Leading Meetings and Teams

7 Everyday Facilitation—Not Just for Meetings

As shown in the manga, facilitation skills are great for meetings, but you can also use them in other contexts.

For example, even work functions can be an avenue for facilitation!

The important thing is that your preparations match the scene.

Here are a few tips for practicing facilitation at some different types of work functions.

Work Function Facilitation ①: Welcome Party

The goal of a welcome party is for everyone to get to know the new employees, and for the new employees to get more familiar with their coworkers, so the important thing here is self‐introductions from both sides. Everyone feels more than a little nervous when they're entering a new environment, and a lot of that nervousness stems from not knowing others well.

Introductions should start with the current staff rather than the newcomers.

Once the newcomers get to know the team to some extent, it becomes much easier for them to relax and talk about themselves, so be sure to take the time to properly introduce everyone.

Work Function Facilitation ②: End‐of‐Year Party

I recommend setting up an activity that everyone can participate in and that doesn't put people on the defensive. Creating opportunities for team members to interact with each other in new ways, without letting them get stuck in a rut, is important for a successful team. If you can get everyone to work together on something that encourages them to show different sides of themselves, they can start ...