If you work in a corporate environment, chances are you'll find yourself in a meeting of some sort before the week is out. But will it be an effective meeting, and is there a facilitator on hand to make sure its success is maximized? The average meeting is just that, average, and the results, or lack thereof, speak for themselves. More and more companies are asking who within their inner circle has the requisite facilitation training to make a meeting pop, and more and more often the answers are coming from the outside. Companies like Facilitator4Hire are cultivating the art of facilitation skill training and making the concept of shorter, more productive meetings a reality.

The concept of meeting facilitation, or even the need for it, may come as a surprise to those who take pride in leading effective meetings that produce results. Far from taking the need for a meeting facilitator or facilitation training personally, managers of all stripes have benefited by looking at it as a way to build upon what is already in place and make it better. Think of it is a graduate degree in meeting management taught by an expert in the field. The expert brought in to lead the facilitation process has already identified processes for every meeting type, and will customize yours based on client requirements. Even as the meeting transpires, facilitation skills and a management model with which to lead future meetings are being transferred to your team leader. Desired results and a blueprint for future success form a two-pronged basis for having a facilitator lead your next meeting.

Not everyone is comfortable with the idea of an actual facilitator leading their meetings. That is understandable and thankfully not the only option. Facilitation training classes provide another wonderful opportunity for individuals and teams to receive personalized coaching and apply proven techniques they'll come to depend on in future meetings. The option of including an entire team in facilitation training has the obvious dividend of giving everyone involved a sense of ownership in the process of re-shaping meetings.

Take a good hard look around at your next meeting or two. Are they cultivating the types of results they're meant to? And if they are, is there still room for a higher ceiling of success? Of course there is, and often times it's just a matter of facilitation.


Bob Moir is the president of Facilitator 4 Hire. Facilitator 4 Hire specializes in serving the technology and business functions of organizations in many industries. They specialize in facilitating face-to-face meetings, but we also facilitate technology-supported meetings including teleconferences, video and web-based conferences.