{"id":2913,"date":"2016-05-05T00:01:05","date_gmt":"2016-05-05T04:01:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/terrencemetz.com\/?p=2913"},"modified":"2026-04-21T13:36:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T17:36:13","slug":"fast-facilitation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/fast-facilitation\/","title":{"rendered":"How the MGRush FAST Facilitation Technique Helps You Succeed"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the many approaches taught by MGRUSH<\/span><\/em> in our Professional Certified <\/em>meeting leadership training includes the F<\/em>AST<\/em><\/span>\u00a0facilitation technique. The\u00a0F<\/em>AST<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>facilitation technique ensures that meetings and workshops will be more effective in building consensus and producing quality decisions. As the facilitator, it helps make you a more successful leader and meeting designer.<\/h2>\n

Numerous academic books, classes, and courses focus on the individual; individual beliefs, values, and behavior. Most studies on \u2018Critical Thinking<\/a>\u2019 for example, strive to make the individual participant a better thinker. Courses on \u2018Marketing\u2019 for example, emphasize individual sensitivities and choice. “What is FAST<\/span>“<\/a><\/em>\u00a0provides the group view.<\/span><\/p>\n

When dealing with groups, leadership styles<\/a> have been so ineffective that many methods rely on voting to make critical decisions. The voting<\/a> method yields more significant numbers but not necessarily higher-quality decisions<\/a>. In corporate, government, and NGO (i.e., non-governmental organizations) cultures, complex decision-making usually involves three discrete voices:<\/span><\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>

FAST<\/span><\/em> Facilitation is optimal for facilitating decisions around complex issues<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

    \n
  1. Budget approver<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Brand selector<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Requirements specifier<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    HOLISTIC<\/h3>\n

    FAST<\/span><\/em> facilitation provides a holistic<\/a> technique for structuring the input of various and complex perspectives. The method creates a consensual outcome that every participant owns and supports. With consensus<\/a>, as opposed to voting, you develop a win-win<\/em> situation. The FAST<\/span><\/em>\u00a0facilitation technique is designed to help you win and it begins by teaching groups\u00a0HOW TO THINK. The curriculum focuses on the tools and methods that generate results an entire group will support.<\/span><\/p>\n

    LEADERSHIP<\/h3>\n

    We begin with leadership<\/a><\/strong>, defined as having line-of-site, to know where you are going. If you are going to run a meeting, you first need to know \u2018what done looks like.\u2019 Specifically, before any meeting begins, you need to spell out the meeting deliverable<\/a> (i.e., be able to describe what success means before your meeting begins). Even lousy facilitators succeed when the deliverable has a clear and direct impact on the quality of life of its meeting participants. Participants will help a poor facilitator get results for their benefit or gain.<\/span><\/p>\n

    FACILITATIVE<\/h3>\n

    Leaders can be doubly effective when they embrace a facilitative<\/a><\/strong> style. This means taking their subject matter expertise and putting it in the form of questions<\/a> rather than answers. The facilitative style is the opposite of control and command. Modern leaders<\/a> appreciate the existence of more than one right answer, so they seek the best answer given current conditions, from the group they are leading. If the leader already has the answer, they should not conduct a meeting, as meetings are a very poor form of persuasion.<\/span><\/p>\n

    MEETING DESIGN<\/h3>\n

    However, even a leader who knows where they are going and what it takes to be facilitative still requires one more skill to be effective. They need to know HOW TO build what ‘DONE’ looks like (i.e., HOW TO make the deliverable). The FAST<\/span><\/em>\u00a0facilitation technique emphasizes the HOW TO and calls it meeting design<\/a><\/strong>(or, methodology).<\/span><\/p>\n

    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 reflects various options and criteria. For short-distance trips, for example, most of us could take a car, walk, ride a bicycle, etc. FAST<\/span><\/em>\u00a0facilitation<\/i>\u00a0optimizes HOW you get from the meeting introduction<\/a> to the meeting conclusion<\/a>, on time and with results everyone will support.<\/span><\/p>\n

    FAST<\/span> Facilitation Mission<\/h3>\n

    To vitalize consensual planning, prioritizing, and problem-solving.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    FAST<\/span> Facilitation Values<\/h3>\n
      \n
    1. \n

      Integrity (Trust)<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/li>\n

    2. \n

      Vibrancy (Energy)<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/li>\n

    3. \n

      Acumen (Talent)<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      FAST<\/span> Facilitation Vision<\/h3>\n

      Supporting a more equitable, diverse, and inclusive world. In a world where everyone can engage in decisions that affect them.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

      Building on the\u00a0FAST<\/span><\/em>\u00a0technique, MG RUSH<\/span> has provided the foundation for successful meetings and workshops around the world by supporting:<\/h4>\n