Facilitating with Ease!, 4th Edition

Chapter NineMeeting Management

One of the key facilitator roles is to know how to design and manage effective meetings. First, sensitize yourself to the ingredients of an ineffective meeting:

	___	lack of clarity about the meeting goal
___	a vague or nonexistent agenda
___	no time limits on discussions
___	no discernible process for working on important issues
___	no one facilitating discussions
___	people haven't done their homework
___	discussions that go off track or spin in circles
___	lack of closure to discussions before moving on
___	people vehemently arguing points of view rather than debating ideas
___	a few people dominating while others sit passively
___	meetings that end without detailed action plans for agreed next steps
___	absence of any process checking of the meeting as it unfolds
___	no evaluation at the end

At a bad meeting, there's no agenda. Because no one received advance warning about the focus of the meeting, no one comes prepared. The person running the meeting does not offer process tools for managing any of the discussions. He or she simply introduces topics and issues or gives updates of previous activities.

Since there's no discernable structure, conversations tend to float around. Individuals introduce side ...