1 hugo Meeting Management Facilitation Skills May 2012

1 hugo Meeting Management & Facilitation Skills May 2012 Stephanie Luxton Healthcare Undergoing Optimization

Effective Meetings • Balance “task” needs with “social” needs Preparation Participation Follow Up Healthcare Undergoing Optimization

Preparation • Objective and outcomes – what is the purpose of meeting • Key attendees • Create and use a detailed Agenda – Topics, goal (information, discussion, decision, etc. ), timeline, person responsible • Doing Your Homework – review outstanding items, contact presenters to ensure they are prepared • Communication – be clear on what people need to prepare ahead Healthcare Undergoing Optimization

Removing the Blocks to Participation • Break the ice – set a warm tone for the day • Clarify the topic and the desired outcomes • Create buy-in – what’s in it for the organization, the team, individuals • Help people prepare – your introverted participants will want some time to think and reflect before joining in the conversation • Create targeted norms • Vary the process –go around room and hear from all, “turn and buzz”, open forum Healthcare Undergoing Optimization

Participation: Developing Ground Rules outline how the group will behave in meetings and should be created by the group ensuring all are in agreement to abide by them. Examples: • Start and end on time • No sidebar conversations, if you have a comment or question address the entire group • Be open to the ideas of others • Anyone can call a timeout if they need clarification or feel we are going off track Healthcare Undergoing Optimization

Core Facilitation Practices • Stay neutral on content – take off your facilitator “hat” if you want to comment • Observe the process - how people are behaving • Listen actively • Paraphrase to clarify • Ask questions • Use the flip chart • Keep time – could assign a timekeeper or have a watch or clock in full view • Play ping-pong – bounce questions off of others in the group Healthcare Undergoing Optimization

Core Facilitation Practices (cont. ) • Test assumptions – identify what assumptions people are working from • Synthesize – get people to build on ideas of others • Hold up a mirror – state your observations • Summarize periodically • Make eye contact with everyone • Label sidetracks • Park it • Use the spell check button Healthcare Undergoing Optimization

Reinforcing Agreements • Use simple thumbs up/down method to vote on agreement proposals • Post agreements – make them visible • Recognize and express appreciation for actively upholding agreements • Propose an agreement to correct a recurring problem Healthcare Undergoing Optimization

Effective Questioning IF YOU WANT TO…. • Stimulate everyone’s thinking THEN… • Direct questions to the group – hear from all • Allow people to respond to voluntarily or avoid putting an individual on the spot • Ask a question such as “what experience have any of you had with this problem? ” • Stimulate one person to think and respond • Direct the question to that individual. “What has been your experience, Bill? ” • Tap the known resources of an “expert” in the group Healthcare Undergoing Optimization • Direct the question to that person “Mary, you have a lot of experience… What would you do? ”

Dealing with Conflict • If there is conflict – people will want to vent emotions: – – – – Slow things down Stay totally neutral and calm Revisit the norms Be assertive Make interventions Emphasize listening Call a time out Create closure Healthcare Undergoing Optimization

Intervening • Describe what you are seeing – Talk about specific behaviours • Make an impact statement – Let them know how their behaviour is affecting others – not intended to make them feel guilty • Redirect the person’s behaviour – Either suggest what they could do differently or ask them what they would suggest • Remember STATE – Share the facts, tell your story, ask other’s path, talk tentatively and encourage testing Healthcare Undergoing Optimization

Put down • When one person is putting down the ideas of another: – Joe you have “yes-butted” the last three suggestions others have put on the table. I am going to ask you to explore these ideas by asking a few questions to make sure you fully understand them before you dismiss them. It will let others know that their ideas are being listened to. Can you agree to this? Healthcare Undergoing Optimization

Dominator • When one person dominates the discussion: – Jim, I really appreciate your ideas, they have brought great value to the conversation. We also need to hear from the other members of the team. I would ask that you please hold some of your comments until we have heard from other people. Are you okay with this? Healthcare Undergoing Optimization

Bad Behaviour • When people are not following the agreed upon norms: – I am going to suggest we stop the discussion for a few minutes to look back at the norms we agreed to earlier today. Do we need to add to these norms? What do we need to pay attention to in order to make this conversation run smoothly? Healthcare Undergoing Optimization

Arguing • When two or more people arguing, cutting each other off and not listening to each other: – I am afraid neither of you are hearing the excellent points being made by the other. We are all here to look at ways to improve our service. I am going to ask you both to paraphrase what the other has said before you make your own comments. Can you agree to this? Healthcare Undergoing Optimization

Sidetracked • The discussion goes off topic – I need to point out that we have now digressed and are on to another topic. Is this new topic what the team wants to discuss now or should we put it on the parking lot to come back to at a later time, and return to the original topic? – If they want to move to the new topic – “how much time should we devote to this discussion? What is the desired outcome of this conversation? Healthcare Undergoing Optimization

Quiet individuals • When one person is not speaking at all: – Sue, you have been very quiet during this discussion. What are your thoughts on this topic? • When the entire group has fallen silent: – Everyone has become pretty quiet in the last few minutes and we haven’t had any new ideas. I sense some discomfort in the room. Have we exhausted this topic and people want to move on or are people not feeling safe to continue? Healthcare Undergoing Optimization

Assess Meeting Effectiveness • Informal – usually verbal – What went well? – What didn’t go so well? – What do we need to do differently next time? • Start Doing • Stop Doing • Continue Doing • Semi-formal – unstructured written comments • Formal – structured evaluation form or process Healthcare Undergoing Optimization

Follow up: Meeting Notes Publish within 48 hours and include • Discussion Points (no need to record everything!) • Decisions Made • Next Steps • Action Items and who is responsible • Open Items to be brought forward at next meeting Healthcare Undergoing Optimization