Tips for Facilitating Groups or Meetings

Prepared by Vicki Stasch, Management Consultant

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Facilitator/Leader’s Role

• Establish and adhere to a time line
• Be a neutral person for the group
• Listen and clarify issues within the group
• Listen twice as much as you talk-your role is to engage and direct the people not to tell or talk
• Solicit input from everyone
• Discourage domineering or judgmental behavior
• Keep the discussion flowing and on focus
• Offer your input at the end/at the beginning only if the group is struggling

Monitor Role

• Helps facilitator by reminding of time lines
• Signals the group when ground rules are violated-ground rules are posted
• Reminding the facilitator when everyone has not had input
• Is a second set of eyes and ears to insure the meeting flows well

Tips for Facilitating

• Arrive early to set up room and materials, post the agenda and to greet people.
• Always have writing boards/markers. A lap top computer helps.
• Start session on time with introductions, purpose of session, agenda review and clarifying your role.
• Set or review ground rules or code of conduct with the group plus the mechanism to monitor
• To start a discussion, write a question(s) on a board and ask the group in pairs to respond.
• Use small group discussions (3-7 people) to get everyone participating.
• Use structured Brainstorming to gather a lot of information quickly: go around room asking for each person’s brief ideas which are recorded
• Use consensus building to get everyone’s agreement on a decision, outcome. Consensus is “we can live with this”, not necessarily “we all agree”
• Have group members write prior to verbal discussion: post-it notes, 3x5 cards, on posted paper pads.
• Use video tape(s) as a tool to get group focused
• To manage the long-winded or domineering members, refer to ground rules or ask them to summarize in ten words or less.
• To involve the silent members, use small groups or pairings.
• To get everyone’s input, pose the question then move “round robin” around the room asking for each person’s input in 20 words (or 1 minute each).

Meeting Follow up

• Keep notes of the actions and agreements with dates assigned
• Address unresolved issues and agendize for next meeting
• Summarize or offer meeting closure
• Ask participants about what worked and did not
• Insure notes or minutes are distributed