Facilitating practices which help listening, build understanding and inspire trust
In the preceding section, we looked at activities to engage participation.
Good use of these activities involves everybody, and allows every contribution to be listened to equally. They also enable people to see their own contributions within the process, and how their own choices and insight are reflected in what emerges.
These two things deepen trust in the team. And trust in how the team treasures its members and their contributions.
Transparency accelerates trust and decision making
Creating this level of transparency enables an environment in which people feel safe with expressing their vulnerability. This in turn inspires trust, and also greater levels of authenticity, openness and insight.
Furthermore, where people feel they have been understood, and where they feel the decision making process is fair (such as in a consensus process) they trust the outcomes. As a result, they are far more likely to support that decision even when they personally do not agree with it. They accept a decision had to be made. And they trust their perspective was fully considered.
Ground rules help sustain trust and transparency
The challenge then is to ensure that such minority views are respectfully aired and heard. Agreeing on a set of ground rules and then ensuring that they are followed can help meet this challenge. (Ground rules are a list of courtesies to be adopted, such as ‘no side conversations’ and ‘being punctual’). They can also help to ensure the meeting benefits from both diversity of background and diversity of perspectives.
Simple techniques to support this
Of course, listening can be a challenge if a speaker is hogging the airtime. Using timers can help encourage people to make their points fairly and succinctly. And if debates become particularly entrenched there are also techniques to help break this down. For example a virtual Koosh Ball and well-chosen questions.
Remote Facilitation Skills can be especially useful in ensuring the above. It can also be helpful to view the skills of ‘engaging others’ as a development opportunity. In this way, specific team members can take on roles within the meeting which both support the leader and help prepare themselves for future leadership.