and why it is important.

The simplest explanation for structured meetings is meeting design—the series of questions that help a group get DONE. For example, if your deliverable is a marketing plan, the unstructured approach asks “What should be in the marketing plan?” People will then discuss (and sometimes argue) for the duration of the meeting.

Structure forces the facilitator to prepare the specific questions and optimal topical flow for each question (“X”), one at a time. When results are aggregated, the complete view develops, built on shared understanding rather than rambling discussions. In short, you can’t be effectively agile if you don’t have the meeting design and facilitation tools to help your participants agree on clear and actionable results.

For example, to solve global hunger, you can’t ask “What can you do to solve global hunger?” because the question is too broad. You are asking for the “Y" (The answer).  We know that hunger is a function of food creation, food distribution, food storage, nutrition absorption, etc. Therefore, ask for the “X” such as “What can we do to increase food storage capacity in coastal Somalia for children 12 years old and younger?” (note the tightened scope).

Structure saves time and money because it suggests that “Y” is a function of “X.” For complex topics, there are big “X”s and little “x”s. You have seen a basic mathematical expression: Y = f (X) + (X) + (x) + (x)

Structure provides the HOW TO quickly get a group from the meeting introduction to the meeting conclusion. Good facilitators struggle because they understand the ‘soft skills’ of facilitation but lack the structure and meeting design to build consensus around complex business issues and topics. Without optimal meeting design you witness . . .

1. Meetings that go off track and become rambling forums for the loudest voices in the room
2. Participants that disengage (or worse, stare at mobile devices)
3. Meeting cultures where people show up unprepared or disinterested
4. Rising conflict with negative attitudes, dysfunctional behavior, and political resistance

You should care. Because, if you personally lead meetings, teams, and groups of people, designing your meetings with a structured technique will give you the reputation of a humble, servant leader. Of course being humble does not mean thinking less of yourself, it means thinking of yourself less often.

MG RUSH Professional Facilitation provides a holistic approach for structuring the input of varying perspectives, forging a consensual outcome that everyone will own and support. With consensus, as opposed to voting, you develop a win-win situation. Our structured meeting design helps you win, and it begins by teaching you HOW TO THINK when leading a group.

Based on empirical research and many hours of intensive field testing, MG RUSH Professional Facilitation (approaches and tools) reflects the modern organization: distributed, electronic, and multi-cultural, with a heavy emphasis on decision quality and project management excellence.

More effective meetings depend on improving three areas of your skills and behavior, namely:

1. WHY — Leadership training ensures that we begin with the end in mind. WHY we're meeting equates with what does DONE look like? The best facilitators in the world will fail miserably if they don’t know where they are going. The worst facilitators still succeed when the deliverable is clear and it has an impact on the quality of life of meeting participants.
2. WHAT — Once it is clear where we are going, facilitation skills make it easier to know WHAT to do to make a meeting successful. Unfortunately, we have developed poor muscle memory over the years. Some behaviors need to be ‘unlearned’ before new behaviors are embraced. The only way to change such behaviors is through practice and immersion. Active participation and practice during our Professional Facilitation workshop works at instilling effective and facilitative behaviors.
3. HOW — Even a great facilitator who knows where they are going (ie, What DONE looks like) still needs effective meeting design. They need to know HOW they are going to build consensus and get a group of people from the meeting Introduction to the Conclusion. While there is more than one right answer, there is one wrong answer — if the meeting leader does not know HOW they are going to do it.

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 numerous options and multiple criteria. (ie For short-distance trips, most of us could take a motorized vehicle, walk, ride a bicycle, etc.). Our structured meeting design is NOT about singing Kum Bay Yah, but rather, accelerating information gathering, driving meeting results through disciplined analysis, and improving the quality and transparency of decision-making.

The MG RUSH Professional Facilitation technique works and, based on alumni feedback, it works immediately. Read some of the testimonials, including those from recent workshops (by our standards, the most important). Every day we help thousands of alumni run more effective meetings, thus helping them exceed personal, product, and project objectives faster. While not for the faint-hearted, you will leave our workshop inspired and competent, with skills that immediately benefit your career and your organization.

Some Features

• Access to a growing body of meeting designs, field-tested and scripted
• Certification plus CDUs, FAC CLPs. SAVE CVS, and CEUs
• Dozens of hours of practice and daily personal feedback,
• Extensive Reference Manual that covers a huge variety of facilitated sessions
• Facilitator skills, group dynamics, managing conflict, meeting preparation and controls, online meetings, and visual aids
• Integration with various session types such as project management, problem-solving, brainstorming, look backs, and others.
• Learning to shift responsibilities and action plans from you to team members.
• Online and hybrid tips, tricks, and riffs to increase remote participant enthusiasm.
• Ongoing updates to your Professional Facilitation resources, as active facilitators—we practice what we preach!    
• Professional development through our alumni resources and specialized facilitation classes.