Let's face it; most professionals haven't been educated on effectively facilitating a business meeting. I'm not saying most can't get through the undertaking; I'm saying the participant's collective talent is often unrealized under poor meeting stewardship. For example, we know they can be all over the place, go down rabbit holes, run over the allotted time, and more to be a black hole of inefficiency.
While there are multiple contributing factors, I think, in large part, it is because many meeting leaders (i.e., functional/project managers) possess reward and penalty power over their audience, which engenders deference to their facilitation. The humble showing of participant respect makes leaders believe that meetings go well, but the little secret participants often hide: They honestly don't think the meetings are run well.
Case in point, it is often said that we have too many meetings or that meetings are a waste of time. I say we have too many ineffective meetings that waste time. Without a doubt, effective facilitation is the key to unlocking the power of meetings. When meetings are grounded in solid facilitation, they are a powerful tool to:
- impart and gather useful information
- share and cross-pollinate ideas
- synergistically solve problems and more.
What's more, effectively facilitated meetings maximize time instead of wasting it. They are an energy nucleus that promotes true teamwork, encourages genuine participation, and optimizes valuable organizational results.
As a long-time consultant who has effectively facilitated countless meetings, I've created the highly-rated course, How to Facilitate Effective Meetings, to help you master or fortify this critical skill. It provides proven knowledge, practical instructions, and examples to facilitate meetings that set clear expectations, engage participation and increase overall productivity.
In the course, I show you how to prepare for facilitation with simple but highly effective elements to structure your meetings successfully. I provide invaluable insight into creating a meeting environment that provides collective clarity and genuine interactions while fostering a strong focus on delivering results. To round out the course, I reveal common meeting facilitation missteps while enriching your understanding with remedies to help you avoid them.
Enroll today to get the skills to immediately transform your meetings into value-added time, fortify your ability to engender energized participation, and meet required objectives while enhancing your overall skill set.