Executive Facilitation

Part 6: Signs your executive session was a success.

You facilitated an executive working session and you think it went well! You think… How can you know?

Here’s what you might hear and observe after a solid session.

“This was great.”

It’s not the most rigorous test of your facilitation, but it matters. How people feel coming out of the room is important. It means they feel it was a good use of their time, and they’ll approach your next session with enthusiasm.

What to do when you hear this: Conduct a pulse survey to drill down on why people liked the session. And consider one-on-one check-ins with a few participants to get more detail: what they liked and what improvements you could make.

“This is the new way of doing it.”

Sometimes a session or activity feels so effective that leadership wants to adopt it as a standard practice. That’s a great sign that your session worked.

What to do when you hear this: Document your facilitation process and tools. Post them in a shared folder and let people know where they can find your files.

How people feel coming out of the room is important. If they feel it was a good use of their time, they’ll approach your next session with enthusiasm.

“Remember what we said during our meeting?”

When participants reference the ideas, skills, or decisions you made during the session, that means your session is resonating and making an impact.

What to do when you hear this: Capture those things that are resonating and make sure everyone has access to them.

“I’m following up on my action item.”

At the end of a good executive session, you define next steps and responsibilities. When you see those things happening, the session is making a difference. You’ve taken the value out of the room and into the organization.

What to do when you hear this: Celebrate and normalize. Share who’s moving the ball forward; this will nudge others with to-dos to do the same.

“We’re kicking off the project.”

Many strategic working sessions are convened to make strategic decisions. Those decisions turn into strategic projects. You can feel good if the rubber is hitting the road, with projects funded and underway.

What to do when you hear this: Keep an eye on the project born during your session. Document your success story: you gathered the right people and they produced something impactful!

“Here are the numbers.”

Strategic decisions are intended to make an observable, positive impact. Hopefully, the actions and initiatives born in your session end up showing those results. That’s the ultimate sign that you made a difference.

“Let’s do this every year.”

If your executive session felt right to leadership, produced sound ideas and decisions, and generated positive outcomes, it had obvious value. Leadership might feel so good about it that it becomes an essential tool for your organization. Well done, facilitator!

ICYMI: Executive Facilitation Series Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 & Part 5

Executive Facilitation

Part 5: Use the Emerson difference as inspiration for your sessions.

The team at Emerson Human Capital have constructed and facilitated thousands of executive sessions. In this time we think we’ve learned a thing or two. Here’s how we do executive facilitation differently.

We say the thing.

Before the session, we uncover big issues and potential effects of the decisions coming out of the session. The first step is a conversation with the sponsor or lead executive. We ask things like, “If this meeting goes sideways, why might that happen? Personalities? Politics? Sensitive initiatives? What will the consequences be? This gets us ready to address any elephants that might wander into the room.

Before the session, we uncover big issues and potential effects of the decisions coming out of the session.

Then, as we conduct the session, we set up discussions and activities to remove obstacles and get the tough decisions made. We remind participants that they are the leaders of the organization, and if it were easy, anyone could do it. They won’t be successful unless they lean in and get through the hard stuff.

We make them better decision-makers.

Whenever possible, we combine team effectiveness and business strategy. While execs are together, why not get better at moving the ball forward? Synergy is the word. Sometimes, what comes between a leadership team and its business goals isn’t about facts and figures, it’s about emotional attachment to ideas, or bad team dynamics.

We design on the fly.

If you keep your eye on the prize, and your current agenda isn’t moving it closer, what do you do? You recalibrate and shift, live.

Nothing is more important than getting the group to its outcomes

As facilitators, we take in the vibe, synthesize what we’re getting from the group, and reassess the trajectory of the session Many times, we have redesigned an agenda or activities on a lunch break or after day one of a two-day session. Nothing is more important than getting the group to its outcomes – certainly not our precious agenda and pretty slides. We’re happy to revise them or ditch them and go to the whiteboard to get the right work done.

We don’t deliver a lecture.

A facilitator is not a presenter. He or she facilitates the group’s work. Our job is to manage the process, offer concepts and information, set up scenarios, facilitate discussion and work, get consensus on decisions, and prepare the team for the next steps.

We facilitate in the context of change.

Every executive working session is intended to make a difference, so we view it through the lens of change. We don’t see the working session as an event, but as part of a change process. So, as we plan the session, we plot a course by asking key questions: What Is the ultimate business result we need? What has to happen before, during, and after the session to make sure we get to that goal? And how do we make those results sustainable? Once we answer those questions, we conduct the session. We show participants the whole journey. We make sure we get the outcomes we intend out of the session. Then we define next steps, responsibilities, milestones, and metrics.

We bring our change experience into the room.

We’re not facilitators who happen to know something about organizational change. We’re change practitioners with decades of experience. That means we bring in real-life examples that illuminate the problem executives are trying to solve. We can also identify pitfalls, in the room, and help the group avoid them. And, of course, we set the group up to make real change from the outcomes of the session.

We’re not facilitators who happen to know something about organizational change. We’re change practitioners with decades of experience.

We use behavioral science to help the session count.

We don’t “deck and dash.” Coming out of the session, we are ready to help executives implement their decisions. We do that with the help of science-based methodology. For example, we create motivation profiles that help each group of stakeholders adopt the change. We use three levers that make change stick: making the change feel familiar, controlled, and successful. And we use the power of the organization’s “early adopters” to create momentum toward the goal.

Put another way, we don’t want to leave our clients with a really expensive three-ring binder. We leave them with real, sustainable change that has business impact. You can use these ideas to improve your outcomes too.

ICYMI: Executive Facilitation Series Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 & Part 6

Executive Facilitation

Part 4: Techniques to make sure your executives get what they came for.

There are few things in shorter supply than an executive’s time. When invited to a working session, they worry about wasting hours with nothing to show for it.

If you’re running an executive working session, you want them to leave thinking it was time well spent—that they achieved the outcomes they needed and know what to do next, to make it real.

Here are six tips.

Tip #1: Establish desired outcomes.

The only way to get to the right place in the end is to begin with the end in mind.

That means getting consensus on the outcomes of the session well before it starts—when you send invitations. Then, confirm those outcomes in the room.

What do we mean by outcomes? That depends on your organization and your group. Outcomes might include strategies, decisions, operating models or principles, plans, schedules, or conceptual frameworks. Make sure you define them well. What would a good outcome look like? Does it have words, visuals, lists, timelines, assignments of responsibility…?

Also, identify any specific decisions that the group either must make or is not going to make. This can help avoid misguided energy during your session. Sometimes, participants push for a decision instead of properly exploring the topic because they think a decision will be made in the meeting. You don’t want people slipping into “selling mode” when it’s not the right time for it.

Once you agree on outcomes, let them guide the session. Check often to make sure you’re on track to get to them by the end of the session. Use those outcomes to prioritize topics or activities.

Tip #2: Set the rules and enforce them.

Come up with a few ground rules. You’re not being rigid; you’re proactively removing obstacles to your outcomes.

For example, set the timing: start time, end time, and break times. Consider setting a rule that you resume work on time and don’t stop to help late joiners catch up. Decide how to prioritize and focus the work; some facilitators use a “parking lot” (white board, flip chart, or PowerPoint slide) for off-topic discussions, so you stop them but don’t lose them.

Ask participants to voice any objections and then agree verbally to the rules. This will help the group self-correct when it goes off-track.

Tip #3: Prepare the group for productivity.

Think about any obstacles you might encounter with your particular set of participants.

For example, do you have a participant at odds with the others on a particular issue? Get ready to deal with that. You might want to shore up the minority position or, if the participant is just impeding progress, you might frame his or her objections as out of scope; put them in the parking lot and follow up later.

Do you have participants of different ranks? You’ll have to create a level playing field. Maybe make sure the lower-ranking people contribute first, so their ideas aren’t dampened by a boss with a different view. Or gather some ideas from those with less power ahead of time, and prompt participants to share them.

Tip #4: Minimize the troublemakers.

We’ve all been there. One person in the group seems to be taking up all the air. Or worse, they’re actively undermining the group. Lucky you, facilitator, they’re your problem now. Here are some tips:

• Make it a rule. Set an expectation, up front, that participants will stay on-topic, let others speak, and work collaboratively.
• Redirect them. First, assume good will; the troublemaker might not be aware that they’re a problem. Call them out, politely, and ask to hear from others. For example, “Thanks for your input, Jim. I want to make sure we hear all the ideas in the room. Carol, do you have any thoughts on this?”
• Suffocate them. Not literally, but don’t give them airtime. Direct questions to other participants and, if necessary, ignore their comment and pivot to another subject or participant.
• Use your physical presence. Move across the room to stand next to them—or even stand with your back to them – and address the rest of the group.
• Enlist the group. Reward good participants. Encourage constructive, on-topic, collaborative behaviors with praise and reinforcement. Often, the group will move onto the right path and shut the troublemaker out.

Tip #5: Maintain momentum.

As facilitator, your job is to keep the group moving toward those outcomes. Here are a few ways:

• Ask questions to clarify, elaborate, guide, or show the group where there’s a gap in their thinking. Validate, reflect back, and connect dots.
• Exercise patience. Sometimes progress is messy. Give the group the time they need for organic discussion and idea generation.
• Shut up. People love to fill silence. If no one is talking, just wait and they will. And, in any case, make sure you’re only speaking as needed to facilitate. If you’re talking a lot, there’s something wrong. Don’t do the work for them or put words in their mouths. You want participants to own the results of the session; that will happen only if they land on the solutions themselves. We want to share back what we’re hearing to validate it, and connect dots, but we want them to form the conclusions
• Check progress and focus. Breaks are a good time to decide whether your pace and direction are right. Assess this yourself and/or ask a few participants what they think. Is the group hitting the milestones? Are they filling out the picture they need at the end? If not, when the group reconvenes, reset them toward their goals.

Tip #6: Close with clarity.

Did the group produce what they wanted? Show them! Play back what they produced, get consensus that it’s right, then plan to take it forward.

Confirm any decisions they made, then build a cascading messaging plan. This plan defines how to handle the decisions, information, or concepts coming out of the session—what should be kept confidential and what should be shared with the rest of the organization. Next, decide which information goes to which groups. Finally, agree on the talking points and terms to use when delivering the messages. Establish activities, responsibilities, and a timeline. Importantly, define the very next step to be taken for each key decision and schedule a follow-up meeting to check in. This will create momentum and give the group a quick win.

Don’t let your great work stay in the room—use your session outcomes as a launching pad to make a real impact on your business.

ICYMI: Executive Facilitation Series Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 5 & Part 6

Executive Facilitation

Part 3: Five tips for a great facilitation experience.

You have assembled key executives to solve a problem, create an important strategy, or make big decisions. Sounds like serious business. But they can enjoy themselves and do great work. Here are a few ideas.

1.    Show forward motion.

Participants who feel like they’re wasting their precious time are unhappy participants. Help them keep their eye on the prize; show them throughout the session that they’re moving toward their goals. The easiest way to do that is to:

• Confirm the goals of the session at the start,
• Show a path of milestones through the session.
• Check off these milestones as you reach them.

2.    Delight some eyeballs.

Nothing saps joy like dense, wordy slides. You might need a few of them as examples of real-world reports and such but keep the rest of your visuals pretty and clean.

Use only as many slides as necessary to achieve the goals of the session. On those slides, focus on graphics and minimize words. Remember, people can’t read and listen to you at the same time. Keep the detailed content in your facilitator notes.

When choosing graphics, be a little creative. Invest in the beautiful, funny, and surprising. Your participants will remember what you’re saying better when it’s attached to a memorable image.

Nothing saps joy like dense, wordy slides.

Another refreshing approach is to invite a graphic facilitator to document your work. For example, as you create your organization’s new vision and mission, the graphic facilitator illustrates it on a giant paper canvas or smart board on the wall. The graphic documentation is a great reference point to keep the team focused on its goals after the session. Learn more and see examples here.

3.    Lighten up.

You want the session to be enjoyable, or maybe even fun. Think about ways – big and small – to elevate the mood.

A good place to set a fun tone is the kickoff. For example, have all participants send you their high school yearbook photo ahead of time, then put those photos on your opening slides. Do the participants know each other pretty well? On a break, have them pick from a list of superlatives and honor each participant when you call the meeting back into session. Find out who was voted “Best Hair,” or “Most Likely to Skydive.” Find other ideas here.

Another way to build in fun is to put learning or decision-making in the context of a game. But use caution; participants – especially those with big responsibilities – don’t have time for meaningless shenanigans. So, if you engage in shenanigans, make them meaningful. It’s ok to play, but the play must move the group forward.

4.    Get them out of their chairs.

Engaging the body can help engage the brain. Here are three things to try.

• Work in motion. Invite participants to gather around a flipchart or whiteboard for some activities. Or structure an activity so that they have to move to complete it; for example, ask them to vote on post-its and then move around the room to place them.
• Give them a break. Schedule breaks throughout the session, so participants can stretch their legs or take care of urgent work matters.
• Take it outside. If the venue allows, move the group outside for some of the session. Fresh air, natural light, and a change of scenery are good for creativity and critical thinking.

It’s ok to play, but the play must move the group forward.

5.    Give them time.

One of the benefits of executive working sessions is the time they get together. For many execs, this is a rare and precious thing. They have a chance to network, get advice, collaborate on hot topics, and form stronger bonds. Balance the work at hand with unstructured time so participants leave feeling even better than expected.

Important work doesn’t have to be dull or painful. With a little preparation, your participants will walk away happy and eager for your next session.

ICYMI: Executive Facilitation Series Part 1, Part 2, Part 4 & Part 5

Executive Facilitation

Part 2: Are great facilitators born or made?

While there are no doubt some innate advantages, we lean toward the latter. Here are some tips to help you create compelling and productive sessions for your executive participants.

Take their point of view.

Execs are thinking about the needle they need to move. Do you know what’s important to the people in the room? Can you describe what they need out of the session, and what they want to do with it, going forward?

Find out. That’s your North Star. A good facilitator maintains focus on the executives’ ultimate goal and how the outcomes of the session will serve that goal.

Meet them at their level.

A good executive facilitator has a certain gravitas. A mismatch between the facilitator and participants undermines the process. Own the room so participants feel confident following you through the process.

How? That depends on your role.

• Are you an external facilitator? A contractor or a member of another function within the organization? You might have a little work to do, especially if participants don’t know you well. Establish credibility, both before and during the session. Remind participants of your CV, illustrate points with stories from your experience. and make sure your content is unimpeachably valid to an executive audience. If they feel you’re one of them, in some sense, things will run more smoothly.
• Are you a member of the executive group you’re facilitating? Facilitating a group of your peers has its positives and negatives. The downside is that your own team might resist your efforts to impose process during the session. If you expect pushback, preview the rules before the meeting and then get verbal consensus as you start. On the “pro” side, you have built-in credibility and you’ll have an easier time maintaining focus on what’s important.

Deliver value.

Your role is to help the group produce something better than they could have on their own.

Here are the basics to help you get started.

• Define the session. What is the goal? What does success for the day look like? Which topics will be discussed and what topics won’t be discussed?
• Give people space. Remember, you’re not the presenter; you’re the facilitator. Even if you know a lot about the topic of the session, resist the urge to talk a lot. Also, recognize that some people need more space than others. Introverts need time to process before they chime in. You might need to call on them to get their input. And consider individual styles ahead of the session, so you can plan accordingly.
• Ask good questions. What is a “good” question? It challenges assumptions, plays devil’s advocate, draws out more information, gets at the “why”, or compares to other ideas for the purpose of prioritizing. Also, ask “Why now?” when discussing a strategic initiative; it will spark meaningful discussion.
• Listen. Often, it’s the emotion carried in the words that is most important to pick up on. That’s the area to explore. Great facilitators lead the group into discussion topics they have been avoiding—whether it’s the proverbial elephant in the room or just a touchy subject. Another effective tool is Edward de Bono’s Six Thinking Hats Technique – Exploring your mind. It’s a great way to avoid groupthink and pressure-test the emerging conclusion. It also offers a boost to groups who are disengaged or filled with non-confrontational.

Often, it’s the emotion carried in the words that is most important to pick up on.

• Catch the valuable points. This is one of your most critical tasks. As a good facilitator, you are deeply knowledgeable on the subject and goals of the session. Use that filter to grab the key ideas as they float by in the flow of conversation. Maybe you can tag team: assign a scribe to capture these points on the whiteboard or pad.
• Connect some dots. It’s also up to you to make sense of what the group is offering up. Point out links between one participant’s comment and another’s. Categorize ideas against the session’s goals. Identify recurring themes, issues, or opportunities. As the facilitator, you need to be able to see the forest for the trees.
• Synthesize information. The purpose of an executive working session is to generate something new: a concept, model, strategy, plan, or action. What is it? Help the group see what’s emerging. What are we saying? What does that session outcome look like?
• Invite the group to shape the result. Show them what they came up with. Ask, “Is it right? How should we change it?” Ask the group both what they think and how they feel about it. “Give me one word to describe how you feel about this decision we’ve reached.” can uncover suppressed concerns about a solution. People overthink their answers to “what do you think?” questions whereas “How do you feel?” is typically answered more simply, directly and from the gut.

As the facilitator, you need to be able to see the forest for the trees.

• Check it against the session’s goals. Rewind to the beginning of the session. “What was the goal? What did we expect to accomplish today? Did we get there?”
• Draw out next steps. Help the group decide what should happen after the session, with an eye on the ultimate outcomes for the organization. Then determine responsibilities and timing. Finally, get verbal commitment to your plan.
• Define the message plan. Ask, “What decisions did we make that should be shared with the rest of the organization? What should not be shared outside of the group? What are the messages and who will deliver them?” Add those messaging items to the next steps plan.

Executive facilitation is about making the group more powerful and productive. It’s about guiding them toward meaningful outcomes that align with the organization’s goals. With thoughtful facilitation, you can elevate these meetings and help executives realize their potential as a strategic team.

ICYMI: Executive Facilitation Series Part 1, Part 3, Part 4 & Part 5

Executive Facilitation 

Part 1: Preparation

Executive facilitation is the process of engaging a group of leaders, in real time, to reach the best outcome. Put another way, it helps the right minds create something better than they could individually. The goal of executive facilitation is actionable synergy.

Are you planning executive facilitation? First, answer these questions.

Why are we spending time on this?

Executives are drowning in meetings. Pre-empt “This could have been an email” by testing your plan with a knowledgeable partner, like the sponsor of the effort or the senior executive involved.

Begin with the end in mind. What will you accomplish during the meeting? Are the outcomes input and ideas or decisions and plans? Will you end with a binding consensus on the way forward?

How are you going to get those outcomes? Do you need all that time? Do you need each of the people you’re inviting? Test the outcomes, materials, and facilitation approach ahead of time with the sponsor of the effort.

Your goal: the value of everything you do during the session will be crystal clear to the execs in the room.

Who are the players and what do they want?

Know your participants. Know the basics: their names, roles, titles, functions, and time with the company.

Then dig a little deeper. Understand their styles and motivations. Are they likely to speak up or not? Will they happily collaborate and hear others out? Do they have any particular motivations or affiliations that will affect the group’s work?

Ask the sponsor: If this meeting goes sideways, how will that happen? What are the potential road bumps? How should we get ahead of them?

All that intel will help you manage the group toward the outcomes they need. You might need to:

• Draw some participants out to make sure their ideas are in the mix.
• Help those with a minority opinion “hold space” during the discussion.
• Form breakout groups or pick discussion leaders to avoid trouble.
• Present or “plant” information to balance out someone with an agenda or maintain momentum.

What’s the scoop?

It’s important to ground yourself with information, especially if you’re an “outside” facilitator. Sometimes participants make assumptions that aren’t right. This can set the whole group in the wrong direction.

Another problem: you might not have all the information represented in the room. For example, maybe no one in the room represents “the work.” Often, non-executives have the best understanding of the implications of the decisions made in the room. But they’re not there. You, the facilitator, might have to bring that information to the session.

Do a little research.

Talk to the sponsor or trusted experts to make sure the assumptions and data underpinning your outcomes are sound. In other words, make sure the group is having the right conversation.

How should participants prepare?

Participants need the why, when, where, who, and what.

• WHY — Give participants the vision: the outcomes of the session and what those outcomes will do for them and for the organization.
• WHEN and WHERE — Set clear expectations on time and place. Will you start on time? Will there be a buffer, like breakfast or lunch, before you start? Will you offer breaks? When should they expect to finish? Is it ok to join virtually or not?
• WHO — Let everyone know who else will come and what their work role is or whom they’re representing.
• WHAT — Give them a sense of how the day will go. Are there any big topics, activities, or ground rules? What decisions will be made? There’s a big difference between “We will discuss…” and “We will decide…” Let them know the stakes.

And tell them what to prepare or bring to the session. For example, do you need some participants to be ready to report on their areas of expertise? What form should it take? (Slides? Handouts? Written data on a whiteboard?) And make sure the sponsor or senior exec is ready to set up the purpose and expected outcomes of the session; if you’re an external facilitator, you should not do that.

Well begun is half done. Isn’t that what they say? It’s never more true than in executive facilitation. Set yourself up for success by doing the right prep work

ICYMI: Executive Facilitation Series Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 & Part 5