Home Self Improvement Meeting Facilitation: How to Make It Engaging

Meeting Facilitation: How to Make It Engaging

Many people are asked to facilitate meetings and dread doing so. They worry the meetings won’t be engaging, as they have sat through plenty of boring ones. What best practices and techniques can make the meetings engaging?

Choose the Right Setting

Compare business meeting venues to find one that is welcoming. If people are uncomfortable, they won’t pay attention to the material being presented or participate in the discussions. They will focus on counting down the minutes until the meeting ends.

Find the Right Level of Assertiveness

Business meeting facilitators must be assertive but cannot cross the line into aggressiveness. People will avoid someone aggressive because they don’t feel psychologically safe. If participants feel at ease with the meeting facilitator, they will engage in the meeting, work to solve problems, and collaborate.

Have an Agenda

An agenda keeps the meeting on track while setting guidelines. Without an agenda, a meeting will probably run over, which participants don’t appreciate. This agenda is necessary regardless of the number of participants.

Establish Ground Rules

Participants need guidelines to be productive. Set simple ground rules that keep people engaged and on track. The main premise of the rules is respect.

Take Meeting Minutes

Always take meeting minutes so that participants can reference them later. Use tools to simplify the process. Look for tools that allow collaboration between meeting attendees, save templates so they don’t need to be recreated each meeting, and assign action items.

Parking Lots

When someone says using parking lots during a meeting, they aren’t telling the meeting facilitator to take participants outside. When a meeting goes off-topic, set the topic aside and return to it later. Do the same when the conversation keeps getting off track. Parking lots keep participants focused and on track.

Encourage Participation

Every participant should have the opportunity to be heard in a meeting. Some people tend to dominate meeting conversations. The facilitator needs to draw everyone in and let them have their say. Inclusive meetings lead to happy participants. Leading questions are an excellent way to prompt meaningful discussions.

Read the Room

A meeting facilitator must read the room and change tactics when people appear to be checking out. They must also pay attention to participants’ energy levels and body language. When several attendees appear distracted or uncomfortable, changes should be made to bring them back into the discussion. Ask them for their opinion or request input on their area of expertise. The facilitator must determine what each participant needs to feel comfortable and succeed.

Takeaways

Every meeting facilitator must summarize the takeaways. Doing so helps the facilitator track critical insights and action items. It also serves as a way for those who weren’t at the meeting to catch up. Furthermore, the key takeaways can be referenced if a participant wants to refresh their mind about what was said. They will be reminded of important points made during the meeting, significant announcements, and action items.

These tips and tricks can benefit any facilitator. Those who are new to this role can confidently run their first meeting. Fortunately, they work for meetings of any size. A person can quickly run a one-on-one meeting or facilitate one with many participants. Try them today to see how they make any meeting run smoother. Participants will look forward to the next meeting because they know their time won’t be wasted.