Leadership On-the-Go Integrating Learning as you lead GFHR Talent Management Effective Meeting Management and Facilitation Module VC2 Facilitator Guide Description and Preparation Leadership On-the-Go Centralized, global content on leadership and team topics that focus on application and skillbuilding. In alignment with Ericsson’s Agile principles, please feel free to modify your Effective Meeting Management and Facilitation program to make it as relevant as possible to your audience. That includes choosing the best options where they are offered as well as removing or replacing slides, exercises, and tools as you see fit. Module Title: Delivery Options: Target Audience: Minimum: 12 Maximum: 20 Duration: Description: Participant Invitations: EMMF – Effective Meeting Facilitation Virtual workshop One – VC2 Delivered by HR, leaders, and/or external facilitators • Managers who want to develop further or refresh and refocus on expected competencies. • In-tact teams who want to develop and be motivated to perform at their best. • Cross-functional teams who want to build better collaboration and trust. Option to separate into two virtual workshops: 1. Effective Meeting Management and Facilitation 3.10 hrs 2. Effective Meeting Facilitation 90 min Meetings are the biggest controllable cost in any organization. The greatest myth about meetings is that they are inherently bad. Good meetings are a reflection of good managers, and it is possible to transform meetings into productive, focused, and even energizing activitiies. Effective Meeting Management and Facilitation provides participants with a simple and easy-to-follow process for improving the efficiency of meetings—tactical and strategic, inperson and virtual. This workshop takes participants through a simple model: "Plan before, Lead during, and Follow up after." Participants will learn how to identify the most appropriate purpose, process, people, and performance critical to leading effective meetings while applying agile principles. In this workshop, participants will: 1. Learn how to Plan before, Lead during, and Follow up after to manage and facilitate meetings effectively 2. Engage in fast-paced, skill-building exercises to practice the Plan, Lead, Follow-up model 3. Participate in application opportunities to use the content back on the job 4. Receive a set of tools to improve cost, productivity, and time management Module Objectives: VC 1 Participant Pre-work: Less than 30 min Accessed via My Learning Particant Tools: Handouts to use during workshop and on the job Accessed via My Learning Facilitator Resources: Facilitator Preparation: Post-work: To learn more VC 2 – This workshop Learn how to facilitate meetings effectively by using the Plan, Lead, Follow-up model. 1. Lead During: Agile facilitation techniques to manage behavior, keep meetings on track, and increase collaboration. 2. Apply learning to real-life examples 3. Commit to taking action in your role Review the Leadership Framework competencies that have the greatest impact on effective meetings 1. Agile Tips Job Aid 2. VC2 Participant Workbook Participants to print all handouts and workbook themselves and bring to workshop (please print double-sided). Facilitator guide follows: * Indicates animation built into the PPT slides Plain text indicates instructions to facilitator Italics indicates facilitator scripts Practice the instant play, at innovationgames.com Please sign up and test the functionally before conducting this game live. Participants are directed to additional resources: 1. Apply what you learned 2. Review: http://www.storyboardthis.com 1 alignment 3hr. Virtual Workshop Timings / Prompts / Slides Session Content While you wait Slide 1 – While you wait 30 minutes Using Centra Before we get into the virtual workshop, can you all: Hear? Use mic? Use whiteboard? Do you have your printed participant materials with you? We will be asking you to take notes. • Agile Tips Job Aid • VC2 Participant Workbook Welcome Slide 2 - Welcome Welcome participants to the Effective Meeting Management and Facilitation Module, part of the Global Leadership On-the-Go Program, which is about integrating learning as you lead. Introduce yourself 2 min You may have taken part n the VC1 that covered the meeting effectiveness techniques of what to do before, during, and after meetings. If you have not attended VC1, I encourage you to do so. VC2 dives deeper into facilitation techniques using agile practices. This workshop explores the importance of facilitating meetings in a way that ensures maximum effectiveness. Remember good meetings are a reflection of good managers, and it is possible to transform meetings into a productive, focused, and even energizing activity. Transition: Before we get into more specifics on this topic, I want to check in with you. Activity #1: Check-in Slide 3 – Check In Use the whiteboard features and ask participants to write one or two words to: Describe your biggest challenge facilitating a meeting, face-to-face or virtually. 5 min What other challenges are there? What may distract you today during this virtual class? Please use EMMF Document1 1 the chatbox to provide your answers. How will you mitigate these distractions? Thank you for your commitment! Transition: Let’s delve into the objectives. Objectives & Introductions Option 1: @1 min (adjust according to participant size) Option 2: 5 min Slide 4 - Objectives You are here to learn how to facilitate meetings effectively using the Plan, Lead, Follow-up model. You will have an opportunity for skills practice and application in your real-life situations. Most importantly we want you to commit to implement what you are learning. We will be using agile facilitation techniques to support the high degree of collaboration demanded by agile methods--ways of sharing information and making decisions together. This workshop combines information from the latest meetings research with ample opportunity for participants to practice new behaviors as they learn. We have a full toolbox of techniques for you to ensure sustainability of learning. Activity #2: Introductions Introduce yourself: Name, role, one strength you have when facilitating a meeting. Leadership Framework 5 min Slide 5 - Leadership Framework All Leadership On-the-Go modules are anchored in the Leadership Framework (as a model of best practice leadership) and set the context for participants. Ericsson’s Leadership Framework is a singular model, validated by leaders globally, that communicates what is expected of people leaders at Ericsson. We believe that better leaders get better business results. Today we are putting our focus on the Enabling People and Courageous Leadership parts of the framework. We also believe Effective Meeting Management and Facilitation relates to Competence Drive, Master Strategy, Driving Innovation, Excelling Execution, and will help you with Embracing Change. Why Enabling People? High performing teams run meetings well. Meetings are essential for effective teams as an efficient way to communicate and ensure alignment of efforts. Regularly and effectively run team meetings allow team members to clarify objectives, prioritize focus areas, solve problems together, and perform the right tasks while capitalizing on the combined wisdom and experience of the group. Why Courageous Leadership? It addresses the need for leaders to lead the way. Meetings are a great way to set clear direction, appropriate standards of behaviour, and to manage ineffective behaviors appropriately. EMMF Document1 2 Transition: Virtual meetings have their own set of challenges… Virtual Team Meetings Slide 6 A 2004 survey by Raindance Communications Inc., sheds interesting light on virtual meetings. Especially because the data is so eye-opening and yet it’s several years old. The number-one challenge for virtual meetings is getting and keeping everyone engaged and participating fully. 90% of people on conference calls said they multitask 3 min 70% reported doing other, unrelated work 50% reported doing email or texting 35% said they were eating 35% said they muted the meeting line to conduct side conversations 25% are surfing the web What is your experience? In fact, they say, heavy multitasking can lower your IQ up to 15 points, three times more than the effect of smoking marijuana. Transition: What are some best practices for conducting virtual team meetings? Death by Meetings 5 min Slide 7 According to Patrick Lencioni in his book Death by Meetings, the key to improving meetings, has less to do with better preparation, agendas or minutes, rather focused on 3 key expectations which matches well with our Plan, Lead, Follow-up model. Context and Purpose If leaders don't create the right context for their meetings and make it clear to team members why the meeting is taking place, and what is expected of them, few meetings can be effective. To create context, leaders must differentiate between different types of meetings. These include the Daily Check-in, the Weekly Tactical, the Monthly Strategic and the Quarterly Off-site Review (QBR – quarterly business review). Meeting facilitators must explicitly state what the outcomes are of meetings. Lively Debate or as Patrick calls it “Drama.” The key to making meetings more engaging and less boring lies in identifying and nurturing the natural level of conflict that should exist. Leaders of meetings need to do the same by putting the right issues—often the most controversial ones—on the table at the beginning of their meetings. By demanding that their people wrestle with those issues until resolution has been achieved, they can create genuine, compelling drama, and prevent their audiences from checking out. EMMF Document1 3 The Commitment Transform meetings into meaningful, engaging and relevant activities, so we can ensure effective performance. In the book it suggests that adding up all of the time that these meetings require, amounts to approximately twenty percent of a leader's time. We will be integrating these concepts into the workshop today, as well, link them to the 4 Ps: Purpose, Process, People, and Performance Transition: Ok, let’s give you some tools to help you run meeting more effectively. Break 10 min EMMF Document1 4 2 Model Overview – lead during Timings / Prompts / Slides Session Content Transition Slide 8 90 minutes Header slide to separate the next section. What is expected from you to lead, during the meeting? 1 min Lead During 2 min Slide 9 When you lead a meeting, you are a leader and all leadership principles apply: provide structure, encourage participation, and hold participants accountable. The E/// LF outlines competencies we are expected to demonstrate as good leaders. These apply to meeting management and facilitation too, such as: Be well prepared Provide others with a clear direction. Set appropriate standards of behavior. Courageous Leadership Present well Develop expertise through continual professional development. Don’t read slides. Competence Drive Manage self Adapt interpersonal style to suit different people or situations. Take responsibility for actions. Uphold ethics and values. Demonstrate integrity Manage participation Demonstrate an interest in and understanding of others. Recognize and reward the contribution of others. Listen, consult others and communicate proactively. Support and care for others. Agile methods demand a high degree of a collaborative approach to problem solving rather than a plan designed by a single expert. Be decisive Make prompt, clear decisions, which may involve tough choices or considered risks. Bring discussions to a close or table them to keep the meeting moving. Gain commitment Encourage participant dialogue and contributions. Enable People Innovate Produce new ideas, approaches or insights. Ask frequently, “How can we do this better, cheaper, faster?” Accept new ideas. Manage conflict Adapt to changing circumstances and redirect where necessary. Transition: Ok, lets take a look at dealing with problem behaviors during meetings EMMF Document1 5 Prevention Intervention Slide 10 We have and will be sharing agile facilitation techniques with you today. The agile facilitation principles are about: Using Collaborative methods Managing Communication Flows 2 min Using and Interactive Toolbox Facilitation through a Toolkit An English idiom states that “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound in cure.” Which tells us that if you put in a little effort into preventing a problem, you will not have to put in as much effort into solving the problem. The agile facilitation practices will prevent a lot of the challenges we listed previously. All these tips we will share will help you with the 4 Ps. Transition: We will be looking at both: prevention and intervention techniques that will help you facilitate better meetings. Agile Tips Slide 11 We have asked you to review the agile tips document and think about how to use it. Let’s briefly touch on just a few of the tips: 3 min Check In is a way to get everyone to transition from all previous activities into the meeting with full attention. As well to establish their individual objectives. Think of our check-in exercise earlier in this workshop. Check Out is a similar exercise in which you can establish key take-aways from the workshop. Pulse Check is a way to clarify what the facilitator may be sensing about attitudes during a meeting. Reflection From the neuroscience work of David Brock in “How the Brain Works,” it has become clear that we need to think deeper rather than surface-level thinking to get to greater observations and conclusions. What tool did you find interesting, challenging, or something you will commit implementing? We will give you an opportunity to dig a little deeper into some of these today. Transition: The first tool helps manage the thinking in a meeting and become aware of the different perspectives we all bring to the table. 6 Thinking Hats Slide 12 Edward the Bono developed the six thinking hats which presents several benefits to you for effective meetings. EMMF Document1 6 Why use the six hats? 3 min We all think in a variety of different ways depending on the situation, topic, people present, and so on. Knowing and understanding the various ways in which people think will help you: • Uncover hidden agendas • Ensure that you look at issues from a variety of perspectives • Think clearly, objectively, and creatively • A great tool for conflict and problem solving • Works really well in different cultures around the world, and • Ensures high levels of collaboration to align with agile methods When you appreciate how people think, it places you in a better position to manage the dynamics and lead effectively during a meeting. Transition: Want to solve a problem? Challenge Slide 13 Can you solve this challenge? Get audience responses. Challenge Slide 14 Why can some of us solve this? It is based on how we think, right? Transition: So, what are the six thinking hats and what type of thinking helps us solve the challenges we face in business? 1 min 6 Thinking Hats Slide 15 What are the 6 Thinking Hats? The hats are arranged according to colors. 8 min The blue hat is about process. Use the blue hat to set the focus and make summaries. The white hat seeks facts. Use the white hat to look at the available information, think in a more neutral or objective way. Watch out for perceptions that may appear as facts. The green hat finds possibilities. The green hat is for creative thinking. Use it to find alternative solutions and create innovative solutions. The yellow hat focuses on the good. Use it to identify the benefits EMMF Document1 7 of an idea and to see why something will work. Like a ray of sunshine yellow-hat thinking sees the positives and potential of a proposed solution. The black hat is about caution. Use it to ask questions that appear negative. Look at why something may not work and find the flaws attached to a proposed solution. Black-hat thinking may seem negative but it identifies the dangers or faults in an idea. Imagine if the black hat thinkers did not exist. What will we lose out on? The red hat addresses feelings. It summons intuition or gut feelings. Use it to focus on emotion and to question the impact off a change or initiative on the feelings of people in an organization. Transition: What types of questions does each hat ask? 6 Thinking Hats Slide 16 How will people behave when they wear the six hats? The blue hat will say things like “Let’s summarize,” or “How about we follow this process?” 8 min The white hat will ask things like, “What facts do we need? What else must we consider?” The green hat will ask, “What are the alternatives?” or “What else can we do about this?” The yellow hat will say things like, “What will make this work?” or “This is cool because we will benefit this way.” The black hat will say, “Why will this fail?” or “This has negative consequences because…” The red hat will say things like, “How will this affct people?” or “People won't be happy with this because…” Ok, who are you? What is your preferred thinking style? Perhaps you have a primary and secondary style. Take a few minutes to reflect on these characteristics and share what you believe to be your primary style, and indicate your answer in the chatbox. Give time and get feedback by asking a few participants to share an example. Transition: How can we use the six thinking hats to effectively facilitate meetings? Case Study Slide 17 Facilitator note: After each animation allow participants to process and write down their answers before clicking the animation to advance. 8 min Activity #3: Six Thinking Hats Sequence A very effective way to use the six thinking hats is to guide all meeting participants to focus on a problem with the same thinking hat simultaneously. This will lead to achieving better solutions, EMMF Document1 8 better and quicker decision making, while managing the personalities and their thinking within the meeting. First of all: there's no such thing a THE right sequence for using the Six Thinking Hats. Sequences differ according to subject and participating thinkers. Here is an example of a structured sequence and questions to use to help everyone think through a problem using the same hat. Please grab the piece of paper or you can write in your workbook on page (insert page). We will start with the blue hat, directing the thinking process by posing a question: What will help us become more innovative?” Often the blue hat will also like to restate the thinking goal, perhaps midpoint in a meeting. Go ahead and draw the blue hat and the question posed. Case Study Slide 18 In this example we move to the red hat, answering the question: “What is your gut reaction to how well we are doing on innovation today? Draw the red hat with your answer as a number. 2 min Remember red hat thinking is a gut-feel response. Can you share your numerical answer in the chat box? Also, by using the white hat list, what things are we doing or not doing to help innovation. Keep in mind to remove judgment. White-hat thinking is based on data and information. Use the chat box again to share your answers Case Study Slide 19 Next list your yellow-hat thinking, “What is working? Because?” and then black hat, “What is not working? Why?” 2 min Share you answers and I will call on some of you to take the mic and elaborate. We will now use our green hat in two ways: 1. To flush out ideas you already have. Off the top of you head, what ideas do you have? 2. We will use a technique called Random Entry to force ourselves to look at things in a different way and stimulate new thinking. (transition) Random Entry Slide 21 Think about this image of corn. Don’t share at first.. Think of at least 4 words that you associate with the word “corn.” Give participants time to reflect, first, then share. 2 min EMMF Document1 Write on slide their answers and add if needed words such as: 9 Ear, Stalk, Kernel, Silk. Random Entry Slide 22 Now, use each word, one at a time, to stimulate new ideas to address innovation. Let me share an example. Corn – Challenge team to get value out of the corniest ideas. 2 min Get audience report outs. Transition: Now to share our ideas. Random Entry Slide 23 Corn – Challenge team to get value out of the corniest ideas Get audience report outs and animate to show examples. Ear – Listen for ideas from customers, suppliers, competition 8 min Stalk – “stalk-out” to celebrate innovative ideas Kernel – Appoint “ideas Colonel” to track ideas Silk – “silk” award to celebrate Generate Ideas / Breakthrough thinking: Random thinking makes unexpected connections work to generate ideas. Things that make no sense keep us occupied, we can’t walk away from them. This means we reach deeper and cross boundaries we would usually stay well within, in order to resolve the senselessness. According to John Medina in “Brain Rules,” this can even carry through to our sleep, hence the term “sleep on it.” Using de Bono’s framework, is really an agile method of thinking. Using “corn” is a rather ridiculous idea, right? So, why does it work? Provocation: Ridiculousness, fun, laughing – getting out of the serious mode activates a different part of brain which frees up our imagination. Movement: Activities that stimulate mental leaps help us escape our normal, tried-and-tested thought patterns. Harvesting: Reaping the benefit of our slightly altered viewpoints by creating space for the ridiculous, accepting and investigating all ideas. Treatment: Taking ridiculous ideas and reshaping them back to practical applications. Transition: Ok, back to our sequenced thinking. Case Study Slide 24 Facilitator Note: Keep participant ideas on a whiteboard so that dot voting is easy to do. EMMF Document1 10 We are now using the red hat again to help us sort through ideas. Review the ideas you generated and choose the one idea you think could best help us become more innovative. 8 min Use a quick choice and gut reaction. Place a mark next to the idea you choose. Another way to sort ideas would be to use the white hat and sort according to impact the idea will have and effort it will require. The impact level, increasing from bottom to top, and effort level, increasing from left to right. This will create a different impact-effort combination in each quadrant. High Impact, Low Effort: The best ideas go here! High Impact, High Effort: Further study is likely required. Low Impact, High Effort: Probably best to avoid these. Low Impact, Low Effort: Further study is likely required. Other selection criteria can obviously be used, such as “What we are able to do now, what fits best with our team objectives, or what do we have most passion for.” Term (short-long) Cost Speed Complexity Transition: Now choose one idea. Case Study Slide 25 Facilitator Note: Write chosen ide on slide By choosing one idea we now evaluate our chosen idea, using: The yellow hat, “What are the benefits of that idea?” 8 min The black hat, “What are the risks of that idea?” The green hat, “How do we remove/lessen ‘black hat’ weaknesses?” Please write your answers in the chat box Finally we use the ‘blue hat’ to summarize and it is especially helpful at the end of a thinking process. Also helpful to gain team commitment: “Is this idea key to helping our org/team become more innovative?” What insights/questions do you have from this exercise? Get audience participation. When (under which circumstances) will you find it useful to use systematic sequencing? Remember we said you are not restricted to this or any sequence. In fact you may decide to simple use a quick: ‘red and black hat’ it EMMF Document1 11 one meeting. In another meeting you may decide to use more hats and in a different sequence. The systematic sequence approach is particularly useful when: • The thinkers have different opinions and dig in their heels leading to a dispute. • The discussion is becoming incoherent and leading nowhere. • There is little time available while a subject does deserve a thorough investigation. Transition: Ok, time to reflect… Sequence a Meeting 2 min Slide 26 Activity #4: Sequence a Meeting Remember we said deep reflection is an important part for learning. As an individual exercise, use this method to plan the sequence and questions you will use for the meeting you worked on previously or for another upcoming meeting where you suspect different perspective might cause a challenge. Consider this as your thinking agenda. Keep in mind there is no correct sequence, and every hat can be used multiple times if desirable. Give participants time for self-reflection and then get a few to report out on this process. Transition: There are many different problem behaviors we need to deal with during meetings… Levels of Intervention 5 min Slide 27 When redirecting behavior, it is helpful to use proximity as a tool. Think of someone in the meeting who is taking a sidebar conversation or perhaps checking their phone. Obviously you have a choice to do nothing or handle this distraction by going up the escalating levels of intervention as shown in the diagram. If this is a reoccurring concern, you may even want to ask the participant to sit near or next to you in future meetings. This can be framed as “I want you to help with (insert reason).” What are the consequences of using and not using these interventions? Get a few participants to share. What about virtual meetings? Facilitator can mention some of the following: Check in with participants about their level of engagement. Prepare in advance ways to check in with participants about their level of engagement, both as a group and individually. Keep track of participants and their level of interaction. Keep a list of participants at hand. Check off when you hear from EMMF Document1 12 them. Speak to people individually early and often, setting the expectation that you may call on someone at any time. Use attributed online brainstorming and chat tools periodically, so that you can see who is entering ideas and who is not. Be prepared to interrupt a continual speaker. Thank a person who has spoken up a lot and ask if someone else would like to add something. Go around the virtual table and give each person a chance to speak. Use a virtual talking stick and a 30-second speaking rule. Summarize comments to acknowledge contributions and check for understanding. Ask another participant to paraphrase or build off what they have heard. Web meeting tools where people type comments rather than speak them can give everyone time to compose ideas and read others’ comments. Create a virtual parking lot for off-agenda issues. Capture issues and comments that are important but may distract the group from the meeting objectives. Use a shared whiteboard and acknowledge the comment and move on. Come back to the issues at the end of the meeting. Thanks for your input. Redirection Slide 28 As discussed before, strong leadership during a meeting is critical. Earlier we looked at Be well prepared Provide others with a clear direction and set appropriate standards of behavior, which is a Courageous Leadership competency. 2 min Being prepared means that, in this context, you know what redirection language you can use. Kind of like having a script in your back pocket ready to go. Reflect quietly on what you will actually say in practicing the “accept, validate, defend, defer, redirection” language. We have provided you suggestions, but authentic leadership is about using your own words and delivering the message that is true to your style. Provide participants time to reflect and get a few participants to share. Lead During Summary Slide 29 Lead During – Key Manager Actions Purpose Gain attendee’s agreement on purpose and level of involvement. Process Manage the process with discipline and excellent facilitation skills. 2 min People Manage behaviors, praise often, and bring discussions and decisions to a close. Performance Get attendee commitments on actions. EMMF Document1 13 To the right is a summary of leading during virtual meetings. Lead with 80% interaction vs. lecture format, because research shows that the number-one challenge we face is keeping participants consistently engaged. Take a few minutes to reflect on these actions and check if you have included them into the meeting you have been working on in this workshop. Transition: For our final stretch we will now close out with a few slides. Transition Slide 30 Header slide to separate the next section. Tools Slide 31 We have provided you several tools that you can adapt to use relevant to your role and the types of meetings you manage and facilitate On-the-Go Slide 32 All Leadership-on-the-Go content is supported with follow-up materials accessible on the Leadership Academy site. Check Out Slide 33 Activity #5: Check Out We will now check out using the Learning Matrix for a debrief of the meeting in a positive way. 5 min Go to innovationgames.com Let’s collaborate to identify what should be repeated, changed, or tried, and to thank team members. – Click on “sign up” – Then “join a game” – Insert 9-digit game ID Thank you for all your active participation! I wish you well in implementing these Agile meeting and facilitation skills. Facilitator Note: Unless an electronic version of the Course Evaluation Forms will be sent to each participant, please give participants time to complete them now. Save Excel version to share with GFHR Talent Management, HR EMMF Document1 14 Business Partner, or leader of intact team. Facilitators please complete a Workshop Evaluation Form and send to Pete Mitchell at Ericsson pete.r.mitchell@ericsson.com Slide 34 EMMF Document1 15 3 Appendix Additional information Agile Retrospectives by Esther Derby and Diana Larsen “Everyone can draw” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRL8ZxBhCa0 Meetings in America - Verizon Business State of Meetings Today - Effective Meetings Online Microsoft Survey Death by Meetings Patrick Lencioni Raindance Communications Inc., Fuze.com Virtual meetings video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYu_bGbZiiQ What makes meetings effective, Survey - GM Consultants, Pittsburgh, 1993 Six Thinking Hats Edward de Bono Essential Facilitation: Core Skills for Guiding Groups, Interaction Associates http://www.versionone.com/pdf/AgileCheckList.pdf http://www.storyboardthis.com www.innovationgames.com EMMF Document1 16