It is true that the word “meeting” can have a certain negative connotation, especially if we talk about working in an environment where the type of vertical organization charts abound. However, there is a congratulation and that is that long before the pandemic, a group of facilitators set out to think and rethink ways to streamline meetings, so that work teams find in them a space for dialogue that is enjoyable, productive and, why not, fun.

8.30 - “Wow, how interesting this topic is, it is very useful”

8.35 - “I must be strong and stay calm”

8.40 - You start to pay attention to a 3 mm gap in the wall never seen before

8.45 - “Will I have unread messages?” (you think impatiently)

8.50 - You discover that your colleague next door is checking his email box

8.55 - Ready, you disconnected...

Raise your hand to anyone who has never had anything like this happen...

In this way we welcome the superheroes who make the impossible possible, with you ladies and gentlemen, the facilitators.

But who are they? Facilitators are agents of change who study the elements that contribute to boredom, frustration and low productivity within work meetings. In addition to this, they are responsible for convening work meetings, looking for the best ways to transform them into something extremely stimulating and fruitful. 

In other words, people who assume this role help groups to be more effective, enrich their ability to collaborate, resolve conflicts and make good decisions.

Effective facilitators fulfill - at least - 3 roles when working with their group:

• Architect: during the planning stage of meetings, they are responsible for gathering information about the group and its context, consulting with the client to clarify the purpose and expected results. Then, your task is to propose a design that you consider relevant to the group's requirements, such as creating an agenda with a solid but flexible structure based on results. It must have the capacity to adapt to situations that are beyond what is strictly probable.

• Pilot: in this second stage, the facilitator's mission is to verify the requirements of the meeting room, ensuring that everything is in perfect condition and that it has, at the same time, the necessary work material such as printed papers, a white board and colored mats. 

Likewise, this person is responsible for ensuring that the designated collaborators are properly prepared to fulfill their respective support roles. This is defining who is going to control the times or who is going to deal with technical issues that may arise, for example. 

While the meetings are in their first minutes, the role of facilitator fulfills the task of answering any kind of questions that exist regarding the project to be worked on. In line with this, another situation that this person should focus on is making behavioral corrections when required, or also monitoring the team's mood.

• Guide: in the second stage the facilitator seeks not only to check that each element is in its place, but also to act as a pacifier of discouragement and misunderstandings during the meetings. It is very common for work teams to feel vulnerable to change and to have fears when undertaking challenges that involve landing in unknown territories. That is why the figure of this guide is of vital importance to be able to transmit confidence, especially when decision-making is inevitable.

X-ray of the best meetings

It is common for meetings to be a waste of time and energy for those who were invited to participate in a project. To reverse this pattern of behavior in any organization, leaders need to have the mindset and competencies of a process facilitator. A leader who recognizes that everyone's contribution is needed to be effective is a professional who will know how to plan meetings, where collective intelligence is the catalyst for solutions to new challenges.

Facilitation requires a set of technical and soft skills that can easily be trained during meetings:

• Define the purpose of the meeting  

• Design a agenda oriented to results  

• Reach agreements on how the group will work together  

• Encourage the participation of all team members  

• Be genuinely open to the ideas of others  

• Identify and positively transform the conflict  

• Dealing with “difficult participants”  

• Clarify next steps, assign topics for action  

• Carry out the decision-making process  

• Conduct the evaluation of the group process