{"id":12951,"date":"2021-08-12T07:00:53","date_gmt":"2021-08-12T11:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/?p=12951"},"modified":"2026-04-21T12:58:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T16:58:09","slug":"facilitation-best-practices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/facilitation-best-practices\/","title":{"rendered":"Facilitation Best Practices \u2013 26 Articles To Help You Lead Better Meetings"},"content":{"rendered":"

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.<\/h2>\n

Throughout, we have updated these articles to keep them fresh, current, and vibrant. Some Facilitation Best Practices<\/a> articles include links to valuable downloads<\/em><\/span><\/strong>, 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\u2014and don\u2019t forget to share!<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Maslow's<\/a>

Facilitation Best Practices Acknowledge Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs<\/em><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

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Agile vs. Waterfall? Don\u2019t Risk Failure By Using the Wrong One<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n

When weighing agile vs. waterfall benefits, consider how the Stacey Matrix arranges projects from the simple through the chaotic.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Meeting Killers: Eight Ways to Kill A Meeting and Your Reputation<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n

Avoid these eight meeting killers that can destroy your meeting and your professional reputation . . . do not penalize people who are on time . . .<\/span><\/p>\n

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Meeting Introduction \u2014 Five Activities for a Solid and Compelling Launch<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n

Agendas should include a beginning, a middle, and an end. To conduct a professional meeting introduction, complete these five activities.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Use a Professional Meeting Wrap Up Because Most Meetings Don\u2019t End, They Stop<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n

Meeting Wrap — How to facilitate four important closing activities: 1-Review, 2-Next Steps, 3-Communications, and 4-Assessment.<\/span><\/p>\n

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How to Lead Online Meetings: No Hiding and Practical Tips<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n

Leading online meetings effectively requires more skills than facilitating meetings in person. Here are dozens of tips for technology and participant challenges.<\/span><\/p>\n

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4 Steps to Conflict Resolution by Managing Arguments<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n

It is not your responsibility to GENERATE CONFLICT RESOLUTION. However, here are four activities that show you how to MANAGE meeting conflict.<\/span><\/p>\n

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How To Manage Challenging Personality Types to Avoid Problem Meetings<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n

Always empower your participants, but learn to control challenging personality types to avoid problem meetings and problem people.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Best One-Page Meeting Agenda Template<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n

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.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Frequent Meeting Problems and What You Should Do About Them<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n

Meeting problems are indicative of resistance during a meeting. Resistance can be prevented and mitigated. Here’s what to do about them.<\/span><\/p>\n

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How to Facilitate Prioritization and Build Consensus Quickly (or, MoSCoW)<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n

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.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The 4 Steps to Active Listening and 10 Tips for Interactive Listening<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n

Active listening requires facilitators and other servant leaders to reflect on WHAT was said. Highly effective active listeners also reflect WHY.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Quantitative TO-WS Analysis (SWOT) Makes it Easier and Faster to Build Consensus<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n

Quantitative SWOT analysis was developed by Metz at Kellogg because qualitative situational analysis provides a poor method for building consensus.<\/span><\/p>\n

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12 Critical Facilitation Do\u2019s and Don\u2019ts During Meetings, Sessions, and Workshops<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n

Presenting a brief, yet powerful, list of Facilitation Do’s and Don’ts for reference before and during meetings, sessions, and workshops.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Three Review Meetings: Operational, Strategic, and Strategy Renewal<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n

Deliverables should drive meetings, even review meetings. Here are the deliverables, frequency, and structure for the three review meetings.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Ground Rules and Ideation Rules for Optimal Group Behavior in Meetings<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n

Use ground rules and ideation rules to manage individual\u00a0and group\u00a0behavior during meetings. A bit of structure will help get you DONE, fast.<\/span><\/p>\n

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How to Build Action Plans with Shared Ownership and Accountability<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n

A robust action plan answers ten planning questions. They aggregate to build consensus with participants agreeing on WHO does WHAT by WHEN.<\/span><\/p>\n

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How to Categorize Lists of Ideas and Inputs When Facilitating<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n

A poor question by facilitators asks “How would you like to categorize these?” Learn the secret that drives natural categories of raw lists.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Don\u2019t Ruin Your Scrum Sprints \u2014 Facilitate Scrum Events Using These Agendas<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n

Detailed Scrum facilitation events\/agendas, inputs required, and comments about the skills required to facilitate Scrum events effectively.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Business Model Canvas \u2014 Agenda Steps and Questions<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n

The Business Model Canvas uses a one-page primer and template, providing a general scan. The specific questions you can use are detailed here.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Do NOT Lead Another Workshop Without These Four Workshop Documents<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n

To ensure your participants are prepared and responsive, provide 4 documents: Pre-Read, Annotated Agenda, Slide Deck, and Meeting Output Notes.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Three Behaviors Guaranteed to Build Consensus<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n

To build consensus, you and your teams require three clear and critical behaviors, namely: Leadership, Facilitation, and Meeting Design.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Remember the WHY Before the WHAT \u2013 An Integrative Problem-Solving Framework and Agenda<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n

Problem-solving demands structure and focus to get more done quickly, especially with many symptoms, causes, and mitigations to be considered.<\/span><\/p>\n

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How to Facilitate Speakers and Conference Presentations<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n

How to facilitate speakers and get the most out of speaker and conference presentations. Some call this the WHAT, SO WHAT, and NOW WHAT.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Real-Win-Worth \u2014 Screening Method for Complex Decision-Making<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n

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\/.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Quiet People: Five Facilitative Ways to Get More Meeting Participation<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n

You will not change quiet people into extroverts, yet there are steps to increase the amount of meeting participation from all people.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Edward de Bono: Six Thinking Hats Provide Strong Stimulus for Ideation<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n

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.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Why Meeting Participants Have An Obligation To Contribute<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n

When meeting participants are professionals, meetings are NOT just an opportunity to speak up, but an obligation to contribute.<\/span><\/p>\n

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In a world where everyone can engage in decisions that affect them<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Lead the Change\u2014One Meeting at a Time<\/b><\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n

Are you ready to transform how decisions are made, problems are solved, and alignment is built in your organization?<\/span><\/p>\n

True meeting leadership goes beyond setting an agenda.<\/b> It requires a facilitator who can navigate complexity, balance voices, and drive toward outcomes with clarity and consensus. Our Professional Meeting Leadership Workshop<\/b><\/a> and facilitation training equips you to do just that\u2014blending human-centric methods<\/b> with structured analytical tools<\/b> to foster rigor, inclusivity, and results that stick.<\/span><\/p>\n