As we all know, the facilitation of meetings is essential to ensure the proper functioning of an organization. Organizing a meeting must be well prepared and well directed by its facilitator. There are many devices and methods to facilitate and energize an internal meeting, but it is not easy to choose. Regardless of the different types of meetings (internal or external), you will be able to effectively structure and lead your future meetings in a perfectly controlled way!
What are the qualities expected of the manager?
Organizing and leading a meeting requires a lot of qualities, which evolve as you experience. We are talking about the deployment of human qualities but also about the gain of important skills in terms of communication.
It is best to adopt a clear and natural communication oriented towards compassion and open-mindedness. This is how you will hold meetings, guarantee your credibility and your place as a facilitator. Trust will be strengthened with your employees and they will be more motivated than ever!
During professional meetings, it is important that the manager is careful to harmonize his words and his voice according to the different messages to be conveyed to the group. In addition, during meetings, the assimilation of the speech will be easier if you have moments of silence.
Exercising your speaking skills also means getting used to and knowing how to deal with stress management. Methods exist to improve soft skills (communication skills, interpersonal skills, character, etc.) in order to be able to manage your anxiety about speaking. Indeed, regular meditation or sophrology activities will allow you to better manage all these problems of stage fright and significantly improve the animation of meetings.
Arrange your meeting
And yes, the layout of the latter is just as fundamental as the meeting itself! How to organize your meeting is crucial and being able to ensure it to the end, with success is too. Be organized and predictable by practicing the necessary facilitation methods.
Determine participants and content
Let’s start with the first step to creating a meeting: define the nature, content, and purpose of the meeting (once you’ve estimated the costs). The facilitator will be able to be sure that they meet the “SMART” criteria (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound) after exchanging with his associates.
Do you collaborate as a team? Insightfully divide the roles and tasks of meeting planners. To plan meetings, it may be possible to do scenarios or role-plays, which will allow you to be trained.
It also requires the creation of an exhaustive list of participants: the number of people, why they are present, the wording of the convocation, the duration of the meeting, etc. You really have to focus on the choice of your partners and external stakeholders. Be sure of everyone’s interest in participating in order to save time. The number of people will have an impact and influence on the choice of room, equipment, etc. The defined list of participants is important. The objective of the meeting for your employees is to feel comfortable!
Prioritize the flow
Compose an agenda that you will send to each participating member before the meeting so that they can make a decision.
Of course, be on time! Greet your employees by thanking them for coming and introduce them to each other if necessary. Then, state the theme and purpose of this meeting, or even problem solving. Start with the essential and fragile topics just when you manage to achieve strong attention from everyone. The meetings make it possible to check that all the objectives set are achieved, in a good atmosphere.
When the end time arrives, explain the themes discussed again, draw up a general assessment and thank everyone for their presence and their listening. Later in the week, you will have to write a report. This is very important to keep track of it.
Be creative!
Don’t be afraid to be too original by breaking the codes during the meeting, on the contrary, dare! In addition to being innovative, you will create a good atmosphere in the room.
The location is one of the key points: the more pleasant the place, the more relaxed your employees will be (maintaining concentration, attention, interaction, etc.)
If you unfortunately do not have a suitable room, you can however rent unusual places or places that will motivate your teams! The important thing is to be energetic, to make your meeting live in the most appropriate way in your opinion.
You have to live with the times and take into account the new challenges that evolve over the years, follow the principle of adaptability. For example, some members can attend the meeting in person while others can participate remotely thanks to new technological tools. With our HR eBrigade software, your organization will be simplified and you will be able to exchange with your associates thanks to the many functions created by us.
Adjust the animation mode to the expected results
No matter the type of meetings, it’s important to keep track of time. To reduce the effort to concentrate and promote performance, plan it preferably in the morning. It is possible to assign an assistant role to one of the members taking part in the meeting. Entrusting him with missions such as time management, the production of reports, ensures a smooth running and makes you feel a little more free and confident. About your role, assign it according to the type of meeting:
Facilitator: Animate your meeting while ensuring the satisfaction of each of your participants
Participatory: coordinate dialogues and debates
Directive: little room for participants, you explicitly direct the meeting
Favor exchanges and reformulations
Always with the objective of conducting your meeting successfully in order to achieve the defined goal, it is essential to encourage your employees to speak. Reformulating and synthesizing, for example, will ensure a good understanding and thus reduce misunderstandings. Will the interactions between the members encourage the participatory atmosphere! Opt for open-ended questions aimed at rather confident employees, the more shy are more comfortable with closed-ended questions including an abbreviated answer.
Be present in front of your audience by acclimating to each character, so that everyone is listened to. Distribute the speech evenly. If you find that participants are straying from the main topic, take the lead and help them focus on the important points.
It is important to manage situations and speaking time so that everything goes as smoothly as possible. Listen to everyone and be attentive to their behaviors. These signs, formal or not, help you understand the emotional state of your employees as well as the smooth running of the meeting. If you can see any sign of disconcentration, take the opportunity to give it some punch!
Knowing how to lead a meeting means listening to your employees while being able to adapt to any situation. These methods are suitable for all forms of meetings and are extremely important for the smooth running and performance of the event.
Accompany your meeting with visual tools
Building a convincing speech, adapting your gestures, leaving room for interactivity, many methods help to hold the attention of the participants in order to get a message across.
We strongly advise you to base yourself on visual documents to be distributed (agenda, form, etc.), on digital tools (slides, animated presentations, powerpoint, etc.) as well. Be predictable to avoid any hardware malfunctions or problems. Don’t overload your medium too much, it must contain the essentials so as not to distract your audience.
To conclude
As you can see, meetings are very important and are drivers when it comes to the smooth running of a company. To manage them well, it is necessary to prepare well in advance with the right methods and tools to achieve your goal. Orchestrating a meeting requires a clear action plan and methodical speaking. Throughout this meeting, you will have to manage the different animation techniques to achieve your initial goal. And thanks to our eBrigade management software, you will be able to direct them efficiently!
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