What does the term “facilitate a business meeting” mean?
Facilitation is the technique or skill of organizing a business meeting. The person who facilitates a business meeting is someone in-charge of the meeting; it can even be a group that is in charge. Often the person in-charge of facilitating a business meeting is referred to as the “chairman” a nick name that represents a person in-charge of conducting such a meeting.
The chairman has a very important role, because facilitating the meeting properly can mean the difference between getting important points across, and a failure to communicate. A company that communicates poorly cannot succeed, so it is crucial that the chairman be able to organize the meeting in the most efficient and productive manner.
The Purpose for Business Meetings
A business meeting comes in different sizes and ends with different times, some are proposed in a room with an audience, some are proposed with use of modern and new technology such as the telephone, video, and even through the Internet. Though meetings can all be different, they all share the same purpose, which is to help improve a business.
A business meeting serves as a communication tool among the people gathered; it brings new ideas to the table to help improve the business, as it helps improve the organization by pointing the team in the right direction. A business meeting is a place where people gather together to debate an issue, issuing new ideas to form a solution.
Even though a business meeting is labeled a great tool to improve a business, if it is not facilitated well it can do the opposite to a business. What does it mean by the term opposite? Well think of it this way, if a business meeting where to be organized improperly, then the audience present at the meeting would certainly not benefit from the meeting, since the audience may have lost total interest when they realized the meeting was not properly organized.
If the audience or the participants loose their interest then it is most likely that after a while they stop paying attention, how then will the participants suggest ideas to improve the business or provide solutions to solve a business problem. Obviously the participant will not contribute to any improvements to the business throughout the meeting.
Many feel that meetings are a waste of time, when the meeting should have been considered productive. Others complain that the meeting is too long and dull for the fact that the meeting ended with no good clear point.
Ask yourself, how many times have I experienced meetings like these, where I am just wishing for it to come to an end? Without doubt we have all experienced meetings like these and unfortunately studies show that over 50% performed are considered unproductive. It is obvious that an organization wants the best for their company as it will benefit the team in the long run, but in order to have good, positive results you will want to know how to facilitate a meeting.
Meeting Facilitation Techniques
You always want to begin with preparing for a business meeting, that will be the first technique you will want to apply. When preparing a meeting you may identify the main purpose of the meeting, as you do not want your meeting to end with an unclear message due to the fact that you did not know the purpose of the meeting yourself.
If you decide you are going to have participants in your meeting you may want to choose them carefully ahead of time, as this would show professionalism to your invitation, allowing your participants to have sufficient amount of time to prepare.
Finally, when you prepare for a meeting, remember not to forget important details such as the setting of your meeting, what equipment is to be used, because this will help you know what room is best suitable for the amount of people invited to the meeting and will prevent loss of time searching for your tools at the last minute.
Make sure details about the meeting such as the place, time and date, is in everyone’s agreement with their schedule, this prevents any inconvenience to the participants. Make it clear to the participants of the meeting what is expected from them such as bringing a certain document; this prevents embarrassments among those who are participating. Be punctual, if you are not, you will certainly abuse the participant’s time if you keep them waiting.
Tend to base yourself off an agenda, it is organized and helps reduce time by making meetings kept short and effective, it will also prevent participants from missing any important information. Good personal hygiene as being present on time to the meeting is also a great tip since it shows professionalism. Without question the first key will be preparation and practice. Short term memory should not be a factor, simply base yourself off an agenda and you will have a reminder thoughout the meeting for whenever you have forgetful moments.
If you feel that you are the person that forgets what to say while conducting a meeting you should consider planning your meeting with the use of an agenda. If you base yourself off an agenda you will have a guide to remind you of important information that you feel should be released to the audience. An agenda is useful tool since it is organized and helps reduce time by making meetings kept short and effective as it prevent participants from missing any important information.
