More tips on running a great meeting using collaborative technology from the experts at Facilitate.com

There are many types of technology available to you to enhance the convenience and productivity of meetings. One category of software tools focuses on increasing the quality and output of group problem solving and decision making. Facilitate.com is an example of such a tool. It provides web based brainstorming, prioritizing and action planning tools that are used in place of flip charts, post-it notes and other traditional facilitator tools. The advantages are the ability to capture ideas and data in a common repository, view results of votes and decisions instantly on your screen, and gather more thoughtful and complete input from meeting participants.

Facilitators using this or other electronic meeting software facilitate the same group process using many of the same techniques as in a traditional meeting, but have the additional opportunity to speed up the process and improve the results. Here are some tips and techniques to help you take advantage of collaborative meeting tools.

1. Establish responsibilities of the meeting owner or client
   The role of the meeting owner or sponsor is critical to the success of your meeting. The sponsor should define the meeting objectives and desired outcomes and determine who should participate and why their contributions are valuable. He or she should provide background information and work with the facilitator to design and conduct the meeting. Finally, he or she should keep an eye on meeting deliverables, confirm the group is on track, and ensure the next steps are completed
   
2. Establish responsibilities with meeting participants
   Meeting participants also have an important role to play in the success of your meeting. They need to be prepared to be involved in the meeting and to provide open and honest input. They need to be ready to speak out as well as listen to and consider the ideas of others . A guiding principle is: Seek to understand before seeking to be understood. Participants should remember to focus on why they are present and work to achieve the desired outcome. Finally, participants must be ready to take responsibility for next steps and implementation
   
3. What to expect from successful meeting technology
   When coupled with a well-planned agenda and well-understood roles and responsibilities, collaborative meeting software speeds idea generation and data collection, allowing more time for creative thinking and analysis. It changes group dynamics by allow people to contribute anonymously and gives people time to think individually while sharing ideas with others. When used in a distributed setting, it enables people to contribute at convenient times and places. Finally, collaborative software captures all input and provides instant documentation.
   
4. Integrating action planning into your agenda
   Ever have great meetings, but don’t seem to get the follow-up you desire? Use the time saved and energy generated from successful online collaborative to close-up with a discussion about "next steps.” Use Facilitate.com to summarize and track action items online between meetings. Start the next meeting with a review of actions completed.
   
5. How to ask the good questions (1)
   As a facilitator, you must know your subject matter, the range of ideas or information you expect and the level of detail that you need. It is helpful to provide examples, good and bad, of the kinds of information or ideas you are looking for. Another approach is to test your questions on one or two participants ahead of time.
   
6. How to ask the good questions (2)
   Keep questions open-ended and at the same time directed to the problem or issue at hand. Ask unusual questions to get the group to think creatively; juxtapose different problems or situations and engage the group in "what if..." scenarios. The idea process will help trigger new thinking when old problems are presented
   
7. How to ask the good questions (3)
   Ask participants to respond with phrasing such as "How can we...," "What if we...." Show participants how to use a headline to attract others to their ideas and then give the full detail. Start with broad questions to test the range of possibilities. Ask follow-on questions to narrow the scope and focus discussion.
   
8. How to ask the good questions (4)
   Make sure participants have the needed background information to answer the questions. Let participants know why you are asking the questions. Provide context for the whole meeting and individual agenda items. Ask for examples and explanations; encourage participants to be as specific as they can.
   
9. "Brainstorming" and "Focused-storming"
   In order to make the most of brainstorming, it is imperative to define the problem at hand and the goals of the encounter beforehand, and in a precise manner. When problems are ambiguous and ill-defined, for example with product innovation, focused-storming (around a series of focused questions) is the preferred approach.
   
10. A good meeting requires good planning
    Well run and effective meetings require a lot of planning. A typical meeting model is: 10% Planning; 80% Meeting; 10% Follow-up. A better model is 50% Planning; 20% Meeting; 30% Follow-up.
    
    For more tips on meeting facilitation, visit our Resources page.