Foreword

In the course of our lives, we should deeply reflect on the sheer amount of time we spend in meetings. A majority of meetings in business are a critical mechanism for generative conversations to clarify the why, what, who, how, and when around producing a coherent shared understanding of the work at hand that needs to be executed. However, meetings are also a gateway to building trusted relationships and the magical world of tapping greater insights and knowledge than we could access by ourselves.

In the world we see now emerging in 2020 and beyond, meetings will become ever more frequent, virtual, and critical as the rate of change continues to accelerate and we have shorter prediction windows with more volatility and unexpected outcomes. In short, we are now witnessing an existential shift in the process of planning and problem solving that will require many more working professionals to master meeting management skills, both virtually and face-to-face, to be far more effective.

In this book, Terrence Metz lays out an integrated practicum that is both useful and intentional, to build better meeting outcomes and establish viable skills for every leader of groups, large or small. He does so by elevating the key competencies of facilitation as the lever for experiencing meetings as a value-creating human experience that also leaves the participants confident in their contributions as well as the outcome of their conversations.

Fifteen years ago, I introduced Terrence’s set of facilitation practices to a group of highly experienced project managers who were also instructors in the Stanford University Advanced Project Management Program. The conversion time for upgrading their meeting skills was very short, but having access to a set of easy-to-use meeting tools to plan and facilitate workshops built a cohort of very confident trainers and facilitators who were called upon consistently for facilitating very complex and strategic program planning meetings.

Based on many of the skills and tools now available to you in this book, my own practice of meeting facilitation was forever changed, because my own confidence and effectiveness became very evident. And, even today, when I reflect on ways I could do better and make more impact, I am always curious about how I could have made my meetings and client workshops more powerful. I am very appreciative that Terrence has taken the time to get this knowledge codified to share with the whole world at a time of major transformation. As many have said, every leader is only as good as the toolbox they know how to use, so this book is a timely must-have.

Enjoy the read and the reflections!

William Malek

Senior Director

Southeast Asia Innovation Management Research Center