Article: Facilitating Meetings

1. Facilitating meetings
At the heart of successful meetings is the aim to inspire the most positive collaboration
towards the best possible action for everyone involved.
Ever sat through a meeting that was dull, unproductive, disorganised with tempers running
high, people talking over each other and no decisions being made? Or one person
dominating the whole meeting and making all the decisions, leaving you to wonder why you
bothered turning up? Another common complaint is that, although there is a lot of
discussion, few concrete results emerge. Most of us can manage sitting through such a
meeting for a couple of times, but then start finding excuses not to go anymore. These
patterns are very common, which lead to disappointment, frustration, ineffectiveness and
loss of group members.
Any meeting can be efficiently run, inspiring, energising and fun. Unfortunately, it doesn't
just happen. Meetings should be enjoyable, efficient, and build group morale. Usually the
most enjoyable