Hallmarks of Our Meetings
Learn more here about our clients’ results.
Here are the five key hallmarks you can expect from every meeting with us:
1. Tailored Meeting Design
Agendas match objectives. Meticulous advance planning. Rapport with key players and issues.
We begin every project with an advance planning meeting to discuss objectives, scope of work, logistics, and other considerations. Ideally this planning meeting takes place with a small group of people who know the project and the desired outcomes. Craig asks: “What do you want to achieve? What would success look like?” Answers to these questions help Craig design an agenda to match your objectives. We develop a draft agenda for your consideration and revise it in collaboration with you.
2. Inclusive, Efficient Facilitation
We use many techniques for airing and seeing all views. We structure and respectfully guide difficult discussions.
We prepare handouts, charts, slides, and other materials as appropriate. We become familiar with the meeting facilities and set up the meeting room; when practical we bring all our own equipment such as easels, computers, projector, and screen. We provide name tents and tools for cardstorming, multi-voting, table-top surveys and other group decision techniques.
We offer the four essential functions of high quality facilitation:
| 1. Provide Structure | 3. Reflect the Group |
| 2. Encourage Participation | 4. Move the Group Forward |
Craig explains each of these four essential functions in this video.
3. Themes and Conclusions On the Spot
Stuff gets done. Things get decided. Conclusions emerge.
We document key findings, themes, conclusions, and agreements for all to see on the screen or on our special “greenwall.” As decisions are made they are written on the spot for all to see in order to maximize shared understanding and agreement.
4. Highly Satisfied Participants
95% of our meeting evaluations report that the meeting objectives were met. Participants feel engaged and heard.
We encourage participants to fill out evaluation forms (provided by us), and we share the results with you.
Participants feel a sense of ownership of meeting outcomes. They leave meetings feeling that the process was a good use of their time, and enthusiastic for more work together.
5. Exceptional Meeting Reports
Professionally formatted and organized for later reference.
For every meeting that we facilitate, clients receive either a Complete Report or a Highlights Report, depending on level of service. Highlights Reports include all themes, conclusions, and agreements that were captured in the meeting. Complete Reports are nicely-formatted, well-organized reports that document major themes, conclusions, and decisions in addition to all discussion comments (paraphrased in outline form). Complete Reports also include a list of participants, agenda, ground rules, presentations, and handouts as appropriate. Depending on the nature of the meeting, Complete Reports sometimes take the form of a Draft Strategic Plan. We provide a draft Complete Report and give you a chance to suggest edits which are then incorporated into a final version provided in Word and PDF.
We would be happy to provide samples of Complete Reports we have prepared for clients, many of them posted at their own websites.
