MG RUSH created the FAST technique for running more effective meetings and workshops that require group input, consensus, and decision-making.
You should care about What is FAST if you personally lead meetings, teams, and groups of people because the FAST technique will make you more successful.
Most academic books, classes, and courses focus on the individual; individual beliefs, values, and behavior. Most courses on ‘Critical Thinking’ for example, strive to make the individual participant a better thinker. Most courses on ‘Marketing’ for example, emphasize individual sensitivities and choice. What is FAST provides the group view.
Groups, Teams, Meetings, and Workshops
When dealing with groups of people, whether its teams or general assemblies, leadership styles have been so ineffective. Many rely on voting, a method that yields bigger numbers but not necessarily higher quality decisions. In corporate, government, and NGO (ie, non-governmental organizations) environments, decision-making frequently requires three voices:
- Need identifier
- Brand selector
- Budget approver
FAST is only known technique for structuring the input of various and complex perspectives by enforcing a consensual outcome that everyone FAST own and support. With consensus, as opposed to voting, you develop a win-win situation. FAST is designed to help you win and it begins by teaching you HOW TO THINK, not so much about individual behavior, but the tools and method that will generate results an entire group will live by.
Leadership, Facilitation, and Methodology
What is FAST ? — How to Build Consensus
WHY WE MEET
We begin with leadership, defined as line-of-site, to know where you are going. If you are going to run a meeting, you first need to know ‘what done looks like.’
Specifically, before any meeting begins, you need to clearly articulate the deliverable, describe success before it starts. A lousy facilitator will still success in a group setting when the deliverable has a clear and demonstrable impact on the meeting participants. They will help a poor facilitator get results.
WHAT YOU MUST DO
Modern leaders can be doubly effective when they embrace a facilitative style. This means taking subject matter expertise and putting it in the form of questions rather than answers. The facilitative style is the opposite of control and command, also known as waterfall mentality. Modern leaders appreciate the likelihood that there is more than one right answer, so they seek the best answer from the group they are leading. If the leader already has the answer, they should not have a meeting, as meetings are a very poor form of persuasion.
HOW DO YOU DO IT
HOWEVER, even a leader who knows where they are going and what it means to be facilitative still requires one more skill to be optimally effective—they need to know HOW TO do it, HOW TO get to the deliverable. FAST emphasizes the HOW TO and calls it methodology.
When you take a trip for example, first you need to know WHERE you are going (and of course, WHY you are going there). HOW you get there involves numerous options and various criteria. For short-distance trips, for example, most of us could take a motorized vehicle, walk, ride a bicycle, etc. FAST is designed to optimize HOW you get from the meeting introduction to the meeting conclusion on time and with results everyone will support.
Proven Career Boost
FAST works, and frankly, it works great. Read some of the testimonials, including those from recent classes (by our standards the most important). Everyday we are helping thousands of alumni run more effective meetings that help them reach personal and project objectives faster than they would have without understanding HOW TO think when dealing with multiple beliefs, various values, and seemingly contrary individual choices and behavior. While not for the faint hearted, you will leave our class inspired, competent, and adding more value than ever for the benefit of your organization.
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Finally, MG RUSH professional facilitation curriculum focuses on providing methodology. Each student thoroughly practices methodology and tools before class concludes. Additionally, some call this immersion. However, we call it the road to building impactful facilitation skills.
Become Part of the Solution While You Improve Your Facilitation, Leadership, and Methodology Skills
Take a class or forward this to someone who should. MG RUSH Professional Facilitation Training provides an excellent way to earn up to 40 SEUs from the Scrum Alliance, 40 PDUs from PMI, 40 CDUs from IIBA, and 3.2 CEUs. As a member of the International Association of Facilitators (IAF), our Professional Facilitation. Therefore, our training aligns with IAF Certification Principles and fully prepares alumni for their Certified Professional Facilitator designation.
Furthermore, our Professional Facilitation curriculum immerses students in the responsibilities and dynamics of an effective facilitator and methodologist. Because nobody is smarter than everybody, attend an MG RUSH Professional Facilitation, Leadership, and Methodology workshop offered around the world, see MG RUSH for a current schedule.
Go to the Facilitation Training Store to access our in-house resources. You will discover numerous annotated agendas, break timers, and templates. Finally, take a few seconds to buy us a cup of coffee and please SHARE.
In conclusion, we dare you to embrace the will, wisdom, and activities that amplify a facilitative leader.
