As a manager, you probably spend a huge proportion of your time in meetings. When was the last time you attended a meeting that you felt really involved in and the outcome was really productive?

People sit round a table, in the same place, in the same room, exhibiting the same type of behaviour regardless of the subject or outcome required.... And yes, what IS the outcome you want from the meeting?

Meetings cost businesses a lot of money - the time of the people attending, the journeys the participants have made to get there, copies of the agenda, background papers, refreshments, venue hire etc etc. And regrettably, this can represent very poor value for money. Wouldn't it be great to have a different experience?

Bringing in a facilitator could give you a much more positive event - and outcome.

What are the benefits of facilitation?

• The meeting is planned and designed to achieve its desired outcome
• Participants have higher levels of energy through using a variety of tools and techniques
• The process is kept on track
• Everyone is encouraged to participate
• Agreement is tested out and actions allocated
• Reflection and challenge by questioning underlying assumptions and injecting new ways of thinking - especially helpful where you are dealing with something new or particularly complex
• Independence - a commitment to helping the group achieve the results they want without having a stake in the outcome
• Focus - the facilitator manages the meeting process so that everyone involved can concentrate on the content
• Follow through - the leader is supported to ensure delivery of the actions after the meeting's over.

Have you got an important meeting coming up that could benefit from an independent facilitator? You can assess this using the list of benefits above - if you can tick all the boxes bar one, you can handle the event yourself. If there are two or more gaps, bringing in a facilitator will help you and the other participants get much more out of the meeting. Why not give it a try?