Are you getting ready to lead your team out of Lockdown?
The 4 Warning Signs that you need Facilitation Training
You find that you are doing most of the talking in meetings
Meetings go off track and never seem to achieve any outcomes
The same people always speak up or come up with the ideas
Actions never seem to get completed and time is wasted chasing and re-explaining
As an experienced facilitator currently leading teams out of lockdown, I see the value and impact that facilitation training and techniques can have.
With the restrictions around the world slowly beginning to ease many leaders have understandably been wondering how their teams will adapt, survive and ideally, thrive as they emerge from lockdown and step out from behind their ‘zoom zones’.
Many leaders I have been working with are very conscious that everyone’s experience of working from home has been different: some have enjoyed the experience, found their flow and become more productive and even achieved a healthier work life balance. Whereas, others have missed ‘office life’ and the buzz of being around their colleagues as well as the quick and easy ‘watercooler conversations’ that make them feel that they ‘belong’.
Effective meetings can really help you get your teams to where you want them to be, build relationships, create useful conversations and deliver results …but these types of meetings do not happen by accident! When facilitation skills are part of a leaders toolkit meetings become more productive, more inclusive and start to feel like a good use of everyone’s time.
Many leaders spend too much of their time in unproductive meetings and have told me that they are in so many ‘back to back’ meetings, they often don’t have the time to actually ‘do the job’ (or even worse, they have to stay late to catch up on the ‘real’ work tasks).
When leaders are busy and under ‘time pressure’ they often miss some of the essential warning signs that their meetings aren’t working, and even start to accept the headaches, frustrations and grumbles that come from unproductive meetings as the norm .
Here are a few warning signs our clients have shared:
- You’re doing all the talking: That feeling when you realise you’ve held court for the full hour. Why didn’t anyone else have anything to add? Why did they leave you to fill the gaps again?
- Meetings go off track and never seem to achieve any outcomes: The ‘here we go again’ moment, when a few familiar faces de-rail things for half an hour, leaving confusion in their wake and leaving you further from your plan than when you started.
- The same people always come up with the ideas: Walking out of work again thinking ‘why is it always me and Steve that come up with the ideas?” Oh and by the way, as it was your idea, it’s now your action too!
- Actions never seem to get completed: The creeping, sinking feeling that sweeps the room as week by week the same actions tick over and everyone shares more apologies and excuses.
If anyone can relate to the above examples, heading home feeling frustrated and like you’ve been pulling teeth, then it’s time to make a change. I believe that by through facilitation training people can:
- Develop techniques to create engagement and buy-in, creating accountability and getting actions over the line
- Learn tactics to draw ideas and inputs out of different team members and keep inputs relevant, positive and timely
- Create Flexible Formats and meeting shortcuts that you can take into any session, cross site
- Become confident understanding people and group dynamics and adapting to get the results needed
Equipping employees and leaders with good facilitation skills can help businesses spot these warning signs a mile off and give the individuals the tools and tactics to avoid the traps, come out of lockdown more confidently and create a great working environment.
