Around the world, companies struggle with unproductive meetings.
Too often, meetings only result in another meeting, which frustrates teams and kills productivity. Generally, you end up in this predicament because of poor facilitation skills.
Some people believe that facilitation is an art. I was one of these people, but in time, I learned that facilitation is a technique anyone can develop.
In this article, you will learn what facilitation is, the traits of a productive meeting, and the core skills you need to facilitate effectively.
Facilitation involves making collaboration easier by allowing your team to accomplish more than the sum of its parts.
Facilitation isn’t about limiting people on what they say and how they do it. Instead, it’s about designing exchanges with the right ingredients to simplify collaboration.
Good facilitation removes confusion and increases engagement.
When I started my journey as a product manager, I struggled to explain what my work was about. I often said, “I talk to people. Many people. The magic happens when I create value out of dozens of conversations.”
Product managers are inevitably involved in many exchanges — 1on1s, workshops, brainstorming, meetings, planning, etc. However, you can avoid getting trapped in a bad exchange. Have you ever stumbled upon one of the following scenarios:
If any of this sounds familiar, it’s a sign you’re a victim of poorly facilitated meetings. You could be the one leading it or attending, but that doesn’t matter. What matters is how you can move from unproductive to productive meetings.
Facilitation starts before you even enter the meeting room. I thought that facilitation was about enabling people to work together and achieving results during exchanges. Although that’s right, it oversimplifies the equation.
Good facilitation ensures the following:
Now, let’s talk about a few simple practices that can boost productivity and collaboration.
Unorganized and unstructured meetings will inevitably lead to confusion and kill your productivity and creativity. Apply the following rules to transform collaboration:
Facilitation is hard, but you can achieve great results. There are three main characteristics that dramatically improve facilitation:
Communication goes both ways.
One of the biggest challenges of communication is the perception of understanding. People often assume people understand them when they say something.
Active listening ensures both sides understand each other. A good facilitator carefully listens to the participants, then rephrases the core part of their message in a few words and waits for confirmation from the speaker. The paraphrasing is powerful because the speaker can review whether that was the message.
Good facilitators know when and how to ask questions that get the group on track. Let’s examine a simple example where the group is derailing from the agreed goal. How would you react to the following questions:
The first question will probably result in a “yes” without learning and not getting the group back on track. The second question might cause people to get defensive because “why” challenges people. And the third question will enable them to step back and reflect on the goal.
It’s critical to avoid closed questions and focus on open-ended ones. What and how questions tend to be more effective, and reformulating why questions with what and how questions will enable people to be reflective.
Groups are different and will need different things to keep engaged. A great facilitator will read the room and address it efficiently. Some common examples are:
Reading the room is important because it enables you to take decisive action to get the group back on track.
Mastering facilitation is an important tool for getting the most out of your product team. Like anything, effective facilitation takes practice, but if you keep this article in mind you’ll be well on your way to success. Remember the following key takeaways:
Featured image source: IconScout
LogRocket identifies friction points in the user experience so you can make informed decisions about product and design changes that must happen to hit your goals.
With LogRocket, you can understand the scope of the issues affecting your product and prioritize the changes that need to be made. LogRocket simplifies workflows by allowing Engineering, Product, UX, and Design teams to work from the same data as you, eliminating any confusion about what needs to be done.
Get your teams on the same page — try LogRocket today.
At its core, product lifecycle management (PLM) software is a tool designed to manage every aspect of a product’s lifecycle.
Scenario analysis is a strategic planning tool that helps you envision a range of possible future states and the forces behind them.
A fractional product manager (FPM) is a part-time, contract-based product manager who works with organizations on a flexible basis.
As a product manager, you express customer needs to your development teams so that you can work together to build the best possible solution.