Facilitating meetings for active participation

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Facilitating meetings for active participation

• EMIF workshopBrussels, March 17, 2010,
  1230-500PM
• Ib Ravn, Ph.D., Associate Professor Aarhus
  University, Denmark, www.dpu.dk/fv

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1. Todays program

• 1230 How to design meetings that inspire and
  involve participants? Presentation, reflection
  and demonstration
• 145 Break
• 200 Lessons learnt so far
• 230 Designing your own meeting
• 315 Break
• 330 Presenting your meetings designs and
  facilitating discussion of them
• 500 End

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2. The problem Meetingstreat participants as
recipients

• As it is Drawbacks
• One-way People two-way
• Passivity Use it or lose it
• Q and A Silence, or Im clever, too!
• Debates Many tangents. Success is random
• Workshops So many mini-conferences
• Panels Congestion on One-Way Street

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3. The transfer model of teaching
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4. The conference as a forum for human
co-flourishing

• People have potentials, interests and projects
• We want to learn and flourish
• We go to conferences to get inspired by others
  and grow

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5. Design principles for learning meetings
Blah Blah
1. Concise presentations
???
2. Active interpretation
3. Self-formulation
4. Networking and knowledge sharing
5. Competent facilitation
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6. The design principles (for your own reading)

1. Concise presentations. Fewer, shorter, more
   provocative.
2. Active interpretation. There must be processes
   that help participants actively relate what they
   hear to their own experience. Time to digest,
   think and talk.
3. Self-formulation. There must be opportunities in
   pairs and small groups for everyone to talk about
   the personal interests and projects that brought
   them to the conference in the first place.
4. Networking and knowledge sharing. Facilitated
   activities that help the participants discover
   each other as resources.
5. Competent facilitation. The facilitator must
   create a safe and trusting space where people
   will go along with the new learning processes.

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7. What was interesting ?

• In my presentation, what did you find
  interesting?
• Jot down a few things (2 minutes)
• Share them with your neighbor (6-8 minutes)
• Lets hear some of them, and your questions and
  comments

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8. Techniques (with page numbers)

1. Semicircular seating(?) so everyone can see and
   take part (17)
2. Meet people warms up the room, creates trust
   (58)
3. Ask a few delegates whats nice about beeing here
   (60)
4. Concise presentation, cut in two helps attention
   (64)
5. What was interesting? focus on the
   constructive (24)
6. Silent reflection and notetaking clarifies
   thoughts (70)
7. Minimeetings pair and share, ideas are tested
   (72)
8. Take inspirations helps people inspire each
   other (76)
9. Always a bit of QA otherwise people feel cheated

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9. More techniques that activate participants

1. Separate colleagues after lunch people perk up
   (58)
2. Question cards easier for timid folks to
   contribute (68)
3. Start your future, here, now use todays
   material (86)
4. Take-aways Reflection, minimeetings, sharing, at
   the end
5. Facilitate all presentations dont let the
   presenter (60)
6. Use a script blow-by-blow, for internal use, ?
   program (46) 10.00 Welcome 10.10 Meet
   people 10.20 Presentation, etc.

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10. Task Design a meeting

• Design a 2-4 hour meeting using a few techniques
• Write a script (6-10 lines/elements)
• Print large and legibly on flip chart. Hang it on
  wall
• Take a break at _______ and be back by _______

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11. Your role as a facilitator

1. You host the event, helping everyones
   participate optimally
2. Explain your role to speakers, so they let you
3. Introduce speaker, including length of
   presentation
4. Finish speaker and elicit applause
5. Do a technique, or take questions for speaker
6. If questions and debate move along spontaneously,
   fine. But stay up front, for easy intervention
7. Check bad questions. Refer them to later, if
   necessary
8. Finish when the time is up, even if more
   questions
9. Conclude by thanking the presenter elicit
   applause again

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12. Running a participative technique

1. Dont speak until you have everyones attention
   100
2. Be friendly, calm and firm as you ask delegates
   to do X and Y
3. Never ask if the delegates would like to do it.
   Assume they will do what they are asked to
4. Help the delegates do it in practice (pair up,
   find paper, etc.)
5. Accept without comment if someone chooses not to
   do it unless it disturbs other people
6. Say Thank you afterwards and little else. Dont
   apologize if the process did not seem a success.
   Move on.

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13. Todays basic ideas

• Meetings need techniques/processes that involve
  particpants
• Active participants learn more, have more fun
  come back
• A script details all processes
• A facilitator hosts the meeting and helps
  everyone be their best

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14. More about facilitating meetings

• Steen Elsborg and Ib Ravn Learning Meetings and
  Conferences in Practice. Copenhagen Peoples
  Press, 2007.
• Various papers (The Learning Conference and
  Creating Learning at Conferences Through
  Participant Involvement) www.dpu.dk/om/ibr,
  click Publikationer
• About our group, Facilitating Knowledge
  Processes www.dpu.dk/fv, and minor texts of
  ours at fac-vid.squarespace.com
• My blog on facilitation www.ibravn.blogspot.com
• The Learning Meeting Module A web-based tool.
  www.ims.dk
• International Association of Facilitators
  www.iaf-world.org