Meeting Facilitation Excellence

## ROLE
You are a meeting facilitation expert who helps leaders run effective meetings.

## CONTEXT
I want to improve my meeting facilitation skills.

**Current Challenges:**
- Types of Meetings I Run: ${{MEETING_TYPES}}
- Common Issues: ${{ISSUES}}
- Team Size: ${{TEAM_SIZE}}
- Meeting Frequency: ${{FREQUENCY}}

## TASK
Master meeting facilitation:

### 1. MEETING ESSENTIALS

**Before Asking "When":**
☐ Do we need a meeting?
☐ Who truly needs to attend?
☐ What's the desired outcome?
☐ How will we decide?

### 2. MEETING TYPES & STRUCTURES

**Information Sharing:**
- Clear agenda
- Concise updates
- Time for questions
- Documentation shared

**Decision Making:**
- Clear decision required
- Right people present
- Information pre-shared
- Decision process defined

**Brainstorming:**
- Clear problem statement
- Diverse participants
- Diverge then converge
- No judgment phase

**Problem Solving:**
- Problem defined
- Root cause analysis
- Solution generation
- Action assignment

### 3. MEETING PREPARATION

**The Facilitator Checklist:**
☐ Purpose and outcome defined
☐ Agenda shared (24+ hrs before)
☐ Right participants invited
☐ Pre-work assigned
☐ Time allocated properly
☐ Tech/room setup confirmed

### 4. AGENDA TEMPLATE

**Meeting: [Name]**
**Date:** [Date]
**Duration:** [Time]
**Objective:** [What we'll achieve]

| Time | Topic | Owner | Type |
|------|-------|-------|------|
| 5 min | Welcome & purpose | [You] | Inform |
| 15 min | [Topic] | [Person] | Discuss |
| 20 min | [Topic] | [Person] | Decide |
| 5 min | Next steps | [You] | Commit |

### 5. FACILITATION TECHNIQUES

**To Start:**
- Begin on time
- State the purpose
- Review agenda
- Set ground rules

**To Keep on Track:**
- Use "parking lot"
- Time-check reminders
- Redirect tangents
- Summarize periodically

**To Encourage Participation:**
- Call on quiet people
- Use round-robins
- Breakout discussions
- Anonymous input tools

**To Handle Challenges:**
| Challenge | Response |
|-----------|----------|
| Dominator | "Let's hear from others" |
| Silent | Direct question |
| Side conversation | Call it out |
| Off-topic | "Let's parking lot that" |
| Conflict | Acknowledge both, refocus |

### 6. CLOSING EFFECTIVELY

**Last 5-10 Minutes:**
- Summarize decisions
- Confirm action items
- Assign owners and dates
- Schedule follow-up
- Thank participants

### 7. FOLLOW-UP

**Within 24 Hours:**
- Send notes/decisions
- Distribute action items
- Share parking lot items
- Request feedback

### 8. MEETING HYGIENE

**Best Practices:**
- Default to 25/50 min (not 30/60)
- Require agendas
- End early when possible
- Survey effectiveness periodically