{"id":1580,"date":"2013-09-19T04:58:31","date_gmt":"2013-09-19T08:58:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/facilitativeleadership.wordpress.com\/?p=1580"},"modified":"2026-04-21T13:58:56","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T17:58:56","slug":"meeting-bias","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/meeting-bias\/","title":{"rendered":"Why We Need Professional Facilitators Who Guard Against Bias"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Individuals and groups can frankly be wrong when they think they are right. Professional facilitators get groups to focus on the conflict of the issues and ideas rather than the conflict between the people advocating those ideas. At the same time, they need to guard against meeting bias.<\/h2>\n<div id=\"attachment_1581\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/biases-impact-decision-quality.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1581\" class=\"wp-image-1581 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/biases-impact-decision-quality-300x257.png\" alt=\"Why We Need Trained, Professional Facilitators Who Can Guard Against Bias\" width=\"300\" height=\"257\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/biases-impact-decision-quality-300x257.png 300w, https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/biases-impact-decision-quality.png 624w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1581\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>Guard Against Meeting Bias<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">The chance of error when making complex decisions is amplified by the amount of data required to support the decision\u00a0 Properly facilitated, groups of people can see through the fog clearer than those biased with the information they bring to a meeting or workshop.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Note the following impactful biases cited by the World Future Society in its March-April 2013 edition of <i>\u201cThe Futurist.\u201d<\/i><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h3><strong><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Bias Factors Affecting Group Decision-Making and Meeting Bias<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">\u00a0 Confusing desirability and familiarity with probability<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">\u00a0 Cost of detailed primary research, leading to shortcuts<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">\u00a0 Distortion of data by media through selection and repetition<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">\u00a0 Forecaster\u2019s bias which involves a preference for change or patterns<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">\u00a0 Homogenization of distinct multiple data sources (for cost savings)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">\u00a0 Lack of clear confidence intervals (how clean the data is)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">\u00a0 Mistaking correlation for causation (a very common error)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">\u00a0 Organizational biases<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">\u00a0 Over-immersion in local social values or perceptions<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">\u00a0 Political research sponsorship<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">\u00a0 Preconceptions\u2014framing complex issues in a skewed fashion (selective perception)<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Professional facilitators help objectify the subject matter experts\u2019 points of view with challenges and structured discussion. They help depersonalize issues from people, so that ideas can stand on their own merit and value, not inflated by the charisma of persuasive participants.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Guard against selective perception<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><b><\/b><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">As their session leader, remember that everything heard in a meeting or workshop is interpreted and filtered differently by participants. They will hear or see differently based on their individual biases, or colored lenses. To illustrate the point, the vastly different pictures below are all from the same area in space using different lenses including radio, infrared, visible light, x-ray, gamma ray, and others.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_4850\" style=\"width: 415px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a class=\"dt-single-image\" href=\"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Perception.png\" data-dt-img-description=\"\"><img wpfc-lazyload-disable=\"true\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4850\" class=\"wp-image-4850 size-full\" title=\"Be on Guard for Selective Perception and other Meeting Participant Biases\" src=\"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Perception.png\" alt=\"Be on Guard for Selective Perception and other Meeting Participant Biases\" width=\"405\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Perception.png 405w, https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Perception-300x222.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 405px) 100vw, 405px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-4850\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><strong><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">NASA Public Domain<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1561\" style=\"width: 421px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/screen-shot-2013-08-13-at-10-12-31-am.png\"><img wpfc-lazyload-disable=\"true\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1561\" class=\"wp-image-1561 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/screen-shot-2013-08-13-at-10-12-31-am.png\" alt=\"Parallel Lines\" width=\"411\" height=\"282\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/screen-shot-2013-08-13-at-10-12-31-am.png 411w, https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/screen-shot-2013-08-13-at-10-12-31-am-300x206.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 411px) 100vw, 411px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1561\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><strong><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Parallel or Sloped?<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\" align=\"center\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">\u00a0Or, consider the following where we discover the horizontal lines below are truly parallel and not askew. Some will claim that \u201cno way\u201d are the lines parallel, when in fact they are perfectly parallel.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1554\" style=\"width: 460px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/same-heigth.png\"><img wpfc-lazyload-disable=\"true\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1554\" class=\"wp-image-1554 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/same-heigth.png\" alt=\"Be on Guard for Selective Perception and other Meeting Participant Biases\" width=\"450\" height=\"282\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/same-heigth.png 450w, https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/same-heigth-300x188.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1554\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><strong><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Same Height?<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Additionally, look at the people in the picture below and understand that they are the exact same height, although appearances deceive. Be on guard always against biases that disrupt <a href=\"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/consensus-does-not-mean-that-participants-are-going-to-be-happy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">consensus<\/a> building, and embrace the effective presentation tips discussed elsewhere.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000; font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>______<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Don\u2019t ruin your career by hosting <a href=\"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/bad-meetings\/\">bad meetings<\/a>. Sign up for a <a href=\"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/public-facilitation-training\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">workshop<\/a> or send this to someone who should. <em><a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20260106090117\/https:\/\/mgrush.com\/\">MGR<span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">USH<\/span><\/a><\/em> workshops focus on meeting design and practice. Each person practices tools, methods, and activities every day during the week. Therefore, while some call this immersion, we call it the road to building high-value facilitation skills.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Individuals and groups can frankly be wrong when they think they are right. Professional facilitators get groups to focus on the conflict of the issues and ideas rather than the conflict between the people advocating those ideas. At the same time, they need to guard against meeting bias. &nbsp; The chance of error when making [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1581,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_wp_convertkit_post_meta":{"form":"-1","landing_page":"","tag":"0","restrict_content":"0"},"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[453185953],"tags":[453191030,453190644,453190813,453191105,453190705,453190814],"class_list":["post-1580","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-managing-conflict","tag-decision-quality","tag-difficult-participants","tag-guard-against-bias","tag-meeting-problems","tag-neutrality","tag-professional-facilitators"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.7 (Yoast SEO v27.7) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Why We Need 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