While I was visiting the UK over the summer with my daughter, my father drove us up and down the British Isles to see old friends (thanks, dad!). For each part of the trip, he punched the destination into his GPS (what Brits call a “sat nav”), and the GPS planned the route.
The GPS has a lady’s voice, and my dad refers to her as “Emily.” Often, he deviated from the route, due to road works or heavy traffic.
Each time, Emily calmly announced, “Recalculating,” as she calculated a new route to reach our destination.
Switch scenes to the other day, back in Tokyo. I was delivering a workshop on facilitation skills for getting the best out of meetings. Twelve people were scheduled to attend. The client then emailed to say that the number had changed to eight. No problem, I thought. For the practice sessions, we could have two groups of four participants instead of three groups.
Recalculating
Arriving at the client’s office, I was told we had seven participants. Okay, so one group would have three people instead of four. No problem.
And that one participant needed to leave early. “Recalculating,” said Emily’s voice in my head. Okay, so that participant would take the first turn in her group.
And another participant would leave early. Recalculating…
And another participant would arrive late. Recalculating…
Ultimately, one of the participants who was leaving early also arrived late. Recalculating…
I realized how, as a facilitator, I needed to be like Emily, the GPS!
The meeting goal (destination) is clarified upfront. Then the facilitator (GPS) plans the meeting process (route). When something unexpected happens, such as different people come in and out of the room or heated discussion arises around a topic that’s not on the agenda, the meeting goes off track. Then the facilitator, keeping the goal in mind, needs to propose how to get back (recalculating).
Flexibility is crucial for facilitators. You need to change your plan depending on what’s happening in the room, so that you still get the best outcome.
Here are three simple steps for meeting facilitation:
1. Clarify your goal
2. Plan the best way to reach that goal (how to run the meeting)
3. When you hit a roadblock, be flexible, recalculate, and propose a new route
I hope this helps to keep you productive and on track!
Want to know more about getting the best out of meetings? Sign up for Sasuga! Tips For You for information on upcoming webinars and other communication tips, or contact me and let me know how I can help.