Running vs Facilitating Meetings: The Key to Instantly Better Meetings

When it comes to meetings, many leaders and employees are accustomed to the traditional model of one person running the entire show. They think running and facilitating meetings are the same thing.

This post is part of our series on “Making Your Meetings Better”. See all the related posts here.

But what if there was a better way?

What if instead of running the meeting, you could facilitate it?

It may seem like a small change in vocabulary, but there’s a big difference between running and facilitating a meeting.

When running meetings, you’re in charge. You decide who talks and when, what topics get discussed, and how long the meeting will last. Your goal is to make sure everyone gets their points across, that the agenda is strictly adhered to, and that decisions are made.

When facilitating meetings, your role is to help everyone participate and come to a consensus. You’re not the one making the decisions. You’re there to ensure that everyone has an equal say. That all perspectives are considered. And ensure the best possible outcomes.

Running a meeting means you’re in charge – you make the decisions and call the shots.

Facilitating meetings means you’re responsible for making sure the meeting runs smoothly, but the participants are in control. So which one is better?

Running a Meeting

Let’s dig a little deeper into what “running a meeting” looks like.

You hear the phrase all the time. “Who’s going to run the meeting?” “Are you running this meeting?”

People assume the only way to have meetings is for someone to ‘run’ them.

When you run a meeting:

• You take a top-down approach by speaking the whole time, giving out directives, and quickly checking off items from the agenda
• You are not a neutral third party when running a meeting – you have a vested interest in the outcomes and so may (subconsciously) direct the discussion and outcomes to what you need, versus what the group may need
• You focus on just rigidly checking items off the agenda rather than ensuring the spirit of the intended outcomes is preserved

When running a meeting, the person controlling it may be more concerned with getting their own agenda and desired outcomes across than listening to the opinions of others. This can lead to an atmosphere of unequal power dynamics, where participants feel unheard or ignored and like their time is being wasted – why am I here if you already made a decision?

Also, taking a top-down approach when running a meeting can often lead to decisions being made too quickly, without allowing for different opinions and ideas to be heard. This can lead to decisions that are not well thought out or agreed upon by all participants, and can close the door on other possibilities.

What is Facilitating Meetings?

When we think about leading a meeting, we often think about taking control of the conversation and delivering information to our team members. Facilitating meetings requires taking a different approach; one that centers around listening rather than talking. The goal of facilitation is to provide an environment where others can express their ideas without fear or judgement while also maintaining focus on the task at hand.

As a facilitator, your role is to guide the process and let the participants hold the content. 

This means facilitating activities like brainstorming, problem solving, decision making, and conflict resolution. The facilitator does not take on the role of controlling the discussions but rather helps to ensure that the discussions are meaningful and focused on the outcome.

It requires active listening skills as well as creative problem-solving abilities to move conversations forward in a positive way when issues arise.

The Benefits of Facilitation

When done correctly, facilitation can be very beneficial in both personal and professional settings. It allows everyone to have their voices heard while also ensuring that conversations remain productive and focused on goals. Additionally, it encourages collaboration among members by creating an environment where everyone’s ideas are valued and appreciated. Finally, it facilitates more open communication by allowing participants to express their opinions without fear of retribution or judgment from colleagues or supervisors.

How to Facilitate Effectively

In order to facilitate effectively, you must be impartial and remain unbiased throughout the process.

You should not have a vested interest in the outcome.

It is essential that you keep an open mind while you listen to each person’s point of view in order that everyone’s opinion is not only heard, but also respected by other participants.

You focus on involving everyone in the conversation and working towards the best possible outcome. You use a variety of techniques to help keep the process on track and ensure that everyone has had equal opportunity to participate. This means helping people talk through their differences and find solutions that work for all parties.

More Efficient Use Of Time

Effective facilitators will keep track of time so that conversations don’t become rushed or bogged down due to limited time constraints.

When you facilitate a meeting, you’re able to get through much more material in less time because everyone is actively engaged and there are fewer opportunities for distractions or digressions that can derail progress.

Plus, since everyone has an equal stake in decision making, there’s less time wasted debating over mundane matters as well as less need for follow-up meetings after the fact since most issues will already have been resolved during your initial session together.

Responsibilities of a Meeting Facilitator

As a facilitator, you are responsible for:

• Setting the stage 
• Taking the time to create an informative meeting invite that explains the purpose and outcomes
• Creating an environment where participants feel comfortable sharing their ideas and opinions by promoting trust and collaboration
• Maintaining an inclusive approach to problem solving through active listening, curiosity, and engaging attendees

You should own the process and stay neutral on the content. It’s imperative that you remain as neutral as possible because if you start having ideas and opinions, who is guiding the ship? 

Establishing Ground Rules

When facilitating a meeting, it’s important to set ground rules for how conversations should take place so that everyone feels comfortable speaking up and offering their thoughts freely. The facilitator should help the group develop the ground rules. The entire group should then agree to abide by them before starting the discussion.

These ground rules should include expectations for respectfulness, kindness towards each other’s opinions, and staying focused on the topic at hand rather than getting caught up in tangents or debates. It is also important that there are consequences for those who do not abide by these rules so that everyone remains accountable for their actions during the meeting.

Establishing these rules ahead of time will help ensure that all participants are prepared for what is expected of them throughout the duration of the meeting.

Active Meeting Facilitation During the Discussion

Resist ‘cleaning up’ the participants’ words – use their words. By changing what the speaker has said, you’re disempowering them. This is why using sticky notes and having participants write for themselves is so powerful and important.

Listen! Facilitation is about more than just hearing the words. Listen for the moods, emotions, interactions, and general feel of the discussion. It’s just as important to hear what ISN’T being said as what IS. 

Use questions! As a facilitator you should not be making statements or telling the group things. You should be asking them questions to make them consider and answer for themselves.

Use follow up questions to dig deeper:

• What’s important about that?
• Tell me more
• What do you mean by that?
• What other items are related to that?
• What else?
• Where haven’t we looked?
• If you couldn’t fail, what would you do?
• Have you thought of ideas in ___ area?
• What are the benefits of ___ idea?

One thing to keep in mind is that a question may not mean much to you, but it might spark something in the participants that you don’t expect. So don’t anticipate their responses and filter your questions – ask anyway!

Follow up questions and prompts help to dig deeper, understand more broadly, or grow the awareness in the room. 

Encourage participants to ask questions also!

Finally, help ensure that all participants stay on task by gently redirecting conversations when necessary and refocusing attention back on the objectives of the meeting as needed.

Conclusion

Facilitating meetings instead of running them provides a space where everyone can participate equally without fear or judgement while still staying focused on reaching specific outcomes by its conclusion. It encourages collaboration among members while also allowing for more open communication without fear of judgement from colleagues or supervisors.

By setting ground rules ahead of time and actively listening throughout the conversation, you will be able to facilitate truly engaging discussions among your team members.

Remember:

• Neutrality
• Active listening
• Probing for further information
• Asking question vs making statements

In order for facilitation to be successful, one must remain impartial throughout the process while also maintaining an open mind towards others’ perspectives and opinions during the discussion period.

Facilitating meetings is an effective way to help your team work together collaboratively while still getting through important tasks efficiently and quickly. Not only does this create an atmosphere where everyone feels comfortable contributing their ideas but it also ensures that decision-making processes go by quickly with minimal disruptions or delays so that your team can stay focused on accomplishing its goals without wasting any precious time along the way.

By committing to facilitating instead of running meetings, leaders and employees will find themselves with better quality meetings overall–and better outcomes too!