9 Meeting Facilitation Skills for Managers to Practice

9 Meeting Facilitation Skills for Managers to Practice9 Meeting Facilitation Skills for Managers to PracticeMeetings can either be opportunities to share ideas, discuss challenges and define action plans, or they can end up as unproductive time wasters. Unfortunately, managers are often the major contributors to meeting process dysfunction. You need skills to run meetings properly. Strengthening Your Meeting Facilitation Skills By definition, facilitating means, To make easier or less difficult help forward.For a manager to facilitate a meeting (instead of running it), they need to be willing to let go of their power and be open to different outcomes and approaches. Where Managers Go Wrong With Meetings Many managers think they know how to run a meeting. They set the agenda, do all of the talking, and make all of the decisions. While this may feel easy and efficient for managers, its often a waste of peoples time, and it doesnt tap into the creative potential of the team. In fact, it has the opposite effect as employees tend to withdraw, deferring to the manager who wants to be in charge. Why Managers Fail to Involve Employees Many reasons exist for why managers dont involve their employees mora in meetings. While the first three items below are behaviors of poor managers, the brde one, facilitation skills, can be learned and strengthened with practiceFear of letting goThe false belief that because they are in charge, they need to provide all of the answersA lack of confidence in the abilities or harte nuss-solving skills of their employeesA lack of meeting facilitation skills These ideas for managers at all levels will strengthen their meeting facilitation skills in support of improving meeting productivity. Skills Managers Need to Facilitate Meetings Proper meeting facilitation involves getting everyone at the meeting involved in identifying and solving problems. Teams will almost always develop better, mora creative solutions than any manager cou ld alone. Teams are also more likely to support the implementation of the solutions they helped create. You can break ansicht meeting facilitation skills down into three different categories Planning a MeetingConducting a MeetingResolving Meeting Problems How to Plan a Meeting Before you begin any meeting you need an agenda. For a collaborative meeting, invite meeting attendees to tell you what problems the team needs to solve or what changes the team needs to pursue. Make sure the topics are ones that allow for group participation. Facilitating a meeting is different than presenting information at a meeting. 1. Enable Group Involvement Make sure you allow ample time for group involvement and that you dont try to solve too many problems in a short time period. However, too much time can also result in an endless cycle of well what about.... Make sure your agenda meets the time allotted for the meeting. Skills needed include these. Group Facilitation SkillsMeeting PlanningProble m SolvingDecision MakingAgenda Development 2. Make Sure You Provide Proper Logistics Choose your meeting location and time carefully. If you try to cram 15 people into a conference room with six chairs, the meeting will be a disaster. When people are uncomfortable, cant see each other, cant hear, or are hungry, meeting results will suffer. Learn how to use logistics as a way to encourage great participation and remove barriers. You need to plan all of this in advance. Sending someone out mid-meeting to order sandwiches makes your meeting less effective. Logistics planning involves these skills. Logistics Planning and ExperienceDecision MakingThoughtful Consideration of the Needs of Others 3. Recording the Meeting Minutes The last critical part of planning a meeting is the meeting minutes. Who will take them? Who will distribute them? If you dont have a designated administrative person, consider doing them yourself or rotate the responsibility among the team members. If Jane did the minutes last week, its Johns turn this week. If youre using a whiteboard or a flip chart to collect ideas, give the person writing enough time to document them correctly. Note-Taking SkillsDocumentation RelevanceUnderstanding Diversity and Inclusion How to Conduct a Meeting With your solid agenda, good location, and appropriate refreshments, you are ready for your meeting. To make your meeting a great working meeting (and not just an information dump), you will need to demonstrate appropriate meeting facilitation skills. To do this, you will want to focus on these three components of meeting facilitation. 1. Ask Questions Great questions stimulate great discussion. The article, 70 Awesome Coaching Questions Using the GROW Model, offers some outstanding discussion prompters. Ask questions to gain additional informationAsk questions to learn about different viewpointsAsk questions to note areas of agreement and disagreementAsk questions to confirm that you are really hearing exact ly what team members are contributingAsk questions to ascertain that you are sharing meaning with team members 2. Demonstrate Active Listening Active listening allows you to really and deeply know that you and the person you are listening to share meaning and have come to a thoughtful understanding of each others positions. When you paraphrase, check for understanding, and ask follow-up questions, it encourages more participation and keeps the discussion flowing. Make head nodding and other appropriate gestures to indicate understandingRepeat what you heard back to the other party so that you know you share meaningAsk questions to clarify anything you are uncertain aboutAsk follow-up questions to further expand your understandingUse words such as ah-ha, yes, I understand, and the like to indicate understanding 3. Lead a Proper Brainstorming Session Most people think they already know how to brainstorm. However, they usually dont. In too many settings, the effectiveness of brainstorm ing is reduced by poor process management, strong social or political pressures and poor facilitation skills. Many people have never truly experienced the power of a well-run brainstorming session. Practice effective facilitation skillsManage the introduction of ideas by participantsMake certain that all participants have an equal opportunity to speakManage competing conversations and people talking over one anotherDevise an effective way to narrow down the brainstormed choices to a manageable numberResolve any conflicts that arise How to Solve Problems in a Meeting The second type of meeting requires different meeting facilitation skills. You wouldnt need to meet if everyone already agreed on the solution. You come together to share information and develop answers and this means youll need to bring people together. Here are the skills youll need. 1. Consensus-Building Skills Consensus does not mean that everybody has to agree with a decision. It means that everyone has had an o pportunity to share their perspectives (potentially by brainstorming) and propose ideas. Following this, the key to consensus is that all team members agree to support the direction even if it was not their original choice. Proper meeting facilitation will guide the group from idea sharing to the development of an effective decision.Reaching consensus takes more time, but will usually gain stronger buy-in from the group at large. However, remember that consensus is not the ultimate goal.An effective decision for the problem at hand is the most important issue. Consensus Decision Making Resource See A Six-Step Consensus Decision Making Framework for more on how to lead a team through a consensus decision-making process. 2. Conflict Resolution Skills Whenever there is a roomful of people involved in solving a problem, conflict is inevitable. In fact, conflict over the task or issue is viewed by team researchers as part of the process for effective decision-making. A manager must learn how to harness the power of conflict in a positive way. Manage the discussion to listen to all viewpointsLead the discussion to identify areas of agreement and disagreementUse facilitation skills to make certain participants feel heard out 3. Non-Verbal Communication Skills While researchers argue over the exact percentages, most would agree that more than 50% of communication is non-verbal. A manager needs to be able to read the groups tone and body language to assess their level of engagement, candor, and commitment.Your understanding of non-verbal communication can help see when there is true agreement versus spoken agreement just to finish the meeting.Be cognizant of body language as a way to experience the total communication voice of an individual or a team. The Bottom Line Time is a precious asset in life and at work. Strive to manage meetings for optimal efficiency and effectiveness. Learning, practicing and applying the nine facilitation skills identified above is a great place to start.

How to Overcome Hiring Challenges

How to Overcome Hiring ChallengesHow to Overcome Hiring ChallengesHiring challenges abound across many industries. There is already significant competition for the most skilled candidates - and with every new job created, that competition only increases. Job candidates today can afford to be very selective, and mora and mora companies are dipping into the talent pool, thinning it with every new position they staff and making it that much more difficult on the next hiring manager.In fact, in a recent Robert Half survey of more than 2,800 senior managers in the U.S., respondents identified generating interest from qualified candidates as the most difficult aspect of the hiring process.Without question, successfully recruiting the right people today can require a huge amount of effort. But employers that take a smart and focused approach to tackling hiring challenges can still meet their staffing needs. The following five strategies can help improve your chances of finding good candida tes in good time1. Offer moreLets be honest Money talks. Salary isnt always the No. 1 factor candidates consider when deciding to take a new job, but its a big one. If you offer compensation thats below current market levels, you simply wont be able to compete for the top talent you need.When our survey asked senior managers to cite the most common reason prospective hires decide not to join their company, 3 in 10 said its because the compensation and benefits are lower than expected. Look to resources like Robert Halfs Salary Guides to ensure youre presenting pay packages that are in line with - or, ideally, above - what others in your market offer for particular positions and skill sets. (Use our Salary Calculator to adjust these salaries for your city.)GET THE SALARY GUIDE2. Add perksThe reality is that many of the best candidates fall into one of two categoriesThey are on the job hunt and weighing multiple employment offers.They already have a job and may not be actively searc hing for a new position.Either way, you have your work cut out for you. You must offer in-demand professionals a better deal than they have at their current employer or can find through a competitors job offer.How can you up the ante? Start by looking to the competition. What are other companies that seem to be snapping up talent offering new hires? Signing bonuses? Innovative employment benefits on par with Silicon Valley startups? A liberal telecommuting policy?Talk to contacts in your network and read the business press to see what you can learn about strategies that are working for others. A recruiting agency can also provide valuable insight because they are in constant communication with job seekers and employers.At the same time, dont hesitate to ask potential hires directly what would convince them to join your company over another. Requesting that top candidates be frank with you about what they truly want gives you concrete information you can use to make the prospect of j oining your firm more appealing.You might even follow up with job seekers who rejected an offer from your firm. What made a competing offer more compelling?When conducting performance evaluations, ask current employees why they choose to stay with your firm. What aspects of working for the company do they enjoy or appreciate most? Their answers can clue you into factors - such as a strong commitment to staff training, a family-like company culture or an emphasis on work-life balance - that you should underscore to candidates throughout the hiring process.3. Move quickly (but not too quickly)Speed is essential if you want to overcome todays hiring challenges. Good candidates simply dont remain available for long. If it takes several weeks to review resumes, coordinate interviews, arrange skills testing and have all necessary parties sign off on a new hire, youll miss out every time.Do what you can to remove obstacles and bottlenecks from the hiring process. For examplePare down the number of people who interview candidates to only those who are absolutely essential. Asking colleagues who will not be working directly with the potential hire to take part only means more schedules to coordinate and more potential delays.Try to schedule interviews back to back so a candidate has to travel to your office just once or twice. You reduce downtime between interviews and make it easier to collect everyones feedback. You also reduce frustration on the part of the candidate, who may need to take time off work or arrange child care during the interview. Consider conducting video interviews if its difficult to arrange in-person meetings.Make sure the compensation package has been approved before you reach the final interview stage so you can extend an offer right away.One word of caution Dont move so quickly that you skip key steps in the hiring process. You still need to do your due diligence before bringing anyone on board. Take time to conduct thorough reference checks and assess whether the candidate is likely to thrive in your organizations workplace culture. Otherwise, you risk making a costly hiring mistake.HIRING? LET US HELP4. Be flexibleHeres an essential truth about the hiring market that surprises many employers Your ideal candidate may not exist. (This might mean some of the hiring challenges you currently face may be of your own creation.)A good analogy is buying a house. Your wish list for a home might include four bedrooms and three baths, a large yard, and a three-car garage. The house should also be in a good school district, close to parks or trails, and within walking distance of shops and restaurants. The reality is that youll likely have to compromise on one or more of these criteria, because no house checks every box on your list - or the few that do are outside your price range.When it comes to adding staff, think about what skills and qualifications are essential to completing the job duties and succeeding in the role. Focus on these when evaluating candidates, and consider anything else - an advanced degree or experience in your industry, for example - a nice-to-have.Also consider bringing in someone with less experience than you seek and training them on the job. It can be quite effective to hire promising entry-level and midlevel professionals, then give them tools and resources to quickly build the necessary skills or knowledge to succeed in the position.5. Have a backup plan to help overcome hiring challengesEven as you take pains to hurdle hiring challenges and bring skilled talent on board quickly, have a plan in place so youre not caught flatfooted if the hiring process drags on.In todays hot market, it sometimes takes weeks or even months to find the right person no matter how persistent and strategic you are. How will you manage workloads and prevent current employees from becoming overloaded during that period? Augmenting your team with temporary or project-based staff, or interim manageme nt consultants for senior-level roles, is one way to stay on top of business demands as you search for the right full-time hire. Paul McDonald Paul McDonald is senior executive director at Robert Half. He writes and speaks frequently on hiring, workplace and career management topics. Over the course of more than 30 years in the recruiting field, McDonald has advised thousands of company leaders and job seekers on how to hire and get hired.McDonald joined Robert Half in 1984 as a recruiter for financial and accounting professionals in Boston, following a public accounting career with Price Waterhouse. In the 1990s, he became president of the Western United States overseeing all of the companys operations in the region. McDonald become senior executive director of Robert Half Management Resources in 2000, and assumed his current role in 2012. He earned a bachelors degree in business administration with a concentration in accounting from St. Bonaventure University in New York.

Great Resume Templates The 2019 List of 7 Great Resume Templates

Great Resume schablones The 2019 List of 7 Great Resume vorlagesGreat Resume Templates The 2019 List of 7 Great Resume TemplatesEvery great konzeption begins with an even better storySomeone who puts creativity and spends time is considered dedicated. But choosing the perfect schablone is a stressful job.Building a resume starts with finding the perfect template. Some people prefer a verrotten outlook whereas others like to keep it simple.But it is important to remember that this choice helps hiring managers to weed out candidates easily.A resume template is what helps you stand out from all the other applications. If you beg to differ and are looking for great resume templates, this blog post is for you.Professionals at Hiration have built 20+ customized free resume templates for your profile. Check out our Online Resume Builder here. Build your resume nowIn this blog post we will cover the following topicsProfessional BlackThe Professional Black Template is one of our oldest and mo st trusted templates. It is a premium template on our Resume Builder and youll see whyThe Professional black template is a two column template mostly suited for professionals who want to balance their professional experience with something additional.This resume konzept comprises various shades of gray including black and white to clearly highlight different parts of your resume. Only a single font i.e. Open Sans has been used in the Resume.It is donned with just the right amount of white spaces which makes even content heavy resumes easy to read.Key Featuresclean and compact designonly uses shades of grey and blacktwo column designhighly ATS compliantsingle font usagedashed columnspremium on our Online Resume BuilderSample TemplatesCheck out the following resume template of a Sales Associate. This resume has been made using our Professional Black design.Try this design nowCaliforniaThe California resume template is one of our best sellers in the Modern Resume Templates pack.It ia a two column design that employs a gradient scheme between orange and pink colors to give your resume the modern look it deserves. It also has a provision for adding an image to your resume.You can even change the primary and secondary colors in this design. It has been exclusively designed for todays professionals who work in newer industries.Key Featuresclean and compact designmodern outlooktwo column designimage adding featuregradient scheme between orange and pinkfree of cost on our Online Resume Builderchoose your own color combinationsSample TemplateCheck out the following resume template of an Executive Assistant. This resume has been made using our California design.Try this design nowGradient GreenThis template employs gradient color scheme to help you deliver an outstanding resume. Every recruiter will read your resume if this is in their inbox.The gradient green resume template is one of our** most loved creative resume templates**. It carries a variety of graphical and ot her novel elements to make your resume stand out from competition.It incorporates timelines, icons and colors into behauptung templates to ensure that any recruiter who looks at a resume in one of these templates, is sure to keep reading it.Get ready to receive a lot of interview callsKey Featuresclean and compact designonly uses shades of greentwo column designhighly ATS compliantcontains special modern elementsa novel resume layoutcontains images, colors or graphical elementspremium on our Online Resume BuilderSample TemplateCheck out the following resume template of a Accounting Manager and Controller. This resume has been made using our Gradient Green design.Try this design nowNew YorkThe New York Resume Template is a single column template that makes use of boxes to separate sections. It is the perfect combination of creativity as well as professionalism.This resume template has everything- your image, icons, boxes to separate sections and a highly professional color theme.Try making your resume in this template now It has a very high success rate.Key Featuresclean and compact designonly uses shades of bluehas a lot of white spacessingle column designhighly ATS compliantcontains special modern elementsa unique resume layoutcontains images, colors or graphical elementspremium on our Online Resume BuilderSample TemplateCheck out the following resume template of a Supply Chain Manager. This resume has been made using our New York design.Try this design nowPastel MagicThe resume is designed specially to contain all the detailed summary of an applicants qualification and working experiences. It shows the complete picture about your personality and professional life.This resume template is designed in Illustrator CS6. It contains pastel shades that are pleasing to look at. The vector format allows you to make changes in this resume template according to your personal information and academics.Key Featuresclean and compact designonly uses pastel shadesdouble col umn designcontains special modern elementsa unique resume layoutcontains images and colorsfree to use on Graphic GoogleSample TemplateCheck out the following resume template of a Graphic Designer. This resume has been made using Graphic Googles Pastel Magic design.Try this design nowShady BlueThe resume format is designed to give a sleek and modern look to your professional resume. It is a very unique and clean design that compacts all your important information into a single page of resume.It is a two column design that provides space to include your image too. It contains shades of blue and a designer font to instantly grab the hiring managers eyeKey Featuresclean and compact designonly uses pastel shades of bluedouble column designcontains special modern elementsa unique resume layoutcontains images and colorsfree to use on Behance.netSample TemplateCheck out the following resume template of a UI/UX Designer and Programmer. This resume has been made using Behances Shady Blue desi gn.Try this design nowManhattanThis Manhattan headline resume mimics the layout of a newspaper or magazine piece. It lets the world know that the written product is your most prized passion.It is available in 3 standard color schemes. It uses classic typography to please the senses.This design template is suited for journalists, editors, bloggers, copywriters and writers, marketing, interior decoration, graphic design careers.Key Featuresclean and compact designonly uses light shades of blue and blackdouble column designcontains special modern elementsa unique resume layoutcontains images and colorsfree to use on Loft ResumeSample TemplateCheck out the following resume template of a Photographer. This resume has been made using Loft Resumes Manhattan design.Try this design nowThink of your resume design template as an opportunity to stand out For any doubts or queries, give us a shout out in the comments.