I’ve always considered expertise in group facilitation one of the keys to stellar team performance.
That’s easy to see. Whether it’s a brainstorming session, a strategic workshop, or simply an exploratory discussion, meetings driven by great facilitators produce the best outcomes.
But how can you, as the leader of a group, ensure there’s proper facilitation?
Should you handle it or let someone else do it?
Earlier in my career, I thought that as the leader, I was the best positioned to drive and facilitate my team’s meetings.
After all, I was pretty familiar with the dynamics and personalities within the group. I could use this knowledge to guide the conversations more effectively. I was accountable, ensuring the discussion remained focused and productive.
All this should have led to moving the discussion forward more quickly than relying on someone less familiar with my team.
Or so I thought!
Soon enough, some team members became wary of my facilitation. They disengaged, and I started to wonder:
Was I pushing my agenda and prioritizing my ideas over everyone else’s?
Was I limiting the group’s ability to develop more creative or innovative solutions, especially when we were handling complex problems?
Did the power dynamics start to discourage honest, open discussion and debate?
So, one day, I brought Sonia to the discussion table. She was an external consultant and had a great experience in group facilitation.
What a difference she made!
Sonia helped ensure that our discussions would stay on track, with everyone’s voice heard, and smoothly-run meetings.
As I kept learning from Sonia and watched in awe how her facilitation skills transformed our team dynamics, I realized she excelled in the following four areas:
#1 – Sonia knew her facilitator’s role and stuck to it
Facilitating is guiding the team with intent. Sonia came with a clear agenda and knew how to set expectations. She helped everyone in the room understand what they were up to and how to best contribute to the discussion.
#2 – Sonia acknowledged she wasn’t the smartest person in the room
Sonia’s added value came from unearthing knowledge and ideas from the people in the room. She knew how to stay humble and leverage the expertise of others in the room. She would not hesitate to ask questions when unclear and systematically reformulated the critical ideas generated with simple words.
#3 – Sonia could read the room better than anyone else
She knew how to make people feel heard by acknowledging their thoughts and not shutting them down. Sonia excelled at calling on people and making everyone participate. And when a conversation went sideways, she would graciously “parking lot” the idea. Sonia would elegantly diffuse bad vibes while elevating positive contributing thoughts.
#4 – Sonia was – incredibly – patient
It’s unavoidable: for great ideas to gel, the creative process is going to call for some meandering When we all felt stuck, she would always come up with something unexpected, leading us into a sidebar activity to free our minds and help us regain some perspective. It took longer than a more directive approach but opened up new avenues and creative solutions.
I learned a lot from Sonia, and when I moved to another company, I started to apply some of these lessons myself.
It helped me become a more robust facilitator. However, there were still specific topics, especially more complex strategic workshops or cross-functional group activities, where I couldn’t beat the talent of a great external facilitator.
If you wonder too how to facilitate your group meetings best, make sure you bring in a talented external facilitator to some of them. It will give you better outcomes and pave the way for you and your team members to become strong facilitators.
That facilitation skill will always serve you well.