Meeting Moderation and Facilitation

There is a famous saying – “God gave us two ears and one mouth…and we should use them in that proportion” – but rarely if ever does that happen successfully.

Moderation, or facilitation as many people know it better, is an important part of the success of many key business occasions – from internal strategy meetings to annual conferences to department off-site reviews to analyst presentations and company dinners. However, many organisations do not have the right people to moderate / facilitate such meetings internally and they should look externally

Fulcrum Business Management Solutions offers experienced senior management moderators / facilitators to work with organisations to ensure the success of such meetings – offering the clear focus of “two ears and a single mouth” and bringing a frame of reference and global business experience.

Objectivity is the most important element of successful moderation / facilitation. This ensures that all parties involved feel that they have had their full say, that all significant points are well aired and suitably debated, that contentious issues are handled without personal agendas holding sway and that the moderator / facilitator can never be associated with a particular point of view. An internal moderator / facilitator cannot offer these advantages to all participants – almost inevitably leading to dissatisfaction.

Some organisations question the viability of external parties – from the perspective of confidentiality and in-depth knowledge of the business itself. This is an error.

Confidentiality is at the heart of any Interim Management assignment to allow such managers to undertake their jobs successfully, and as such is also crucial to moderation / facilitation assignments. In-depth knowledge will be impossible for one-off projects but a meeting pulled together to share information or make decisions will inevitably have participants from different disciplines with different levels of experience and background. The moderator’s / facilitator’s ability is enhanced by this objectivity – and the need to balance contributions and ask open questions is paramount