The guy next to me on the plane is doing a two-finger version of the "chicken dance" on his laptop -- elbows tucked in, bifocals hanging on the bridge of the nose, coffee teetering on the edge of the tray.
I am staring out the window. He looks at me over his bifocals and says, "Wish I could daydream on a flight . . . you must be flying for pleasure." I reply, "I'm not daydreaming, I'm working. In about two hours, I will be heading for an unfamiliar meeting site. Once there, I will be up until some late hour finding and unpacking boxes and supplies, rearranging nonutilitarian furniture into a discussion-oriented layout, and choreographing the location, position, and arrangement of charts and visuals to be both stimulating and functional. Then, I will rehearse an agenda that is designed to draw wary and leery participants into a productive, process-based discussion that produces a much-anticipated output -- all the while anticipating every aspect of damage control that I can in order to get the desired results." He stares at me wide-eyed over his bifocals and asks, "Do you work for the State Department?" In my best James Bond manner, I reply, "No, not this time . . . "
Actually, all I was doing is what I always do before I facilitate a session: mental project management. The biggest challenge is contemplating the unknown -- in this case, the room in which I would be working since, I had not been able to dictate the space specifics in advance of the session. Regardless of the facility, I find that many meeting spaces, whether they are in an office complex or a hotel, do not easily accommodate facilitation needs. But whether you're planning a basic two-hour status meeting or a week long structured facilitation event, you'll have to address these needs. Here are some tips.
Remember U. Simple as it sounds, folks often do not think about whether people in a meeting can easily see and converse with one another. In facilitation, the facilitator must be able to move into the group and make eye contact with everyone. An open-shaped square or "U" shaped seating arrangement works best. The dynamics of body language, eye contact, and voice all take on heightened communicative meaning when people can see each other as they converse. Try to arrange seating in this open "U" if possible.
Fill in the blank. I love a clean, blank expanse of wall. I also love art and windows -- but not in the case of facilitation. Whether facilitating or running a meeting, someone should be capturing group input on flipchart paper and taping it to the wall in full view of the group. Think of it as hanging wallpaper. Would you wallpaper over windows? A signed artist print? I doubt it. Yet I frequently have to disappoint a facility or banquet manager by rejecting a windowed boardroom or art-filled suites since the spaces just do not meet the meeting's requirements.
Get physical. Sometimes I am my own worst enemy. I describe the size of the physical area I would like to have at my disposal and voila! -- I get a cavernous banquet hall. This is not the fault of the facility manager -- it's my fault. A better alternative is to sketch out a rough floor plan of the room you would like to have, with some ballpark dimensions added. E-mail or fax this to the person choosing your space if you cannot visit the space personally. Have them send a sample space layout to you in return so you can negotiate the best arrangement.
Visualize it. If you can visit the space, do so. Visualize it filled with people. Try moving a chart stand or some chairs around. Walk around in it. How comfortable are you in the room? What will it be like with several or several dozen people in it? Could you hang items on the wall? Is the room so large that conversation will be hampered or the person in charge will be running back and forth across the room? Are the exits easily accessed?
Get the light right. Have you ever sat in a white room with white fluorescent lighting for eight hours? How about a banquet hall with multitiered crystal chandeliers 20 feet above your head and wall sconces with pale-yellow glass shades? In the former, after about four hours you begin to suffer from what feels like "white-out" blindness. It is physically draining. The latter is not conducive to reading and causes eyestrain as you squint to see the speaker or a computer screen's text -- again, causing fatigue.
When evaluating your next meeting space, pay attention to how the lighting makes you feel, and how it will affect attendees' concentration and mood. No, you cannot run around changing ceiling fixture light bulbs or renting light fixtures. Nevertheless, you can structure your agenda, breaks, and visuals to compensate for the environment. For example, you can use yellow flipchart paper to break up the "whiteness" when facilitating. You can ask hotels to provide
table lighting. In designated meeting spaces, consider having "low glare" fluorescent bulbs installed (typically used in computer labs). These simple adaptations can make a world of difference in the success of the meeting or event.
Size it up. One of the biggest mistakes people make in planning meetings or facilitated events is to downplay the size of the space. I often hear, "Oh, we'll only be together for an hour, it doesn't matter" or "We'll just squeeze into this office for a few minutes." It does matter. If people are physically uncomfortable, can't see or hear the content, can't take notes -- and, as a result, tune out or leave early -- precious time, money, and resources are wasted.
By Lorraine R. Hudak, president of Lakeview Consulting, a facilitation services firm based in Columbus, Ohio. For more information, call (740) 881-9058 or e-mail
[email protected]