Our readers and students have clamored for a quick-reference checklist of the most important facilitation Do’s and Don’ts. Therefore, we bring you this brief, yet powerful, set of reminders below (alpha-sorted by the highlighted term or phrase).

Please note that the highlighted facilitation do’s and don’ts are linked to best practices articles that provide additional examples and evidence-based rationale.

Facilitation Do’s and Don’ts F acilitation Don’ts Active listening: Make contact, absorb, reflect, and confirm; confirming WHY somebody said something or WHY the facilitator is doing something. Don’t allow arguments around you, as facilitator. Make them go through you and provide frequent and thorough reflection so that everyone is driven to understand the same rationale or evidence. Annotated agenda: Visualizing and documenting what needs to be done and said in advance, especially instructions for the methodology and tools you plan to use. Don’t assume that everyone shares understanding about the terms being used because filters and biases Decision-making: Teach your participants the components of high-quality decision-making and illustrate using a decision-matrix: Verify purpose of your objective Detail your options Delineate criteria Prioritize the criteria Apply prioritized criteria against the most qualified options Test the decision quality to see how well it supports the original purpose Stop cheerleading Definition Tool: Put the MG RUSH Definition Tool in your hip pocket and use it regularly, recalling the five activities a robust definition demands, namely: What is it NOT Describe it Detail the attributes, characteristics, requirements, or specifications Illustrate it Get two examples from the business Don’t forget the MG R USH 3-step method for resolving conflict: Active listening to prevent ‘violent agreement’ Appeal to objectives, from project through enterprise (see Holarchy Thoroughly document, then take off-line, typically to the executive sponsor Deliverable: Know what DONE looks like; nothing can save a leader when they don’t know where they are going. Hence, codify your deliverable and share it, before the meeting begins. While others call it “right-to-left thinking” some say “start with the end in mind.” Don’t rely on “one size fits all” and overuse the same tool (e.g., PowerBalls). Decision-making Focus: Value the importance of focus and perspective. The hardest thing to do with a group of smart people is to get them to focus on the same thing at the same time. Consequently, remove distractions so that focus is all that remains. Avoid using the first person singular, Holarchy: Connect the dots; provide a holarchial explanation that quantifies the importance and impact of your meeting, typically measured in terms of investment at risk (e.g., $$$) and/ or FTP (full-time person). Don’t permit groupthink Preparation: 7:59AM preparation and interviews. Because, no facilitation class in the world will make you successful when you show up unprepared. Don’t forget or skip the MG R USH professional 7-activity Introduction Review and Wrap. Precision : Rhetorical precision or clarity of word choice increases its importance the more complicated the topic or scope of discussion. Hence, closely monitor and remain vigilant about your rhetoric. Don’t permit discussion and comments when you are in a listing Roles : Stress roles in the meeting emphasizing that all participants are equals, regardless of title or tenure in the hallway. Then treat everyone the same, and don’t be deferential to “executives.” Don’t lead a meeting without first sharing the purpose, scope, deliverables, and simple agenda, Structure: Structure your discussion to avoid asking for the deliverable; rather ask for parts of the deliverable that aggregate to the final deliverable. Remember the mathematical expression: Y = f(X) +(x) + (x) and ask about the little “x’s” , not the “Y” or even the large “X’s”. Don’t string on virtual participants WHY First: WHY before WHAT before HOW; always build consensus around the purpose of something before beginning your analysis and solution development. Don’t discount the value of visual feedback.

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Don’t ruin your career or reputation with bad meetings. Register for a class or forward this to someone who should. Taught by world-class instructors, MG RUSH professional facilitation curriculum focuses on practice. Each student thoroughly practices and rehearses tools, methods, and approaches throughout the week. While some call this immersion, we call it the road to building impactful facilitation skills. #facilitationtraining

Our courses also provide an excellent way to earn up to 40 SEUs from the Scrum Alliance, 40 PDUs from PMI, and 40 CDUs from IIBA, as well as 3.2 CEUs for other professions. (See individual class descriptions for details.) #facilitatortraining

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