Why use a facilitator?

Do these scenarios sound familiar?

You attend a meeting with a group of colleagues who are subject matter experts. All the expertise you could ever need to "throw at a problem" is in the room. Everyone has a strong opinion and a vested interest in the outcome. The discussion becomes heated, participants cut each other off, defend their own positions; things get personal and the issue remains unresolved or undecided. If there is a decision, it's a win-lose situation with negative residual effects.

OR, maybe this is more relevant to you

You attend a regularly scheduled meeting. There is no clear agenda. The leader begins the meeting 10 minutes late. People drift in and out. Some don't show up at all. The conversation gets off track. People are engaged in sidebar conversations, reading email or are otherwise distracted and distracting. You find yourselves having the same conversation you had the last time you met, even though you thought the issue had already been resolved. The people who left the last meeting with action items haven't done them...again. The meeting goes over the allotted time and nothing has been accomplished. And on and on and on.

If these scenarios are all too familiar for you, CBL can help by providing an experienced facilitator to help keep your expert team on task and on track.

An outside facilitator can help plan and run effective meetings so participants maximize the use of their meeting time and get the results you need.

Facilitators:

• Assist in the development, clarification, and buy in to common session goals and expectations
• Design an effective agenda
• Create a safe open environment
• Teach/coach around effective group communication skills
• Keep the conversation on track and focused
• Keep meeting members engaged and energized
• Encourage maximum participation
• Keep discussion to established time frames
• Identify potential roadblocks
• Ensure accountability
• Enable successful conflict resolution
• Challenge assumptions
• Observe and provide candid feedback about the process

Consider using a facilitator when:

• The team has no clear leader
• All participants need to focus on content vs. process
• There is conflict, expressed or not
• Trust is low
• The group often gets off track, misses deadlines, fails to make decisions
• There are difficult personalities or disruptive behavior
• Consensus must be reached
• Commitment is required
• Follow through needs to be assured
• The leader or other members have a strong vested interested in a particular position and are not open to considering differing points of view
• The team needs to be energized
• There is no one on the team who has an understanding of group process and/or facilitation expertise