Boost Your Product Innovation through Catalyst Workshops (1 of 3)

Boost Your Product Innovation through Catalyst Workshops (1 of 3)

by | Nov 4, 2021 | Facilitation Skills, Leadership Skills, Meeting Structure, Meeting Support

This article prepares you with a workshop approach, including the method and tools you can use to increase product innovation in your workshops — to speed up product development based on structuring the voice of your customer. If you have suggestions about how we can improve this or other Best Practices, please reply or contact us at (630) 954-5880, or by email at info@mgrushfacilitation.com.

PRODUCT INNOVATION RESULTS

Below you’ll find the guiding principles, structure, theory, and practical advice for leading product innovation results in your organization. We hope you beg, borrow, steal, and modify heavily from our benchmark method called Product Concept Management (Catalyst). Catalyst is our method for clarifying the “fuzzy front-end” in product development. The “fuzzy front-end” represents the time and space between a thought (problem or solution) and the transformation into action by first converting the thought into a tangible concept.

What is a new product “idea”?

Five Elements for a complete product Idea for product innovation We are defining a thought as only a fragment of an idea. To have a complete idea to develop a new product with the Catalyst technique requires five elements. We’ll cover them in greater detail in our next article (part 2 of 3). For now, the five fragments include:

  1. Statement of the problem, pain, want, or improvement that needs to be solved
  2. Description of the solution that creates value including some of the technical descriptions and functional specifications
  3. Explanation of the customer’s options, choices, and competitive alternatives
  4. An estimation of how large the solution or opportunity is measured by currency over time
  5. Narrative description of the value proposition created by the new product idea — both economic and emotional benefits

Prerequisites

The prerequisites for developing and applying product innovation within your organization are few but important:

  • Desire to improve the quality and quantity of new product ideas emerging from your organizational network
  • Desire to improve the new product lifecycle by increasing the quality and reducing costs by structuring valuable new product ideas
  • Hunger to reduce the waste from lost and abandoned new product ideas
  • Desire to increase the enthusiasm, productivity, and creativity of your new product “ideators”
  • Desire to “win” in the market, win with your employees and colleagues, and win by increasing the wealth of your company.

PRODUCT INNOVATION WORKSHOPS

We recommend the use of facilitated workshops that bring stakeholders, thought leaders, and implementors together with key designers and planners, under the guidance of professional facilitators. The network of individuals required in the analysis, design, and implementation of new products can be overwhelming. The guidance of a trained professional facilitator in Catalyst, new product development, and voice-of-the-customer assures the highest integrity with this proven method that should be adapted to your organization when seeking to support your mission and objectives.

Product Innovation

Catalyst Product Innovation Method

The Catalyst product innovation approach provides substantial benefits (when compared to traditional interviewing and internal team analysis and design):

  • Early leadership involvement
  • Early customer (user and owner) involvement in the evolution of the design
  • Business analysis that reflects a broad understanding of the market as well as the intricacies of each segment, technology, and economic climate as appropriate
  • Sharing and socialization of intent about strategic direction, product development capabilities, and supply and demand chain structure and value, thus creating stronger group and individual ownership
  • Common commitment to persisting in the design of the process through to completion

Within MG Rush, workshops are more than just a generic term. Each workshop aims to achieve specific results and to further the design and implementation method through a structured sequence. This article guides you when planning, conducting, facilitating, and managing the design and implementation of product innovation results by applying a flexible structure.

WHEN SHOULD INNOVATION RESULTS WORKSHOPS BE USED?

We recommend that workshops be used in situations guided primarily by

  1. The number of participants,
  2. The complexity of the market and product information,
  3. Disparity (or diversity) of participant backgrounds and knowledge, and
  4. The visibility desired for the design process.

The basic structure for the sequence of product innovation workshops is:

  1. Orientation & Planning
    1. Business Purpose
    2. Design Process
    3. Catalyst NPD (New Product Development) Introduction
    4. Team Building and Optimization
    5. Design and Workshop Protocols
    6. Process Schedule
    7. Workshop Approach & Structure
  2. Internal Situation
    1. Focusing
    2. Visioning
    3. Business Requirements
    4. Organization Structure
    5. Product Inventory
    6. Product Commercialization Process
    7. NPI (New Product Ideas) and NPD Experiences and Lessons Learned
    8. Organizational Best Practices
  3. External Situation
    1. Market Strategy(ies)
    2. Customer Segmentation
    3. Sales and Service Channel Structure & Performance
    4. Competitor Behavior
  4. Process Design
  5. Implementation Design
  6. Measurement, Monitoring, and Control

WHEN SHOULD WORKSHOPS NOT BE USED?

Workshops should not be used when:

  1. There is only one business user;
  2. The available participants do not understand the business, typically due to inexperience overall, inexperience in their function, or inexperience within the Organization;
  3. Participants are not able to garnish resources to support the function of self-organizing teams;
  4. Commitment to the design outcome is not clear from necessary senior management, including the lack or availability of resources to implement;
  5. Lack of availability of participants’ time, facilities, or the inability to complete tasks and assignments;

CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS

Here are the factors critical to the success of your workshops and to the completion of product innovation results:

  1. Appropriate facilities
  2. Belief in the relevance of the organization’s mission and initiatives
  3. Experienced and prepared facilitator or facilitation team
  4. Focus on design (initially) and less on implementation
  5. Management commitment
  6. Participants with knowledge, availability, interest, and availability
  7. Time and resources for preparation, task and assignment completion, session attendance, and follow-up

(WHEN) SHOULD PRODUCT INNOVATION WORKSHOPS BE USED INSTEAD OF WORK SESSIONS?

The Catalyst design typically requires a multi-functional, stratified team and is thus most often best served by workshops. However, work sessions are an acceptable substitute when:

  1. Are less formal, but no less disciplined in analysis, information exchange, and documentation.
  2. The work session involves a few participants
  3. The work session involves participants from a particular discipline
  4. The workgroup is focused on a narrow issue(s) and is working in support of the broader design-team objectives
  5. There are logistical (such as geographic distance) issues that are best served by discrete teams working apart from the general group
  6. Work product, including deliberations, notes, and input information, can be reasonably summarized and disseminated to the broader NPD design team – and reported on during workshop sessions

PRODUCT INNOVATION RESULTS TECHNIQUES

For each workshop during product innovation design, and for each step in the workshop agenda, decide on the particular technique to support the appropriate introduction, discussion, and completion of the agenda item. Workshop tools supporting product innovation include:

SESSION LEADER RESPONSIBILITIES

A successful product innovation method depends on the effectiveness of the person assigned as the facilitator – for team management, workshop management, and content delivery. The assignee is more than a facilitator; they are also the quality control officer for the NPD design process. Successful workshops require special support and a special temperament from the facilitator. Participants must feel comfortable, valued, safe, respected, and motivated if they are to contribute fully to the overall Catalyst design during each workshop session. Their motivation will continue over to the assigned tasks when they feel that their efforts will be valued when returning back to the team in subsequent workshops. The facilitator’s role requires the following responsibilities to gain participants’ respect, following, trust, and cooperation:

  • Be flexible to meet clients’ schedules
  • Behave without ego, and be non-defensive
  • Demonstrate respect for each individual, be fair in dealing with each participant, and in the interplay between participants
  • Facilitate group consensus, while seeking the best overall output
  • Monitor session agenda and time constraints
  • Provide an environment for each participant to have an opportunity to contribute
  • Provide for document exchange of the inputs, in-workshop work product, and post-work product follow-up, including workshop notes, assignments, and agenda
  • Remain open and self-disclosing
  • Seek and work with the sponsor(s) to provide continuous commitment
  • Stick to the agreed-upon plan regarding deliverables, scope, timing, and MG Rush Facilitation stipulated leadership responsibilities (in and out of the workshops)

FACILITATOR TECHNIQUES SUPPORTING PRODUCT INNOVATION

Conducting successful product innovation workshops requires a combination of skills, techniques, and content knowledge. A successful facilitator requires high, sustained energy, intense concentration, and a good disposition. A sense of humor is useful, too. A facilitator is non-defensive, absorbs barbs of all descriptions, and stays focused on the challenge of delivering on the objectives of the workshop and goals of the product overall. There are many skills and tools used by skilled, successful facilitators. A few are mentioned below but are not intended to be a comprehensive inventory. Other techniques may evolve outside of the view of our Best Practices for Catalyst and product innovation and may also be useful for you.

FACILITATOR SKILLS

  • Ask and give clarification
  • Avoid ambiguity
  • Be alert to differences in information as provided and information as received
  • Document, clarify, and expand the information exchanged in the workshop
  • Explain the structure behind the flow
  • Identify, communicate, and demonstrate decision-making methods
  • Legitimize participants’ comments and contributions
  • Practice active listening
  • Provide “structural flex” and adapt the task, workshop, and overall process as needed
  • Provide traceability – Adopt a retrospective perspective, that is, construct plans and documentation so that they are understood in the present and in hindsight
  • Recognize opportunities to intervene – Be prepared to prevent or change an activity or event to improve the quality or productivity of the workshop procedures.
  • Use guiding questions; provide sample answers from a metaphor or analogy

Examples of Preventions to Secure Innovation Results

  • Confirm agreement on purpose, scope, deliverables, and agenda
  • Follow-up workshops with accurate and comprehensive documentation
  • Involve and utilize client workshop experts (such as trained facilitators, Product Owners, and Master Black Belts)
  • Pre-determine work groups and breakout teams
  • Prepare materials in advance
  • Provide advance information to inform, educate, and normalize participants’ knowledge
  • Respect client protocols, practices, and workshop traditions
  • Utilize subject matter experts to leverage outside (of the workshop) knowledge to the benefit of the workshop participants

Examples of Interventions to Secure Innovation Results

  • Observe and reverse retreats or aggression by participants. Most people have a “primary style” of discussion, debate, and persuasion, however, when a person’s primary style is ineffective (that is, they feel challenged, frustrated, or embarrassed), that person will often retreat into a secondary style that is either aggressive or sullen.
  • Prevent attacks on an individual or organizations, including those not participating in the workshop. Work to inhibit attacks and, in particular, abuse during the workshop on any participant or group. As necessary: physically move between speaker and target of any “attack”; or, interrupt attacks by calling for a break, or attention back to the agenda, or summarize a key point; or, turn the situation with appropriate humor.
  • Some comments or questions are unclear to all but the speaker. Restate comments or questions that you perceive as unclear by one or more of the participants. If appropriate, ask the speaker to clarify their comment or question without embarrassing the speaker or recipients.
  • Watch for impatience with progress during the agenda. Periodically, highlight the progress made during the workshop by physically indicating the current agenda item and upcoming items. Remind participants of the important progress made during the day and workshop, especially during transitions.

PART 2 OF 3

In our next article, we’ll provide the product innovation workshop design support tools and work products for the Catalyst method (or other NPD phases), such as:

  • Facilitating Internal Environment Assessment
  • Facilitating External Environment Assessment
  • Converting Ideas Into Product Concepts
  • Consensual and Co-Owned Implementation

 

In a world where everyone can engage in decisions that affect them

______

Lead the Change—One Meeting at a Time

Are you ready to transform how decisions are made, problems are solved, and alignment is built in your organization?

True meeting leadership goes beyond setting an agenda. It requires a facilitator who can navigate complexity, balance voices, and drive toward outcomes with clarity and consensus. Our Professional Meeting Leadership Workshop and facilitation training equips you to do just that—blending human-centric methods with structured analytical tools to foster rigor, inclusivity, and results that stick.

  • Practice live.
  • Get expert feedback.
  • Build confidence that lasts.

Whether your meetings suffer from unclear objectives, disengaged participants, or decision fatigue, this workshop will help you identify the root causes, apply proven facilitation techniques, and emerge as the leader every team needs.

Take the first step today—transform your meetings and magnify your impact.

👉 Click here to reserve your seat now.

#facilitationtraining #meetingdesign

Because every meeting should be a catalyst for change—not just another calendar event.

______

And earn up to 40 professional development credits with our facilitation training.

  • CDUs (IIBA)
  • CLPs (Federal Acquisition)
  • PDUs (SAVE International)
  • SEUs (Scrum Alliance)
  • 4.0 CEUs (General Professions)

______

With Bookmarks no longer a feature in WordPress, we provide the following for your benefit and reference.

______

Meeting Preparation – How to Quickly Prepare Meetings for Results

Meeting Preparation – How to Quickly Prepare Meetings for Results

by | Oct 12, 2021 | Meeting Agendas, Meeting Structure, Meeting Support

Activities and Basic Agenda Approach for Meeting Preparation

In an ideal world, you have ample time for meeting preparation. But in the real world, you’re swamped. Too much work, too many meetings, not enough time. What you need is a quick reference for building your agenda steps, and that’s what we’ve provided below, along with some additional scripting that supports facilitation training.

Optimally, you also have time to get your participants prepared. So, we’ve added some bonus material on conversational questions you might use for your meeting preparation. Chapter references below are from the new facilitator’s guide, “Meetings That Get Results.”

Quick Reference Guidelines: Nine Activities for Your Meeting Preparation

Use the following guidelines for every significant meeting you lead. Below you’ll find the requisite Introductory and Wrap activities to lead these meetings.

  1. Codify the purpose and scope of the meeting: What project or product are you supporting? Stipulate what the project or product is worth in currency and FTP (full-time person): Why is it important? How much money or time is at risk if we fail?
  2. Articulate the deliverables: What specific content represents the output of the meeting and satisfies what DONE looks like? What is your analogy for explaining it? Who will use it after the meeting?
  3. Identify known and unknown information: What are the goals and objectives of the organization, business unit, department, program, product, or project? What information is needed to support activities that will fill the gaps?
  4. Draft Basic Agenda Steps: Compose a series of steps from experience or other proven approaches that would be used by experts to build the plan, make the decision, solve the problem, or develop the information and consensus necessary to complete your deliverable and get DONE. See “Meetings That Get Results” for frequently used agendas.

—Gestation—

Nine activities for your meeting preparation

When possible, sleep on it. Go back and review your meeting purpose, scope, deliverables, and Basic Agenda to ensure it will yield the deliverables you need to get DONE.

  1. Review Basic Agenda for logical flow: Walk through the Agenda Steps with someone else to confirm that they will produce the desired results. Link your analogy to each of the Agenda Steps. Rehearse your explanation of the white space, why the steps exist, how they relate to each other, and how they support the deliverable to get DONE.
  2. Identify meeting participants: Determine the optimal subject matter expertise you require, the meeting participants who can provide the information required or both. Share the meeting purpose, scope, deliverables, and Basic Agenda and invite them to the meeting.
  3. Detail the procedures to capture the information required: Gather and assemble specific questions that need to be addressed. Time permitting, consider including questions for which subject matter experts are also seeking answers. Sequence the questions optimally. Build yourself an Annotated Agenda that focuses on the appropriate Tools, methods, and activities to produce the information for each agenda step.
  4. Perform a walk-through with business experts, executive sponsors, project team members, and anyone else who will listen to you (grandmothers are good for this and you might get a delicious, home-cooked meal).
  5. Refine: Make changes suggested or developed from your walk-through, edit your final Annotated Agenda, firm up your artifacts, fill out your glossary, complete your slides, distribute your handouts, and rehearse.

Quick Reference: Basic Agenda Framework

Use this Launch and Wrap for every meeting—whether your meeting lasts 50 minutes or multiple days.[1]

Launch or Introduction (chapter 5): 

  1. Introduce yourself: stress neutrality, meeting roles, and quantify the impact.
  2. State the meeting purpose and get an agreement.
  3. Confirm the meeting scope and get an agreement.
  4. Show the meeting deliverables and get an agreement.
  5. Cover the “administrivia” (for example, safety moment); have the attendees introduce themselves.
  6. Walk through the meeting agenda (preferably using an analogy).
  7. Explain the Ground Rules (Chapter 4), emphasizing duty (fiduciary responsibility).

Middle Agenda Steps (Chapters 6, 7, and 8): 

Insert an Annotated Agenda that details activities and procedures for each Agenda Step and include:

    • Agenda Step name
    • Deliverable from each Agenda Step
    • Estimated time for each Agenda Step
    • Purpose scripting for each Agenda Step (and analogy)
    • Procedure for each Agenda Step (tools, methods, questions)
    • Graphical support required (such as legends, screens, definitions, and so on)
    • Closure scripting for each Agenda Step (and analogy)

Wrap or Conclusion (chapter  5):

  1. Review the final output and deliverable: Restate or summarize what the group got DONE.
  2. Parking Lot (Open Items): Assign responsibility and detail how the group can expect to be updated.
  3. Guardian of Change: Determine what meeting participants agree to tell their superiors and other stakeholders about what happened or what was accomplished during the meeting.
  4. Continuous Improvement: Use Scale It, Plus/ Delta, Where Are You Now or a more comprehensive meeting and facilitator assessment form.

Structuring Meeting Preparation with Mindful Conversations

The time it will take you to prepare the Agenda Steps between Launch and Wrap takes longer than the meeting itself. Plan on a ratio of preparation time to meeting time of 2:1 or 3:1 (or more) to thoroughly prepare yourself and others. For online meetings, experts suggest to double that amount of time. For standard 50-minute meetings, allow at least another 50 minutes to organize, invite, and prepare. A few hours may be more prudent if you are seeking exceptional results.

Conversations with Participants

Optimally you will speak with participants in advance to learn about them, the people they work with, and their pain points. For workshops, allow 15 to 30 minutes for one-on-ones. Meet face-to-face when permitted, or at least by videoconference, so that you establish eye contact before facilitating them in a meeting.

Sequence of Conversations

In sequence, meet the executive sponsor, business partners, project team, stakeholders, and meeting participants. Conduct conversations privately and assure participants that their responses will be kept confidential.

Objectives of Conversations

These conversations have the following aims:

  • Familiarize yourself with each subject matter expert’s role and competencies
  • Confirm who should, or should not, attend and why
  • Help participants show up better prepared to contribute
  • Identify potential issues, hidden agendas, and other obstacles
  • Transfer ownership of the meeting output, beginning with the meeting purpose, scope, and deliverables

Mindful Questions to Ask

For structured, stress-tested, and well-sequenced questions, use the ones below. Begin by explaining your role and asking for permission to take notes.[2] Use the following open-ended questions, sit back, and listen—discover the participant’s value and the value added by the participant to the initiative you are supporting.

Get to know participants’ subject matter expertise and attitude toward workshops with openers like “Tell me, what do you do?” and “What has worked for you in the past?” Then continue with questions in this sequence:

  • What do you expect from the session?
  • Who or what will make the meeting a complete failure?
  • What should the output look like?
  • What problems do you foresee?
  • Who should attend the meeting? Who should not? Why?
  • What is going to be my biggest obstacle?
  • Does the deliverable and agenda make sense to you?
  • Will you silence your “electronic leashes?”
  • What questions do you think we should answer?
  • What should I have asked that I didn’t ask?

The precision and sequence of the questions are important. They are all open-ended. They help manage “right-to-left” thinking; i.e., ‘expect’ and ‘output.’ Next, they focus on the hidden politics; i.e., ‘failure,’ ‘problems,’ and ‘obstacles.’ They end with a strong, closing question that emphasizes humility in the role of facilitator.

Workshop Preparation Includes Building a Participant’s Package

After structured conversations, send participants a pre-read package, especially at the kickoff of major events. If you happen to provide printed packages, place the spiral edging across the top to make the package both unique and easier for left-handed notetakers. Try to include the first five items listed here in every Participant’s Package. The other suggestions are supplemental:

  • An articulate workshop purpose, scope, and deliverables along with the Basic Agenda Steps
  • Glossary for terms used in the workshop purpose, scope, deliverables, and Basic Agenda Steps
  • Organizational and business unit strategic planning support—especially Mission, Values, Vision, and performance Measures such as objectives and key results
  • Product, project, or team charter and detail about the value being supported by the session
  • List of questions to be addressed during the meeting or workshop
  • Relevant reading materials gathered from others during your conversations
  • Responsibilities of the participants, including any overnight assignments, reading, or exercises that may be included in a multiple-day workshop
  • Sponsor’s letter of invitation—organizational strategic plan
  • Team members’ contact information

Sequencing and Personalization

The sequence of the items above is listed in order of priority. No meeting or workshop arrives at a consensual agreement if the participants do not agree at first on the purpose, scope, and deliverables of the meeting. Next, a consensual understanding of what those terms mean must be controlled and not facilitated. Third, to create a sense of importance and urgency,  show how the balance of the organization depends on the success of this meeting and its contributions (i.e., deliverable). 

We also recommend that you provide each invitation with a cover letter. If assembling “relevant reading material” that contains too much bulk, many participants won’t look at it. Some will perhaps when the meeting commences. Rather, attach a cover letter to each participant. Stipulate which pages are essential for them to read based on their ability to make significant contributions.

Meeting Preparation Completion

If you can answer yes to the following questions, you are ready to proceed:

  • Can you describe a potential deliverable from each Agenda Step?
  • Is your Annotated Agenda comprehensive and scripted?
  • Does a walk-through of your Annotated Agenda provide the right deliverable?
  • Can the participants answer the questions for each Agenda Step?
  • Have you had conversations with stakeholders?

Tooling for Each Agenda Step Requires Scripting

Scripting furnishes an anchor during workshops by telling you precisely what to say to be clear, helping you when you forget where you are going, and providing additional support when you have trouble getting there. We all need help at one time or another. Therefore, for every Agenda Step, in every agenda, a well-scripted Annotated Agenda compels you to anticipate and visualize the tools, activities, and procedures you need.

An Annotated Agenda provides tremendous predictive power. From reviewing the rigor and thoroughness of an Annotated Agenda, I can easily predict how well your session will progress, regardless of your talents and skills (or lack thereof, because someone not highly skilled but thoroughly scripted will outperform anyone not well-scripted but relying on their “natural” talent).

Do not rush your effort. Skimping on the Annotated Agenda ensures suboptimal performance. Next—please use it. Do not build it, set it down, and forget about it. We prefer a leader who is holding a piece of paper, reading to us, and being clear over one who speaks extemporaneously and leaves us a bit confused.

For workshops and significant meetings, some facilitators include details about real estate management (where they are mounting their large format paper, legends, grounds rules, and so on) and online technology instructions such as which type of screen share to use.

When you have completed the procedures above during your meeting preparation, your confidence and ease will rise. According to Amy Cuddy, confidence plus ease increases executive presence, and meeting preparation may be the best way to demonstrate executive presence during meetings and workshop facilitation.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

[1] A few exceptions might include daily Scrum sessions, regularly conducted staff meetings, and meetings conducted using Robert’s Rules of Order, such as meetings of boards of directors, community governments, and so on.

[2] Please do not tell someone that your conversation is confidential and then take copious notes without asking permission. I have had two people say no, they would rather I not take any notes. I’ve had dozens compliment me on the question itself because rarely have others extended the courtesy to ask for permission to take notes.

 

In a world where everyone can engage in decisions that affect them

______

Lead the Change—One Meeting at a Time

Are you ready to transform how decisions are made, problems are solved, and alignment is built in your organization?

True meeting leadership goes beyond setting an agenda. It requires a facilitator who can navigate complexity, balance voices, and drive toward outcomes with clarity and consensus. Our Professional Meeting Leadership Workshop and facilitation training equips you to do just that—blending human-centric methods with structured analytical tools to foster rigor, inclusivity, and results that stick.

  • Practice live.
  • Get expert feedback.
  • Build confidence that lasts.

Whether your meetings suffer from unclear objectives, disengaged participants, or decision fatigue, this workshop will help you identify the root causes, apply proven facilitation techniques, and emerge as the leader every team needs.

Take the first step today—transform your meetings and magnify your impact.

In a world where everyone can engage in decisions that affect them

______

Lead the Change—One Meeting at a Time

Are you ready to transform how decisions are made, problems are solved, and alignment is built in your organization?

True meeting leadership goes beyond setting an agenda. It requires a facilitator who can navigate complexity, balance voices, and drive toward outcomes with clarity and consensus. Our Professional Meeting Leadership Workshop and facilitation training equips you to do just that—blending human-centric methods with structured analytical tools to foster rigor, inclusivity, and results that stick.

  • Practice live.
  • Get expert feedback.
  • Build confidence that lasts.

Whether your meetings suffer from unclear objectives, disengaged participants, or decision fatigue, this workshop will help you identify the root causes, apply proven facilitation techniques, and emerge as the leader every team needs.

Take the first step today—transform your meetings and magnify your impact.

______

👉 Click here to reserve your seat now.

#facilitationtraining #meetingdesign

Because every meeting should be a catalyst for change—not just another calendar event.

______

And earn up to 40 professional development credits with our facilitation training.

  • CDUs (IIBA)
  • CLPs (Federal Acquisition)
  • PDUs (SAVE International)
  • SEUs (Scrum Alliance)
  • 4.0 CEUs (General Professions)

______

With Bookmarks no longer a feature in WordPress, we provide the following for your benefit and reference.

______

A Facilitator’s Guide to Building Better Meetings (Meetings That Get Results !)

A Facilitator’s Guide to Building Better Meetings (Meetings That Get Results !)

by | Sep 23, 2021 | Meeting Structure, Meeting Tools

The Purpose

A Facilitator's Guide to Building Better Meetings (Meetings That Get Results !)

There’s nothing more frustrating than an unproductive meeting—except one that leads to another unproductive meeting. Which is why I wrote Meetings That Get Results. Developed from over 17+ years of research, delivery, and practice, including 15,000+ hours providing live instruction using a certified curriculum, this practical, comprehensive facilitator’s guide is for the millions of people right now who are out there leading meetings without any training in facilitation or meeting design. Within the book’s pages, you’ll learn how to ensure your meetings produce clear and actionable results—meetings that are profitable and productive—and that ultimately lead to fewer meetings.

 

In addition to basic information-exchange meetings (such as staff meetings and board meetings), “Meetings That Get Results” focuses on three important forms of meetings:

  • Decision-making—focusing on prioritization and ranking
  • Planning—that is, consensual agreement and shared ownership (who does what by when?)
  • Problem-solving—for example, focusing on innovative solutions during the meeting

It’s All About You

I understand that in a world of back-to-back meetings, you barely have time to find the right resources and training to become a better leader. Yet, while you would not attempt to build a boat without the proper training, equipment, and support, every day millions of people are conducting meetings without a critical understanding of or formal training on how to be an effective meeting leader in person or online. Meetings whose deliverables affect tens, hundreds, or even thousands of jobs, or determine the success or failure of a department or company, regularly cost organizations more money than all the boats, ships, and skyscrapers being built today. This book gives you a significant edge:

  • Empowering you to help your groups create, innovate, and break through the barriers of miscommunication, politics, and intolerance.
  • Making it easier for you to help others reach consensus and shared understanding, while never yielding to the easy answer.
  • Providing you with specific Agenda Steps and Tools to avoid the worst possible result of any meeting: another meeting.

MAKING IT EASY

Facil in Latin means “easily accomplished.” The word facilitaera evolved from the Latin verb facilius reddo, meaning “easily accomplished or attained.” When a group of subject matter experts manages to stay focused, miracles can happen. Therefore, I define business facilitation as a method that removes all distractions, making it easy or attainable for a group of experts to gain traction by focusing on the same question at the same time, led by a meeting facilitator who knows how to sequence questions, ask questions with precision, and guide consensual understanding and agreement around optimal solutions for that specific group of experts.

THE TOUGH PART

Rarely do events, meetings, or workshops proceed in a linear fashion. They don’t just “start here” and then “end there.” Rather, they continually loop and twirl—for reasons such as these:

  • Someone joins the meeting late, online or in person.
  • A subject matter expert gets called away unexpectedly and upon return discovers some critical information missing.
  • You are asked to go back and add something.
  • Someone changes her mind because her introspection has found a connection between a few things previously not considered.
  • Someone comes back from break with added information obtained from an outside subject matter expert or from the internet.
  • You are asked to substitute or combine something.
  • Someone wakes up and cannot understand something decided earlier.
  • Two people start arguing because they refuse to agree with each other based on “principle.”
  • You need to fully define something.
  • You do a poor job handling participants’ electronic leashes (cell phones, laptops, etc.) and when everyone wakes up, they quickly unravel what has already been accomplished.

Sound familiar?

If so, the remedies in this book are meant for you. I cannot promise you a method to resolve everything you encounter in meetings. But this book does provide a method and additional confidence to manage anything that develops or erupts during your meetings.

When you see the term “meetings” you might substitute the generic term “sessions.” Meeting leadership skills allow you to pivot among ceremonies, conferences, events, meetings, and workshops—wherever groups assemble in session to decide, plan, prioritize, and solve problems. I want to make it easier for you to be a credible meeting leader and meeting facilitator[♠] when leading diverse types of meeting sessions, for all types of groups, organizations, teams, and tribes.[♦]

RELAX

The style of this facilitator’s guide supports quick reading and cross-referencing. Conventions include the following:

  • Lists of items (such as bullet points) are typically alphabetically ordered. If not, lists are sorted by chronology, dependency, frequency, or importance (impact).
  • Meeting Approaches, Agenda Steps, and Tools appear in italics, with cross-references to the chapters or sections where they appear.

LEGACY

Like you, I know how it feels to sit in a meeting and think, “What a waste of the organization’s time and money.” To solve this problem, I’ve spent years improving a structured method to design and lead better meetings. Once you have read this book, you will have the knowledge I wish I had earlier in my career. The book is the result of more than 15,000 hours invested in training thousands of people on four different continents. These people now plan and run better meetings using disciplined, holistic meeting design, based on proven techniques such as structured conversations, with an ever-vigilant eye toward decision quality and collaborative ownership.

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Facilitator’s Guide Chapters

How to Navigate This Facilitator’s Guide to Meeting Design

  • Read the first four chapters to understand and reinforce meeting leadership; the core skills and discipline of effective facilitation; and how to manage group collaboration, meeting conflict, and personality dysfunction. When you need a refresher, refer to the table of contents to isolate the topic you need to reinforce, such as “How to Manage Arguments.”
  • For your meetings and events, use the Quick Reference sections and Tool selection guide at the end of the book to remind you about suitable activities for structuring your agenda and meeting design. The Quick Reference sections prompt you with detailed instructions to use when building your Launch, Agenda Steps, and Wrap (fully detailed and scripted in Chapter 5).

Facilitator’s Guide Chapter Summary

  • For specific agendas, tools, and procedures to use repeatedly when conducting meeting sessions, turn to these chapters (also see the summary table below)
    • Planning sessions—Chapter 6
    • Decision-making and prioritization sessions—Chapter 7
    • Problem-solving and innovation sessions—Chapter 8
    • Online sessions and differences—Chapter 9
    • Staff meetings and other information-exchange sessions—Chapter 9
    • Board meetings and “Robert’s Rules” situations—Chapter 9
  • After identifying your situation and locating the appropriate Agenda Steps, adapt the prescribed procedures to your personal taste and environmental constraints by considering the following factors:
    • Duration or amount of available time
    • Monetary impact of your meeting deliverable on organizational objectives
    • Number of participants, expected and optimal
    • Physical space or online ease of using breakout rooms
    • Your ability to adapt the tools to both in-person and online settings
    • Your experience and confidence with the recommended tools

Facilitator’s Guide Scripting and Support

  • Script your Annotated Agenda (chapter 5) from start to finish. For best results, follow the seven activities of a professional Introduction (Launch) using the prescribed sequence. Script them and follow your script. According to New York Times best-selling author Daniel Pink,[♣] the four activities of a professional Conclusion (Wrap) are even more important than a smooth Launch. So thoroughly prepare for your four concluding Review and Wrap activities, which ensure clear and actionable results.
  • Prepare your participants. For major initiatives or workshops, send out a Participants’ Package (chapter 5). For 50-minute meetings, prepare a one-page description of the meeting purpose, meeting scope, meeting objectives, and basic agenda.
  • Once your Annotated Agenda (Chapter 5) is complete, and even while you are working on it, prepare supplementary material and visual support such as a glossary, slides, legends, posters, and screens (illustrated throughout this book) to help you explain the tools and procedures you will use to build deliverables and get DONE.

[♠] The meeting facilitator represents one of four roles performed by the meeting leader; the other three roles commonly performed by the meeting leader include meeting coordinator, meeting documenter, and meeting designer.

[♦] Teams reassemble every season with new players. Tribes stay together through thick and thin, over the long haul.

[♣] Daniel Pink, When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing (2018).

 

In a world where everyone can engage in decisions that affect them

______

Lead the Change—One Meeting at a Time

Are you ready to transform how decisions are made, problems are solved, and alignment is built in your organization?

True meeting leadership goes beyond setting an agenda. It requires a facilitator who can navigate complexity, balance voices, and drive toward outcomes with clarity and consensus. Our Professional Meeting Leadership Workshop and facilitation training equips you to do just that—blending human-centric methods with structured analytical tools to foster rigor, inclusivity, and results that stick.

  • Practice live.
  • Get expert feedback.
  • Build confidence that lasts.

Whether your meetings suffer from unclear objectives, disengaged participants, or decision fatigue, this workshop will help you identify the root causes, apply proven facilitation techniques, and emerge as the leader every team needs.

Take the first step today—transform your meetings and magnify your impact.

👉 Click here to reserve your seat now.

#facilitationtraining #meetingdesign

Because every meeting should be a catalyst for change—not just another calendar event.

______

And earn up to 40 professional development credits with our facilitation training.

  • CDUs (IIBA)
  • CLPs (Federal Acquisition)
  • PDUs (SAVE International)
  • SEUs (Scrum Alliance)
  • 4.0 CEUs (General Professions)

______

With Bookmarks no longer a feature in WordPress, we provide the following for your benefit and reference.

______

Facilitation Best Practices – 26 Articles To Help You Lead Better Meetings

Facilitation Best Practices – 26 Articles To Help You Lead Better Meetings

by | Aug 12, 2021 | Analysis Methods, Communication Skills, Decision Making, Facilitation Skills, Leadership Skills, Managing Conflict, Meeting Agendas, Meeting Structure, Meeting Support, Meeting Tools, Planning Approach, Problem Solving, Scrum Events

For over ten years, we have consistently posted articles on Facilitation Best Practices. Articles are written as facilitation training that helps you lead better meetings.

Throughout, we have updated these articles to keep them fresh, current, and vibrant. Some Facilitation Best Practices articles include links to valuable downloads, such as our one-page meeting template agenda and business model canvas. Below is a list of 27 highly useful posts based on viewer popularity and the current needs of our volatile and ever-changing business climate. Read, learn, and enjoy—and don’t forget to share!

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

Facilitation Best Practices Acknowledge Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Agile vs. Waterfall? Don’t Risk Failure By Using the Wrong One

When weighing agile vs. waterfall benefits, consider how the Stacey Matrix arranges projects from the simple through the chaotic.

Meeting Killers: Eight Ways to Kill A Meeting and Your Reputation

Avoid these eight meeting killers that can destroy your meeting and your professional reputation . . . do not penalize people who are on time . . .

Meeting Introduction — Five Activities for a Solid and Compelling Launch

Agendas should include a beginning, a middle, and an end. To conduct a professional meeting introduction, complete these five activities.

Use a Professional Meeting Wrap Up Because Most Meetings Don’t End, They Stop

Meeting Wrap — How to facilitate four important closing activities: 1-Review, 2-Next Steps, 3-Communications, and 4-Assessment.

How to Lead Online Meetings: No Hiding and Practical Tips

Leading online meetings effectively requires more skills than facilitating meetings in person. Here are dozens of tips for technology and participant challenges.

4 Steps to Conflict Resolution by Managing Arguments

It is not your responsibility to GENERATE CONFLICT RESOLUTION. However, here are four activities that show you how to MANAGE meeting conflict.

How To Manage Challenging Personality Types to Avoid Problem Meetings

Always empower your participants, but learn to control challenging personality types to avoid problem meetings and problem people.

Best One-Page Meeting Agenda Template

Nobody wants more meetings or more time in meetings, so use this meeting agenda template to add your own agenda steps to get DONE faster.

Frequent Meeting Problems and What You Should Do About Them

Meeting problems are indicative of resistance during a meeting. Resistance can be prevented and mitigated. Here’s what to do about them.

How to Facilitate Prioritization and Build Consensus Quickly (or, MoSCoW)

Every meeting leader needs a simple tool to facilitate prioritization and build consensus quickly. Combine our PowerBall method (MoSCoW) with BookEnds for a robust approach.

The 4 Steps to Active Listening and 10 Tips for Interactive Listening

Active listening requires facilitators and other servant leaders to reflect on WHAT was said. Highly effective active listeners also reflect WHY.

Quantitative TO-WS Analysis (SWOT) Makes it Easier and Faster to Build Consensus

Quantitative SWOT analysis was developed by Metz at Kellogg because qualitative situational analysis provides a poor method for building consensus.

12 Critical Facilitation Do’s and Don’ts During Meetings, Sessions, and Workshops

Presenting a brief, yet powerful, list of Facilitation Do’s and Don’ts for reference before and during meetings, sessions, and workshops.

Three Review Meetings: Operational, Strategic, and Strategy Renewal

Deliverables should drive meetings, even review meetings. Here are the deliverables, frequency, and structure for the three review meetings.

Ground Rules and Ideation Rules for Optimal Group Behavior in Meetings

Use ground rules and ideation rules to manage individual and group behavior during meetings. A bit of structure will help get you DONE, fast.

How to Build Action Plans with Shared Ownership and Accountability

A robust action plan answers ten planning questions. They aggregate to build consensus with participants agreeing on WHO does WHAT by WHEN.

How to Categorize Lists of Ideas and Inputs When Facilitating

A poor question by facilitators asks “How would you like to categorize these?” Learn the secret that drives natural categories of raw lists.

Don’t Ruin Your Scrum Sprints — Facilitate Scrum Events Using These Agendas

Detailed Scrum facilitation events/agendas, inputs required, and comments about the skills required to facilitate Scrum events effectively.

Business Model Canvas — Agenda Steps and Questions

The Business Model Canvas uses a one-page primer and template, providing a general scan. The specific questions you can use are detailed here.

Do NOT Lead Another Workshop Without These Four Workshop Documents

To ensure your participants are prepared and responsive, provide 4 documents: Pre-Read, Annotated Agenda, Slide Deck, and Meeting Output Notes.

Three Behaviors Guaranteed to Build Consensus

To build consensus, you and your teams require three clear and critical behaviors, namely: Leadership, Facilitation, and Meeting Design.

Remember the WHY Before the WHAT – An Integrative Problem-Solving Framework and Agenda

Problem-solving demands structure and focus to get more done quickly, especially with many symptoms, causes, and mitigations to be considered.

How to Facilitate Speakers and Conference Presentations

How to facilitate speakers and get the most out of speaker and conference presentations. Some call this the WHAT, SO WHAT, and NOW WHAT.

Real-Win-Worth — Screening Method for Complex Decision-Making

Real-Win-Worth: To what extent an opportunity is real, we can win compared to competitive options, and to what extent an opportunity is worthhttps://mgrush.com/blog/real-win-worth/.

Quiet People: Five Facilitative Ways to Get More Meeting Participation

You will not change quiet people into extroverts, yet there are steps to increase the amount of meeting participation from all people.

Edward de Bono: Six Thinking Hats Provide Strong Stimulus for Ideation

Edward de Bono: Six Thinking Hats instructs on HOW TO think rather than WHAT TO think, making it easier to generate more ideas and increase decision quality.

Why Meeting Participants Have An Obligation To Contribute

When meeting participants are professionals, meetings are NOT just an opportunity to speak up, but an obligation to contribute.

 

In a world where everyone can engage in decisions that affect them

______

Lead the Change—One Meeting at a Time

Are you ready to transform how decisions are made, problems are solved, and alignment is built in your organization?

True meeting leadership goes beyond setting an agenda. It requires a facilitator who can navigate complexity, balance voices, and drive toward outcomes with clarity and consensus. Our Professional Meeting Leadership Workshop and facilitation training equips you to do just that—blending human-centric methods with structured analytical tools to foster rigor, inclusivity, and results that stick.

  • Practice live.
  • Get expert feedback.
  • Build confidence that lasts.

Whether your meetings suffer from unclear objectives, disengaged participants, or decision fatigue, this workshop will help you identify the root causes, apply proven facilitation techniques, and emerge as the leader every team needs.

Take the first step today—transform your meetings and magnify your impact.

👉 Click here to reserve your seat now.

#facilitationtraining #meetingdesign

Because every meeting should be a catalyst for change—not just another calendar event.

______

And earn up to 40 professional development credits with our facilitation training.

  • CDUs (IIBA)
  • CLPs (Federal Acquisition)
  • PDUs (SAVE International)
  • SEUs (Scrum Alliance)
  • 4.0 CEUs (General Professions)

______

With Bookmarks no longer a feature in WordPress, we provide the following for your benefit and reference.

______

How to Lead Meetings That Increase Your “Executive Presence”

How to Lead Meetings That Increase Your “Executive Presence”

by | Jul 8, 2021 | Communication Skills, Facilitation Skills, Leadership Skills, Meeting Structure

You may not think there’s a difference between being proficient at organizing meetings versus being able to lead meetings. There is!

Some people can do both. And if well trained, can do both well. However, many organizations discover too late—which is once the meeting has begun—that the person who has so efficiently organized their meeting does not know how to be an effective leader. A leader who knows how to guide the group to a clear deliverable; a concise plan of action (not just another meeting) for all to follow. A meeting that gets results!

With that said, increase your meeting success by increasing your “Executive Presence” — being someone who knows how to lead meetings.

How to Lead Meetings That Increase Your "Executive Presence"

Strengthen your credibility, Increase your ease, Curtail your ego

According to research by Northwestern’s Dr. Amy Cuddy, three factors will increase your “Executive Presence” (think respect).

  1. Strengthen your credibility
  2. Increase your ease
  3. Curtail your ego

By improving your ability to lead meetings, you and your organization nourish vibrant meetings that produce effective results everyone can own.

So, let’s take a closer look at each of these factors.

The formula to strengthen a speaker’s credibility extends back to Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle—and before. Aristotle presents three leadership factors of persuasive success: ethos, logos, and pathos. Aristotle’s leadership factors are closely related to Dr. Cuddy’s three actions. So, if you want to increase your “Executive Presence” when you lead meetings, you might want to pay close attention.

1. Lead Meetings by Strengthening Your Credibility (ethos)

In Greek, ethos means ‘character.’ Ethos captures the credibility and refers to the trustworthiness of the speaker (or, meeting leader). Ethos expresses itself through the tone and style of the message, transforming the speaker into an authority on the subject.

Ethos lends itself to the creation of reputation and exists independently from the message. The impact of ethos refers to ‘ethical appeal’ or the ‘appeal from credibility.’

Dr. Cuddy on Credibility

Foundational Factors

Three foundational factors sustain all the other factors that strengthen credibility. They include integrity, expertise, and preparedness.

  • Integrity represents honesty, forthrightness, and ethical business practices and behavior. Many executives have demonstrated stellar “Executive Presence,” but ethics became their undoing as they lost their credibility and, in many cases, they’re still working to regain that over time.
  • Expertise requires getting good before you worry about looking good to other people. Early in your career, intellectual, horsepower is essential, but it does not replace “Executive Presence”. “Executive Presence” doesn’t measure your merit, intellect, or horsepower. “Executive Presence” measures your capacity to translate your creativity, your good ideas, and your deep expertise for the benefit of other people.
  • Preparedness simply means showing up prepared. Foundations are built upon showing up prepared for something that’s important to you. Perhaps you’ve done a talk-through, a walk-through, or a run-through. If so, the non-foundational components to be covered next won’t harm you. For example, filler words decrease just by the nature of being prepared. When someone challenges you if you show up prepared, you are less likely to get caught off guard.
Vocal Factors

Vocal factors also strengthen credibility and include inflection, cadence, resonance, fillers, and props. Inflection and cadence capture the two most important factors.

  • Inflection refers to the amount that your voice changes in pitch and amplitude, over time. We all know how it feels to experience complete monotone or absence of inflection. For example, with customer service call centers, two variables were strongly associated with successful calls.
    • The ratio of listening to speaking. People who listened more were seen as being more attuned more helpful, and more interested.
    • The second was the variable of inflection. People with higher rates of inflection demonstrated stronger interest, and stronger responsiveness, and even their levels of expertise were rated as higher.
  • Cadence or speed may convey urgency. So, sometimes speed needs to be dialed down, especially if you’ve been told consistently, you speak too quickly. Your fast rate of speech may mean that your audience cannot track and keep up with you. Your levels of expertise are so high that your cognition can’t catch up and process what you’re saying at the rate at which you’re speaking. Some listeners suggest that fast speaking indicates nervousness or a lack of confidence. Slow down a bit by inserting pauses, especially when you’re making a particular point. Pauses signal that you are comfortable with silence. They can signal that you’re making an important point. Pauses can also signal your willingness to be challenged at a specific point in time.
Three Other Factors to Consider
  • Resonance or vocal power, knowing that when a voice is low to average in range (of the assumed gender), people will most frequently describe that voice as being successful, sociable, and smart. Those are the adjectives that do not describe when someone’s voice is really high with the assumed gender. They will say it’s grating, annoying, or too young. As we age, our voices get deeper, and increased age is associated with higher credibility. Thus, research suggests lowering your pitch. Additionally, control your vocal power (volume) and breath control.
  • Filler words become a distraction when used more frequently than normal speech. We all use filler words, including American Sign Language. Filler words represent a part of normal speech. However, beware when they start to become excessively measured by the fact, that they have become a distraction.
  • Props or fidgets such as your phone may detract from your credibility. It could be clicking a pen or a marker. Remember, anything that causes a distraction removes traction from getting DONE. And nobody wants longer meetings.

Aristotle on Ethos (Credibility)

Aristotle tells us that appeals from ethos should not come from appearance but from a person’s use of language. Advertising relies much on ethos and takes the form of credible spokespeople, such as Michael Jordan selling underwear. The historical view holds that three characteristics fortify ethos. Effective meeting leaders embrace all three, namely:

  1. Good moral character,
  2. Good sense, and
  3. Goodwill

2. Lead Meetings by Increasing Your Ease (logos)

Dr. Cuddy’s Foundational Factors on Ease

Four foundational factors sustain the other factors that increase your appearance of ease and strengthen credibility. For instance, diet, sleep, exercise, and social support increase ease and credibility.

  • Diet – “Is there any food in your food?”
  • Sleep – “Is there any rest in your sleep?”
  • Exercise – “Do you move routinely and develop stress resilience?”
  • Social support and friendships make us stronger, more stress resilient, and more capable when we’re under fire from any number of things that we cannot control.
Other Easing Factors

Additionally, easing factors also strengthen credibility including stability, congruence, connection, and authenticity.

  • Stability (emotional) refers to how we navigate our inner world of thoughts, emotions, and feelings. You tame and develop emotional regulation by recognizing, even naming the emotion, to create space between you and the challenge. Called “labeling,” a descriptive mode brings us into the present moment and can regulate the brain’s amygdala from overtaking our response. You could say internally, my heart is racing, my face is getting flushed, my hands are getting sweaty, etc., and your central nervous system will calm down. Therefore, expressing the emotion prevents it from taking over.
  • Congruence implies alignment of your words with your body language.
  • Connection includes strong eye contact, although it varies by culture. Do you know how to listen to people, do you maintain a connection with them over time? Above all, they want to know that you are at ease connecting with them.
  • Authenticity signals the ease of self-assurance. What are your strengths, what are your values, what are your needs? What is your vision and what are you striving for in the world? In other words, authenticity creates self-assurance and a clear purpose that anchors you over and over.

Aristotle on Logos (Internal Consistency)

Aristotle tells us that appeals from logos refer to internal consistency and reasoning of the message—clarity of your claims, logic of your rationale, and effectiveness of your supporting evidence. Aristotle’s favorite approach above all, logos captures the logic used to support claims (induction and deduction) with facts and statistics.

  • The impact of logos may be called an argument’s logical appeal.
  • A meeting leader supports inductive logic by requiring facts, evidence, and support. They allow participants to develop a general conclusion. Or they lead deductive logic by challenging participants with a general proposition and then eliciting specific facts, evidence, and support.

3. Lead Meetings by Curtailing Your Ego (pathos)

Dr. Cuddy’s Foundational Factors on Ego

Learn how to Lead Meetings that get results!

Dr. Cuddy’s equation on “Executive Presence”

Ego as a denominator in Dr. Cuddy’s equation on “Executive Presence” means we are dividing our credibility and ease to get a final quotient (where more is better). So, when you divide a number for credibility plus ease with an exceedingly high number, you erode your quotient. What participants want is true confidence and true humility. Therefore, an effective leader may hold back their point of view until they hear from others to be sure that they’re getting the information that they need from other people. For example, from CS Lewis we have the following:

“True humility is not thinking less of yourself. It’s thinking about yourself less often.” — CS Lewis

Aristotle on Pathos (Audience Focus)

Pathos (Greek for “suffering” or “experience”) refers to an “appeal to the audience’s sympathies and imagination.” The persuasive appeal of pathos focuses on your participants’ sense of identity, their self-interests, and emotions. Therefore, many consider pathos the strongest of the appeals.

Be cautious as appeals to participants’ sense of identity and self-interest exploit common biases. They naturally bend in the direction of what is advantageous to them, what serves their interests, or the interests of the groups to which they belong.

Finally, to improve one’s “Executive Presence,” continue to minimize or avoid using the first person singular “I” or “me.” Substitute the integrative “we” or “us” or refer to the collective and pluralistic “you.” The fewer times you say “I,” the more respect you will gain as you get viewed as the one who leads meetings that create clear and actionable results.

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NOTE: These three appeals are used to describe rhetoric, which we define as “the art of adjusting ideas to people, and people to ideas.” Fortify yourself with a deeper understanding of rhetoric and argumentation if you want to lead challenging meetings more effectively by becoming a better facilitator.

 

In a world where everyone can engage in decisions that affect them

______

Lead the Change—One Meeting at a Time

Are you ready to transform how decisions are made, problems are solved, and alignment is built in your organization?

True meeting leadership goes beyond setting an agenda. It requires a facilitator who can navigate complexity, balance voices, and drive toward outcomes with clarity and consensus. Our Professional Meeting Leadership Workshop and facilitation training equips you to do just that—blending human-centric methods with structured analytical tools to foster rigor, inclusivity, and results that stick.

  • Practice live.
  • Get expert feedback.
  • Build confidence that lasts.

Whether your meetings suffer from unclear objectives, disengaged participants, or decision fatigue, this workshop will help you identify the root causes, apply proven facilitation techniques, and emerge as the leader every team needs.

Take the first step today—transform your meetings and magnify your impact.

👉 Click here to reserve your seat now.

#facilitationtraining #meetingdesign

Because every meeting should be a catalyst for change—not just another calendar event.

______

And earn up to 40 professional development credits with our facilitation training.

  • CDUs (IIBA)
  • CLPs (Federal Acquisition)
  • PDUs (SAVE International)
  • SEUs (Scrum Alliance)
  • 4.0 CEUs (General Professions)

______

With Bookmarks no longer a feature in WordPress, we provide the following for your benefit and reference.

______