What you won't learn

What you won't learn

An illustration with a person next to a huge exclamation mark

Before we speak about what you'll learn let me frustrate you a little bit by showing you what you won't learn here:

  1. This is not an academic course: I won't reference big authors or fancy theories, but rather share stories and anecdotes to make it feel more down to earth.

  2. This is not a complete course: After you have followed this course you won’t be a professional meeting facilitator but you'll have simple tips that you can implement already today.

If you wanted any of these things please stop here or you'll be frustrated. I have created another learning resource where I share links to more advanced courses which might be more interesting for you.

Free Facilitation Course: Simple tips for less terrible meetings

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Introduction

  • Meet your coach
  • What you won't learn
  • The three big meeting problems we'll tackle
  • The seven tricks I'll teach you
  • When did I write this course?

1. Setup roles and rules so that it feels like a game

  • Introduction
  • Set the time keeper role or bad cop
  • Set the caring parent role or good cop
  • Set minimal rules and make people agree to them personally
  • Remember this

2. Define a time limit per topic to ensure you end up on time

  • Introduction
  • Realize that you have less time than planned
  • Set a buffer time
  • Set a visible timer for each topic
  • Remember this

3. Use sticky notes to show where the discussion is

  • Introduction
  • Put sticky notes on a wall and use them to build clarity
  • Use one sticky note per idea, group it and move it
  • Write in an easy to read way
  • Remember this

4. Create a parking space for new ideas and off topic elements

  • Introduction
  • Make the parking visible and tell the story
  • Have time? Review the parking at the end
  • In a rush? Add categories in your parking
  • Remember this

5. Use votes to not talk for hours about what's already obvious

  • Introduction
  • Give multiple dots to vote and make it fun
  • Use faith or another culturally relevant voting criteria
  • Use multiple rounds of votes for complex decisions
  • Remember this

6. Make people work in smaller groups and then share the summary

  • Introduction
  • Split for discussion and join for sharing
  • Make groups of no more than 4
  • Give a clear challenge, a clear timing and a clear end result
  • Remember this

7. Separate the mindsets to make it less confusing

  • Introduction
  • Separate coming up with ideas and deciding
  • Separate the criteria when deciding
  • Mark the separation of mindsets
  • Remember this

What you learned and how to make it stick

  • Introduction
  • Review the summary and the one thing to remember
  • Learn by teaching
  • Make a plan

End notes

  • Introduction
  • Thank you note
  • License