Dot Connector Blog

Do create meetings that people get excited about?  (source: Pink Sherbert / CC 2.0)

Meetings: Some are great, some are horribly bad.  Some are required, while others are ad hoc events.  Weekly project team meetings can be a useful tool in managing projects.  One-on-one meetings can help leaders dig deep using questions to help their team create a shared vision.  Some people hate meetings, other people love them.  Bottom-line: meetings are only as good as the meeting facilitation skills of the person facilitating them.

“Of all the meetings that I’ve gone to in the past, virtually all of them, I’ve felt, were kind of useless.”

- Jim Buckmeister, CEO, Craigslist

What is Meeting Facilitation?

Meeting facilitation is the art of conducting successful meetings regardless of the topic, the attendees, or the location.

Successful meetings…

1. Only last as long as absolutely necessary
2. Create a forum for ideas and/or results to be openly discussed
3. End with actionable next steps that everyone agrees on

If the person conducting the meeting is skilled in meeting facilitation, they will be able to effectively achieve each of these three keys to a successful meeting.  Here’s how to do it.

Meeting Facilitation Training: 6 Meeting Facilitation Tips to Use Right Now

1. Ask yourself: what is my desired OUTCOME for this meeting?

Successful meeting facilitation begins by asking yourself this question.  Envision that the meeting is over.  What happened?  Did you achieve what you had hoped?  Do you know what you are trying to achieve?  Be sure you clearly know this going in to your meeting.

2. Need to propose an idea?  Try this: “Can I make a suggestion?”

Meeting facilitation, by it’s very nature, means taking an approach that opens people up to communicating with you and other meeting attendees.  By asking this question above, you approach the discussion as an advisor.  Doing so means that most people will be open to hearing what you have to say.

3. Is the group having a hard time making a decision?  Try this: “Let’s try X…and if then try something else if that doesn’t work.”

Sometimes you have to “take the roast out of the oven.”  This is a great technique to do so.  End the endless debate in your meeting with this simple statement.  It helps the group pick a direction, but also leaves the door open to changing it later, after you learn from your decision.

4. Need to break up an argument that isn’t going anywhere?  Try this: “I’d suggest that…what do you think?”

Meeting facilitation can often be about finding the “truth” in both sides of an argument, and bringing people together to see each other’s point of view.  By suggesting ideas using this technique, you break up the disagreement and turn the focus inward on each participant to evaluate the idea.

5. Have people who aren’t contributing?  Try this: “Linda, what do you think about that?”

Sometimes you have to call on people to get them to participate.  This can be the biggest let down, but most revealing part of meeting facilitation.  Sure, everyone wants to conduct meetings where every attendee is engaged.  Reality is this will not always be the case.  However, by taking the time to call on people who aren’t contributing, you can often find great ideas that the group can shape into action!

6. Save the last 5 minutes of the meeting to recap and agree on next steps.

Remember Tip #1 above.  You had a desired outcome for the meeting you just facilitated.  Now, take the last 5 minutes to recap what decisions were made and what next steps each attendee will take.  I’m always amazed at how different peoples perspectives can be on the next steps after a meeting when this is not done.  Eliminate confusion and communication issues with this step!

Note: Thanks to Tim Ferriss for tips 2-4 above.  They can be found in his book, The Four Hour Workweek.  I have practiced them religiously for the last 30 days and have found them to be indispensable tools to effective meeting facilitation.

How well do you find the hidden opportunity around you?  (source: AussieGal / CC 2.0)

“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.”

- Thomas Alva Edison

“Successful people do things others don’t like to do.”

- Harvey Mackay

Techniques to Open Your Mind to New Career Opportunities (Read Time: 8 minutes)

I have spent the past 14 years of my career working with some amazing people.  I’ve seen colleagues develop amazing careers in what they do, go on to become CEOs, lead Marketing and Technology teams for large organizations, start new companies, and land new career opportunities at companies like Microsoft, Google, Expedia and more.

How do you find and capitalize on the opportunities around you?  Practice the 4 ideas below.  These are the common traits of the successful people I have had the opportunity to work with.  Use these ideas to find new opportunities and new success in your own career!

1. Forget the Org Chart and Formal Career Path

The best way to get stagnant in your career is to wait for someone to give you your next promotion.  You have to go get it.  You have to demonstrate the impact you make.  You have to bring fresh ideas and new perspectives to the table.  You have to get out of your comfort zone and do things others don’t want to do.  You have to surprise people around you with your ideas and ingenuity.

If you only “see” the formal org chart at your company as your opportunity, you have already failed.  Why?  Because you have limited your thinking about who you are and what you can become.  Only when you look outside of the org chart and formalized career path at your company will you really find opportunities to grow.

Does this mean you have to leave your current team?  No way.  It simply means thinking about yourself differently to see possible opportunities, even in your existing position, or next possible promotion.

The people I have worked with all possessed this skill.  Sometimes, the position they ended up taking was a progression on the org chart.  Other times they CREATED their new position, and usually over the course of years, not months.

2. Pursue Things Without Knowing Exactly Where They Will Take You

Find at least one thing in your current position that you are passionate about and pursue it.  Maybe you will only be able to dedicate an hour a week to this passion.  Regardless, find something in, or related to, your current position and pursue it.  Ruthlessly focus on this whenever you can.  Experiment with the idea, talk to others about it, adjust your own perceptions as you learn, and create a plan to make your idea a “thing”.  Then, execute your plan.

It’s critical to take the long view here.  As the old saying goes, Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither will your new career opportunity.  However, investing in the idea you are passionate about will take you to places you didn’t think were possible.

For me, Dot Connector is one of those ideas.  I’ve met authors and leaders I probably would not have met otherwise.  I’ve reconnected with friends and colleagues I haven’t talked to in over a decade.  And, most importantly, I have shared ideas that my readers have found valuable.

3. Analyze Your Surroundings Without Any (Natural) Bias

Objectively look at your organization without any of the personal “filters” of conventional thinking you might normally apply.  Ask yourself a series of questions:

• What has changed in the past year at my company?
• Where is my company going?
• Who around me has created opportunity for themselves?
• Who around me has left and why? Where did they go?
• Do I see myself here in 1 year, 3 years, 5 years, or 10 years?  Why or why not?

If you recognize “pockets of opportunity” after doing this exercise, great!  Set out to capitalize on them.  If not, you have to decide where you want to take your career, and if your current employer is where you want to spend it.  Life is too short to do something you are not passionate about, or where you do not see opportunities to grow.

4. Find Ways to Help Others Grow, and Grow Your Knowledge at the Same Time

After you’ve done the analysis in #3 above, find at least one new way to bring people together that you normally don’t talk to.  Maybe it will be around your idea in #2, or maybe it will be around what you do every day. Here are some ways to do this:

• Start a blog about something you are passionate about. Don’t think you have time?  Make it.  There is no better way to grow yourself than to think about the way you think.  Blogging helps you do this, while connecting with other like-minded people at the same time.
• Does your company own other companies? Create an email list of people in the family of companies who do what you do and share ideas!  One of the best ways to find new opportunities is to help others in this way.  You’ll think differently about what you do, which helps you see new opportunities.  You will also learn from others at the same time.
• Is there a group you can join made up of people who do what you do? The same benefits as the idea above apply.  Plus, this will usually lead to great networking opportunities and contacts that you can help (and who can help you) in the future.

Bonus: Overcoming Obstacles Video (1:39)

Please spend 1:39 watching this video (if you do not see the video while you are reading this, visit Dot Connector to watch it).  You will learn something I bet you don’t know (I definitely didn’t) that will re-frame your thoughts on opportunity and failure.