I often hear leaders say things like,
‘I’m in back-to-back meetings and never have time to do the actions from the meetings. Some days I don’t even have time to go to the toilet!’
When the default response to most issues is ‘let’s have a meeting’, but diaries are already full for weeks because everyone is already in meetings, that’s a problem. Meetings overrun, actions roll over, and the answer becomes… another meeting.
Does this sound familiar?
Meetings are important but badly run meetings are a drain on time and resource. Poor meeting culture is often down to there being no shared understanding of why the meeting exists. Everyone gets invited so no one feels left out. People arrive unprepared, unsure what’s expected of them, and the conversation drifts.
Think about the meetings you’ve sat in recently. The frustrating ones probably lacked clarity, structure and direction.
This is where good facilitation makes the difference.
Good facilitation starts with being clear about what the meeting is actually for. Is it to make a decision? Generate ideas? Solve a problem? Share information?
When the purpose is unclear, everything else becomes harder. When the purpose is clear, it becomes obvious who really needs to be there – and who doesn’t. Attendees understand their role, come prepared, and the meeting immediately feels more focused and more meaningful.
Facilitation is also about designing the conversation, not just booking a slot in the diary. Without structure, discussions sprawl, topics blur into each other and meetings overrun. With thoughtful facilitation, conversations stay on track and move towards something concrete.
Another common issue is lack of active participation. In many meetings, a small number of people dominate while others sit quietly. When this happens important perspectives are missed, people disengage, and decisions are made based on partial thinking. Meetings then need to be revisited further down the line because not everyone that needed to be involved was really involved the first time.
Simple techniques – such as inviting everyone to contribute once before anyone speaks twice, or asking more precise questions – can dramatically improve the quality of participation and thinking as well as prevent meetings from dragging on.
Then there’s decision-making. Many meetings feel endless because nothing ever quite gets decided on. Topics are discussed, parked, revisited and deferred. People leave unsure what’s been agreed or who is doing what – so the same issues resurface in the next meeting.
When someone actively facilitates, for example, summarising, checking understanding, naming decisions and confirming actions meetings are more likely to end on time and with clarity, which means more diary space becomes available to do the actions generated in the meeting.
Leaders sometimes worry that facilitating more intentionally will slow things down. In reality, it’s the opposite. Good facilitation reduces overruns, repeat meetings and diary congestion.
Better facilitation leads to:
- clearer, more focused discussions
- broader contribution and better thinking
- clear decision-making
- stronger ownership of actions
- fewer follow-up meetings
So before you let another meeting run over, or book yet another one to sort out what didn’t get agreed last time, ask a different question:
How might we facilitate meetings more effectively?
If your organisation is stuck in a cycle of back-to-back meetings and people feeling stressed as actions pile up, I can help. I design and deliver facilitation skills training that makes a real difference to how work gets delivered and how people feel. If you’d like to explore how I can help, drop me a line at lucy@lucidity.org.uk or book a no-obligation time to talk here.