Call Today: 204-899-2808
Request: Richard at SetForSuccess

Eight Tips for Facilitating Your Next Planning Session or Requirements Meeting

The best teachers teachfrom the heart. (4)Recently I was asked by a client, who wanted to host their own planning session, what approaches would I suggest for their planning event. I laughed and said, be like a Scout and “Be Prepared”. They looked at me as if I was being a little strange. So I explained that a lot of people misjudge the time and effort it takes to facilitate a planning session including what approaches to take during the session. Inexperienced professionals who see themselves as a DIY (do it yourselfer) usually make a number of mistakes. Those mistakes are no different than if you decided to put a new wall in your basement. It will take you twice as long and someone will need to fix your mistakes.

So if we go with the motto, “Be Prepared” for facilitating discovery sessions with your stakeholders, then we can apply some rules, tools and techniques and outcomes thinking. Let’s start with the basic thinking in terms of the prep session, the session and the post session.

Yet another meeting: In general, people are tired of attending meetings and discovery sessions. In the business world, business analysts, project managers, senior managers and all other stakeholders are busy people who deserve to have their time leveraged wisely. Plan accordingly laying out exactly what you need to accomplish. Set your time parameters and know how long it takes to do things.
Pre-session Work: General rule of thumb is for every one hour of facilitation time allow four to eight hours of preparation time depending on the level of customization and number of stakeholders engaged. This rule is more for small groups.

Suggested Article:  10 Winning Combinations to Help You S.E.T. and Achieve Your Business Goals

The Business Problem: Be clear on the “business problems” being addressed and the “solution context”. Clear business problem definition should be created in partnership with the sponsors and senior stakeholders prior to the session. The solution context provides a framework for the participants to frame their thinking in addressing issues. It does not mean the facilitator is providing solutions. 

Rules, Rules, Rules: Establish the “rules of engagement” and “who they are as a team”. The rules of engagement provide a context for the session structure and acceptable behaviors. The second question helps teams establish how they see themselves. I always have the teams establish the rules of engagement and how they see themselves through a short questionnaire prior to the session. That gets summarized and then sent back to everyone stating that these are the rules you established. That way the team owns the rules not the facilitator.

Introductions and takeaways: Get your introductions established with key takeaways from the participants. This helps the facilitator align the session objectives with stakeholder’s expectations. Again this can be done in advance. Especially the takeaways through the same process used to establish the rules. The introduction should be done in a creative way that manages time effectively. The approach stand up and introduce yourself can waste a lot of time. Consider using another method.

Group Dynamics Tools: Use a variety of people and group dynamic tools and techniques to determine the successes and challenges, create discussion, and come to decisions.

  • Brainstorming in a non-judgmental way to capture the thinking of individuals and teams. Make sure that you follow brainstorming rules. 
  • Buzz Groups to buzz on an assigned topic for 10 to 20 minutes that have been established by the facilitator. 
  • Team Pods to group people into working units at common tables facing one-another so they get engaged. 
  • Play games. Do not be afraid to play games. Games provide a means of getting participation engaged and the information you need to have a successful session. This is where your creativity comes in. Have fun! 
  • 66 Techniques. Six people discuss a topic for six minutes. Give the group structure by assigning a chair, a scribe and an auditor to provide feedback on the groups’ efforts. 
  • POPs. Get the POPs (points of pain) and align them with the organization’s maturity. 
  • Nominal Group Technique. Use the Nominal Group Technique to have team members identify their best solution to business problems through a process of rating and elimination. 
  • Cost, Ease, Benefit. Use Cost, Ease, Benefit analysis to have participants clearly defines and understands the impact of their recommendations. 
  • SWOT. Get the SWOT, that is strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, and identify those things external and internal that the team needs to focus on. 
  • Fish Bone. Throw them a Fish Bone(a diagram) to stimulate ideas and thinking as to the root cause of a business problem. 
  • Debate Teams. Create Debate Teams and have the groups discuss all sides of an issue. Ensure that there is structure and everything is timed and scribed. 
  • Smart Objectives. Have the groups make objectives SMART through ensuring they are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and timely. 

Related Article:  9 Known Group Characteristics Present during Facilitated Planning Sessions and Meetings

Getting to the End: Every session must come to an end. Make sure you plan for an ending. There are some things you should or could do as the facilitator. Consider these items: 

  • Summarize and Review all that has been said to ensure clarity and alignment with the sessions key objectives. 
  • Get the FUDs (fears, uncertainties and doubts). Have the stakeholders write these down, in confidence, and hand them in at the end of the session. There is nothing better than knowing the stakeholders’ concerns. 
  • Positives and Deltas. Request the positives and the deltas regarding the session. Review these as they will provide the facilitator insight into areas for improvement. 
  • Scale it 1 to 5 and ask how the stakeholders feel about the decisions, recommendations and the overall initiative. You might find that they see things as just another shade of what they did last year. Be prepared to leverage the information gathered. 
  • Get yourself evaluated. You need to grow.

Know your deliverables: This is difficult to summarize in just a few items. I do cover some common deliverable in my book, S.E.T. for Success for creating Business Roadmaps and Transition Plans. These include:

  • Strategy Map: A strategy map is a graphical representation of all the key business decisions that have been made using your approach. It’s generally used to bring all of the pieces together. It could also be a Tactical and Operational Map.
  • Road Map: Is a graphical representation of the actions you need to take linked to your key objectives, the projects you need to do, who is going to lead them and the core elements of work.
  • Work Plans (Implementation Plan): Build an implementation plan with assigned tasks, core responsibilities and timelines. Ensure there is a follow up mechanism. This is where you start to connect all the various stakeholders and bridge your gaps.
  • Communication Plan: Establish a follow up plan. Communication is the key to understanding what the participants expect. Be clear on expectations and follow through. 

There are many other possible deliverables. It is just a matter of defining up front what it is you need accomplish.

There are lots of possible approaches, tools and techniques, and potential outputs from planning sessions. I do often hear that when the DIY steps in that the group does not achieve or accomplish what it is they wanted to do. That the meeting just rambles on with no final conclusion and the stakeholders feel as if nothing was accomplished. Still another issue is with follow through. This is where the leaders don’t follow up or implement what was agreed upon. I think that might be another blog. For now, if you follow some of the items I listed here it should help you in your session.

Be Prepared and Good Luck.

And Remember,

Do your best,
Invest in the success of others,
Make your journey count

Richard

Address

Richard Lannon
Voice: 204-899-2808
Email Us Richard Lannon
Website: http://braveworld.ca
Email: richard@braveworld.ca

Newsletter

Connect for Strategy Insights

caps