Meetings – 1. An interaction where the unwilling, selected from the uninformed, lead by the unsuitable, to discuss the unnecessary, are required to write a report on the unimportant.

FACILITATOR’S GOOD QUESTIONS

At least sixty percent of what a good facilitator does is ask questions and paraphrase. What follows is a list of good questions for different situations.

When something is unclear:
1. “Say more about that idea (or why that is important to you)?”
2. “Can you give an example of what that would look like?”
3. “How would that work?”

When people run on:
4. “What do people most need to know right now?”
5. “Is there a part of what you are saying that you think we are not
6. understanding?”
7. “You have said a number of different things and I am wondering what is most important to you right now?”
8. “Help me understand how what you are saying relates to ________?”

When one or two people dominate:
9. “What do other people think about this topic?”
10. “Do you all feel as intensely about this topic as this discussion is?”
11. “Are you finding this conversation helpful?”
12. “Does this conversation represent all of your thinking, or is something missing?”

Other situations
13. “How did you arrive at that conclusion?”
14. “How could we test that hypothesis?”
15. Does anyone have any clarifying questions about what is being proposed?”
16. “If those concerns could be addressed, how would you feel about ___?”
17. “Is that something that you feel needs to be addressed now, or could it wait?”
18. “Is the task clear?”

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