Virtuous Meetings: Technology + Design for High Engagement in Large Groups

Chapter 10Facilitation in Virtuous Meetings

Here we look more closely at the role of facilitation—the role that keeps things moving along constructively, keeps eyes on the prize (purpose and outcomes), and balances the incessant pressure of the clock against the much larger pressures and needs of the organization and the group. No small task. Facilitation is a term used in many fields and generally means “to make a process easier.” Our definition connects facilitation to meetings, and comes from one of the best-selling books on meeting facilitation, the Facilitator's Guide to Participatory Decision-Making by Sam Kaner and others.¹ In it, facilitation is defined as “the expertise that supports a group to do its best thinking.”²

The Facilitator's ...