Are you a hub and spoke facilitator?

Have you ever been in a meeting where the facilitator responds to each person’s comment, having all the conversation go through him or her? Do you find yourself doing that when you facilitate a meeting?

I call that hub and spoke facilitation.

For me, an effective facilitator gets out of the way and lets the conversation flow. People don’t need me to repeat or to interpret what each person says. My role is to hold the space for their conversation, and only to pipe up if there’s an issue with the process – for example, if someone is dominating or to help the silent people get into the conversation.

If others don’t question assumptions or ask for clarification of an unclear statement, I might speak up – but I’ll wait to see if someone in the group does that first, because I’m trying to build the capacity of the group to notice and intervene on their own interactions.

If you find yourself being the hub, try this:

Ask yourself:

What is my assumption about my role?
What do I believe about the group’s capacity to manage their own conversation?
What would it take for me to withold some of my responses?

Try this:

Notice the urge to be the hub. That’s a first step to adjusting the dial on your interventions.
Notice how the conversation flows differently when you hold back

Let the conversation flow “like streams of a river.”

As they say, “Don’t just do something, stand there”. #facilitation #meetings