“I can’t get people on my team to turn on their cameras.”  That was a complaint that surfaced in Lisette Sutherland’s great Work Together Anywhere workshop I attended recently (see, www.CollaborationSuperpowers.com).  This participant wants to see her colleagues but cannot convince them to turn on their cameras.  Lisette had us...

Dealing effectively with objections can be a problem for meeting leaders.  As the facilitator, you ask a participant if they agree with the group’s decision and they say, “No.”  Where do you go from there? Researchers who studied how to break down resistance found that one method consistently outperformed alternatives[1]. ...

A difficult communication challenge is how to respond to a disgruntled meeting participant.  For those of us who lead meetings, it’s foolish, even dangerous to be a ‘Pollyanna’ thinking that everything will be wonderful if we just let people talk.  Our reality is different.  Communication as a meeting leader is...

Foremost, meeting managers need flexible leadership skills. This is common sense considering the many different kinds of behaviors we see in our meeting participants. Knowing which type of leadership to use in different circumstances can improve how you bring value to your team. Here is a list of leadership roles...

I’ll tell you, honestly, I am nervous before every facilitation.  The usual advice for controlling facilitator jitters is to prepare well.  Well, that’s true but I’ve seen plenty of facilitators fall in love with their meeting strategy and become controlling to get the audience to, “Stick to my plan!”  So,...

In meetings, sometimes it feels like conflict is always with us.  In particular, three types of conflict are common.  Here is how to recognize these and ideas on facilitator tactics to deal them.  Task Conflict Task conflict often involves concrete issues related to work assignments or promises about who will...

Let’s talk about decision making. The instinct in most organizations is to use consensus or majority rule.  Both have their strengths and weaknesses, but there is a third way—Consent Decision Making.  It is an energizing way to get new thinking out of employees that also creates positive teamwork for evaluating,...

What happens to your thinking when I say, “Let me tell you about the time…”?   If you are like most of us your attention sparked and you thought, “I wonder what’s coming next?”  Stories pique interest and curiosity.  And both of these qualities are useful for you as a meeting...