4 Reasons You Really Need a Facilitator for your Important Meetings

Recently, I had a very close friend and colleague say something really interesting. As he was telling me his company did a retreat for 2024 planning, I asked him who facilitated it. Because he knows I’m a facilitator and coach, he responded, “Oh, Mitch. We didn’t use a facilitator. This wasn’t about the fun stuff. We had some serious work to do.”

Well, this person is still a beloved friend and colleague, but he really missed the point. Yes, I do team-building activities, and I often use creative, engaging approaches in my facilitation, but always in service of the business goals. I may even use games, toys, scented markers, and colored post-its to help spur creativity, imagination, and memory. I try to keep my “fun stuff” on brand and on business for my clients where possible – and to build on the team building and activities to move toward action items and next steps as much as possible.

(In other words, I hide the pill in peanut butter.)

When you’re having a meeting on a serious topic like 2024 planning or gaining momentum after a reorg – particularly a retreat as opposed to a 2-hour meeting – you really need a facilitator.

(Okay, it doesn’t have to be me, but it should be someone. ??)

Here are four reasons you need a facilitator:

1. Skill

Meeting facilitation is a skill – and it’s not necessarily a skill that comes with being a leader.

I recently facilitated an offsite for a small group of senior leaders. The exec in charge of the organization (a brilliant leader, btw) wanted to do a “kickoff” to start the meeting – a terrific idea to have the sponsor express gratitude, point the participants in the right direction, and start things out right. But he chose to do an impromptu ice-breaker activity of his own design that took 15 people 50 minutes to do and sucked much of the energy out of the group. I could have suggested or facilitated an effective, engaging ice-breaker activity in about 20 minutes – and one that would set the team up as an engaged group ready to tackle the challenging business discussions we were doing next.

It was a lost opportunity, for sure.

The best leader in the universe may very likely not be a skilled facilitator.

2. Structure

An offsite, retreat, or other meeting of any length requires some structure that a skilled facilitator can provide. This includes things like “linkage” – referencing previously discussed topics as they apply to current topics – and structuring the agenda so topics build and complement each other, like a cogent argument.

In addition, breaks and changes in activity types should be included in meetings of any length. These might include:

• Large-group discussions and activities
• Small-group discussions and activities
• Report-outs
• Deep-thinking time
• Active or moving-around time (at flipcharts or white boards, using post-its)
• Engaging activities that spur creative thinking
• Decision-making activities that sort through things and create order out of ideas
• Recaps
• Action items?

These aren’t “fun stuff” for fun’s sake – they’re proven, effective techniques to get participants approaching opportunities, problems, and challenges using all their creative juice and business acumen.

3. Power dynamics

Leaders who facilitate their own meetings are missing a crucial element in the room – an understanding of the power dynamics of the “boss” asking questions and listening for answers. Even if you tell the group you’re “not the boss” for now, you’re still the boss. That power dynamic doesn’t go away, and participants are often reluctant to offer dissenting opinions, new ideas, or challenges to the status quo to their leader.

Even if you’re the leader and you're in the room as a participant (which I highly recommend), some of the power dynamics are mitigated by having a neutral facilitator who can cultivate and/or farm for differing ideas and perspectives that may well be crucial for achieving the goals of the group.

4. Safety

A key role of a facilitator is to keep the room safe. That means allowing space and time for differing opinions and a structure for how people can disagree while maintaining respectful, professional behavior – and allowing everyone to leave on good terms so they can work with each other moving forward – both in the room and back at work after the meeting.

Qualified, experienced facilitators are able to be neutral, diplomatic, inclusive, and unbiased, and add enough business acumen to the conversation to keep it on track.

This often includes capturing off-topic subjects for later discussion, and questions that need to be answered, so your team can leave the meeting feeling like they accomplished something, their time was spent well, and there's little or nothing left by the wayside.

Summary

In short, if your meeting is important enough to warrant the expense of person-hours, a meeting room/facility, possible travel, meals, and more, it’s important enough to have someone facilitate it and make sure it runs smoothly and accomplishes your goals.

If you haven’t done your 2024 planning, it’s not too late. Contact me to talk about facilitation.

My services include:

• Expert facilitation in many environments, cultures, and business sectors
• Planning meetings with the leader to understand and clarify your goals
• Helping you plan the agenda (even parts I’m not facilitating)
• Providing my notes afterward
• Follow-up emails to the team (if you wish)
• A check-in meeting 60 or 90 days after the meeting

[email protected]

Wishing you a very happy new year!!!!