[written by Tais Real]
Facilitating meetings has been a learning-by-doing process for me in yunity.
Fascinating and very complex.
This is me trying to pin down some of methods that seemed to work, the challenges I've faced and possible ways to solve them.
...
Getting to know the individuals and how they express themselves seems to be the first condition to solving any of this. Then and only then, the facilitator can have a private chat with that said person, using the uppermost tactfullness to explain that something has to change. Something like "You have great ideas but it seems that the way you express them makes it difficult for people to really grab them. Would you allow me to share with you some methods I learnt for a more efficient communication?" (but really, I should never be a diplomacy teacher). What are these methods then? Golden rule: deep listening. That means we respect each other and we don't interrupt one another. Focus on what someone is saying until they have finished, close your eyes if needed. Eventually you may find that this eases up the very process of talking, yourself. By assuming that others listen as deeply as you do, you may not feel the need to rush into unorganized thoughts anymore. And indeed, people will understand and remember much more clearly a slow speech that goes straight to the point than a fast one that gets lost on its way. But frankly, this whole piece of advice might only be relevant for the couple of people I have in mind as I'm writing this. Which brings me back to my main point: know who you're dealing with before attempting to correct them. Try to understand where their flaws in group communication might come from and kindly suggest ways to address and avoid these flaws.
Possible methods
Dreaming, planning, doing, celebrating
...