{"id":2168,"date":"2015-01-29T00:01:53","date_gmt":"2015-01-29T05:01:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/terrencemetz.com\/?p=2168"},"modified":"2026-04-21T13:48:21","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T17:48:21","slug":"poor-facilitation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/poor-facilitation\/","title":{"rendered":"Meeting Impact: Poor Facilitation Leads to Problems, Struggles, and Errors"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>A primary concern in meetings and information-gathering activities is getting good information\u2014to build the right product the first time\u2014and to make well-informed decisions. Significant trends show that groups are embedding the role of \u2018facilitator\u2019 in the culture and health of modern, especially holistic, organizations. \u00a0Therefore, take strides to avoid poor facilitation.<\/h2>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">\u201cPerversely, organizations with the best human resource departments sometimes have less effective teams. That\u2019s because HR tends to focus on improving individual rather than team behavior.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">\u2014 Diane Coutu,\u00a0HBR, May 2009, pg 99<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<div id=\"attachment_2169\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img wpfc-lazyload-disable=\"true\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2169\" class=\"wp-image-2169 size-full\" title=\"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/2015\/01\/29\/poor-facilitation\/\" src=\"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/successful-meetings-demand-collaboration-e1542159645292.png\" alt=\"Meeting Impact: Poor Facilitation Leads to Problems, Struggles, and Errors\" width=\"300\" height=\"150\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-2169\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>Successful Meetings Demand Collaboration and Avoid Poor Facilitation<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Group <a href=\"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/decision-making\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">decision-making<\/a> processes are more prevalent than ever. Intellectual capital is critical to the growth and profit of service organizations. Manufacturers are becoming \u201cinfomediaries\u201d and sourcing production based on worldwide, not parochial, views. <a href=\"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/facilitate-innovation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Innovation<\/a> determines the future prosperity of most organizations:<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><em>Meta-trends Demand Facilitative Leadership<\/em><\/span><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Cultural modernization\u2014the basic tenets of modern cultures include equality, personal freedom, and individual <a href=\"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/smart-dumb\/\">requirements<\/a>.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Economic globalization\u2014In developed economies, where formal institutions sustain order and predictability, <a href=\"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/consensus-does-not-mean-that-participants-are-going-to-be-happy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">consensus<\/a> is critical to survival.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Universal connectivity\u2014information technology continues to inundate us with capabilities and the \u201cdeath of distance\u201d when we can find what we need.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Transactional transparency\u2014ubiquitous computing and comprehensive electronic documentation make leaders and decision-makers exposed.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Individual limitations\u2014empirical <a href=\"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/evidence-based\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">evidence<\/a> that groups make higher <a href=\"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/diverse-teams\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">quality decisions<\/a> and are better at addressing more difficult or complex challenges.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>Problems With Poor Facilitation<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/make-thinking-visible\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Decision-making<\/a> and information-gathering share two problems:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">The first is the <a href=\"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/facilitation-skills\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">communication gap<\/a> between those who have the information (e.g., information technology) and those who need to use it to build something (eg, business community or product development).<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">The invariable <a href=\"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/facilitation-best-practices\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">power struggle<\/a> between the players involved exacerbates poor facilitation. Egos make building consensus a significant challenge.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>Power Struggles\u00a0With Poor Facilitation<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">The power struggles between various departments or business units are often the result of language differences. Frequently, <a href=\"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/meeting-problems\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">power<\/a> struggles are not intentional but occur because of differing perspectives around the same issue. Reconciliation may be critical to organizational success, particularly for proactive organizations that want to lead <a href=\"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/planning-changes-minds\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">change<\/a> rather than be changed.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>Errors <\/strong><strong>&amp;<\/strong><strong> Omissions Through Poor Facilitation<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">The most effective way to reduce the cost of reaching <a href=\"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/smart-measures\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">objectives<\/a> is to reduce errors and <a href=\"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/how-to-facilitate-alignment\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">omissions<\/a>. Groups recall and remember more than individuals and are capable of using their input to create an integrative response. <a href=\"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/consensus-does-not-mean-that-participants-are-going-to-be-happy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Consensus<\/a> helps prevent errors, but more importantly, it helps prevent omissions.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>Help Needed to Avoid Poor Facilitation<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Numerous analytical methodologies, <a href=\"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/design-sprint\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">design<\/a> methodologies, <a href=\"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/requirements-gathering\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">life cycle<\/a> techniques, etc., have evolved to address errors in the <a href=\"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/planning-agenda\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">planning<\/a> and development phase. While methodologies work well in analysis and design, they have not successfully addressed the information gathering necessary to gather effective and timely input.<\/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>A primary concern in meetings and information-gathering activities is getting good information\u2014to build the right product the first time\u2014and to make well-informed decisions. Significant trends show that groups are embedding the role of \u2018facilitator\u2019 in the culture and health of modern, especially holistic, organizations. \u00a0Therefore, take strides to avoid poor facilitation. \u201cPerversely, organizations with the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2169,"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":[453185952,55884429],"tags":[453192251,453192249,453190960,453192250],"class_list":["post-2168","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-facilitation-skills","category-meeting-support","tag-errors","tag-information","tag-poor-facilitation","tag-power"],"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>Poor Facilitation Leads to Problems, Struggles, and Errors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Meetings frequently stress getting good information\u2014to build the right product the first time. 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