2005_apr

april 2005

My last newsletter about effective meetings struck a chord with many readers. Guess we've all sat through too many frustrating and unproductive meetings! Your interest has prompted me to develop a workshop on the topic. This will be conducted as a public course or offered in-house. Are your meetings as effective as they should be?

Still on the topic of effective meetings, this newsletter looks at some of the techniques and tools that can be used in meetings. It is important that the facilitator knows the techniques and tools, their purposes, how and why they work, and how to use them appropriately.

Meeting Techniques and Tools

Brainstorm - the purpose is to encourage creative thinking and generate a large number of ideas. This technique is one of the best known but is used incorrectly often. These rules should be applied:

encourage free thinking and participation
no criticism or judgements
no interruptions - one speaker at a time
no side discussions
treat everyone with respect
don't focus on the details
feel free to build on the ideas of others.

Affinity Diagram - is used to gather ideas, opinions, issues and organise and prioritise them by sorting into 'clusters'. There is an emphasis on the steps being conducted in silence so participants have time to reflect. Here's how it works:

use the information from a brainstorm session or have individuals generate their own ideas
one idea, issue or concept is written on a sticky note; be concise
display sticky notes on board or table; everyone should be able to see them
participants move the sticky notes around, grouping those that are 'related' in some way
if someone disagrees with the placement if a note, they move it
create header cards which capture the idea or concept of the 'cluster'
participants discuss the clusters and how they are interrelated.

PMI - a simple tool for making decisions. The participants consider the 'Plus', 'Minus' and 'Interesting' points about an alternative or action.

1:2:4 Group Technique (sometimes called "Think, Pair, Share") - a decision making process that allows participants to reflect and contribute to a group consensus. The steps are:

facilitator poses a question
participants record their responses individually; about three ideas each are required
pairs are formed; each participant reads his/her responses; note duplicate ideas; aim is for partnership to agree on maximum of four points
pairs then form groups of four; process of listening, duplicating and negotiating is repeated; aim is to produce maximum of five points from the group
facilitator records one idea from each group, avoiding repetition, until list is complete.

Carousel - a process for gathering ideas and collecting information. This effective tool enables a group to address a question or issue by building on others' responses and ideas.

How it works....

facilitator writes question, concept or idea as a heading on chart paper; one focus per page
pages are positioned around room
pairs begin at a 'station' and write their responses on paper
this is a fast-moving activity; facilitator gives signal after a minute or two to move to next paper; in carousel fashion, all pairs move to next 'station'
new pair continues to add to notes of previous pair, once again given short time to respond
facilitator decides number of rotations based on group size and number of 'stations'
important that pairs return to their original paper to see how other pairs have contributed to their responses.

Make your next meeting more effective by employing one or more of these processes.

"Kerrie is a very clear and effective facilitator. She is well versed in her subject matter - an expert!"

"The course is fantastic. I learned a lot from observing her communication skills."

"Kerrie is a very enthusiastic presenter who makes it interesting. The course is excellent and the time went quickly."

"The course was worthwhile, informative, enriching and challenging. It reinforces the skills we have and refines new ones."

"This is an excellent course and Kerrie has an excellent presentation style. It was presented in a totally different way from what I expected."

"I enjoyed the course - there was more to it than I thought. I felt I came away with a lot in only one day."

Comments following a workshop on "Personal and Professional Communication"

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