Facilitating Successful Meetings

If effectively handled, meetings can be an opportunity to collectively solve problems, provide information, manage communication, and persuade customers.

Experts estimate managers spend 80% of their time in meetings or conducting meetings. This time represents companies’ significant investment of dollars and resources, often with questionable results. When overused and ineffectively facilitated, meetings become a tremendous waste of resources. If effectively handled, meetings can be an opportunity to collectively solve problems, provide information, manage communication, and persuade customers. Leaders who confidently facilitate successful meetings harness the one event that often has significant results riding on it–a meeting.

Your employees may need these skills if:

• Attendees are often unclear about meeting goals and arrive unprepared.
• Attendees are unsure of their roles and responsibilities during meetings.
• Meeting participants have difficulty coming up with solutions to problems and reaching agreements.
• Many employees don’t participate or are disruptive.
• Meetings end with no significant outcome or no follow-up plans.

Program Outcomes:

• Set clear meeting agendas, purposes, outcomes, and participant roles.
• Facilitate problem-solving sessions which develop multiple potential solutions.
• Handle attendees to be sure all are included and have an opportunity for input and using expertise.
• Narrow and select solutions which all stakeholders support.
• Set solid plans which turn meeting decisions into meaningful action.