do it while smiling.
You, shy? Never would have guessed. You did brilliantly and I know we all enjoyed your company on the course. I’m still looking for those kush balls though – talk about addictive!
Hi Cara, it’s so lovely to hear from you. I’m new to all this kind of work and I feel there is so much to learn. I guess it will come with practice. You were a real star, what a great bunch of people who went on the course.
My fingers are twitching now you have mentioned those kush ballas.!
I mean balls!!!!
Kush balls – did Ray say they came in packs of 10? If you find them, let me know as I can only find them being sold in singles. Cheers ta.
Cara, Will do.