Effective meeting facilitation is a process of guiding participants through a meeting to achieve stated objectives. An effective facilitator:
- Thinks through and manages the meeting objectives, processes, and group dynamics of participants
- Creates buy-ins from the group
- Encourages all members of a group to participate, draws out ideas and knowledge from different members
- Enables participants to offer their best ideas and make decisions with commitment and enthusiasm
Here are 10 keys to successful facilitation and competencies you should look for when you hire a professional facilitator:
1.
Understand your audience. Find out more about your audience before facilitating a meeting or workshop. Try to understand their concerns and interests in the topic by sending them a proposed agenda or a short pre-meeting questionnaire. Doing so will help participants feel more included and create a more positive atmosphere for the meeting. In addition, a benefit to understanding your audience will enable you to discover more useful discussions than the one you had planned.