Make Good Decisions, Faster

6 hours ago4 min read

3 Simple Strategies to Improve Team Facilitation

Recently, one of my favorite authors and podcasters, Martha Beck, has shared some insightful research related to the dynamic link between anxiety and creativity. Apparently, one of the ways we can break an anxious cycle is to move our thinking out of our left (analytical) hemisphere and into our right (creative) hemisphere. According to Beck's research, this shift from analysis paralysis to creativity literally stops the cycle of anxious anticipation about our future.

And I for one think that's pretty cool.

And simple.

So when I apply this information to collaborative teams--which of course experience their own versions of anxiety spirals and inaction--I find an interesting connection.

You see for the past few years, Sarah Henry and I have been teaching about the need for PLCs to get proactive, instead of staying in the zone of reactivity. Rather than always looking at summative data (or autopsy data) we teach teams how to anticipate misconceptions or roadblocks to learning--and then proactively design strategies as a collective that they will all use.

Explore our 1 hour course, Proactive PLCs, to transform your next PLC session.

We've personally experienced the energy shift when teams take a proactive planning approach--but it wasn't until Beck's research around creativity crushing anxiety that I realized something very important:

Teams that create together make more progress.

Knowing this, here are 3 simple strategies to use during your PLC meetings to prevent the spin, create a plan, and make good decisions, faster:

Use a simple, editable agenda during each meeting.

Whether you are leading a PLC, and Instructional Leadership Team (ILT) an admin team meeting, an MTSS meeting...if it's a meeting, and you expect to create a good plan--you need to use an agenda.

It's important that folks have access to the agenda before the meeting, so I suggest you store it in a shared drive with common editing rights. Also, give your team a task of adding to the agenda before the meeting begins.

For example, create the ritual that everyone types their student celebration before the meeting. You could also set the expectation that data is entered prior to the meeting, too.

The point is: if you want to create a culture of team decision-making, you need all members of the team engaging with the planning resources.

Also, if your agenda is too complicated--forgetaboutit. It's done. Teams won't use it. So really take the time to make sure whatever format you create is accessible and folks can easily add to it. The agenda serves as the guide + the note catcher. It has to be easy to use.

For a deeper dive on all things PLC Agendas (and for a free resource)--see Do We Really Need a PLC Agenda? Really?

Make Decisions VISUAL

Once you have gone through your opening items and it's time to really get down to the decision-making portion of your meeting--you have to make the thinking visual. What do I mean by make the thinking visual? I mean you need to actually hop to a common, visual think space and sketch out ideas.

Here are some examples:

Use a whiteboard
Use chart paper
Use a small piece of white paper in the middle of the table
Collapse screens and sketch on paper
Jot down lists on note-cards
Use sticky-notes to generate and categorize ideas
Make webs
Make graphic organizers
Make various lists for various needs

Now, actually make something together. If you are a leader, capture your team's thoughts on a list or on the board or in a web. Show that the ideas being generated are going somewhere--not simply floating around in the imaginary thought cloud above the group.

Write down the ideas, and then, put them in some type of order. Make connections or expand on ideas. This is the critical creation step that really moves great teams forward.

Here's an example of the Proactive Planning Protocol we share in our Proactive PLCs course:

Share-Write-Paraphrase-Repeat

Once the ideas start flowing and the brainstorming is underway, the facilitator must listen to the team with a discerning ear. This means that while you are jotting down the team's ideas--you are also silently asking yourself, "Do they really want to do this?" and also "How do I make sure we are crystal clear on the plan when we leave?"

The facilitator/leader controls the tempo of the meeting (whether you like that or not) and your team actually needs you to occasionally hit the pause button on their thinking and push them to reflect/process.

In real time, this may sound like the leader intentionally chunking or pausing the conversation every few moments to repeat what was said and summarize the direction or idea.

The facilitator/leader operates as the team's Clarifier-In-Chief, and the team really, really needs this. A great facilitator keeps a strong pulse on the tempo of thinking in the team, and when even 1 person seems lost or disengaged--the facilitators hits pause, repeats what was said, verifies the "lost" person is back with the team, and then directs the next move.

We consider the engagement of students in our classrooms, and the best teacher-leaders consider the engagement strategies needed to guide their colleagues. A great facilitator chunks the meeting to check for understanding, paraphrase what was said, write down or categorize the ideas, and then point the team to making the next decision.

This continual cycle of share-write-paraphrase-repeat is how team make good decisions, fast. They make their shared decision-making visual, they clarify in real-time what they are developing or suggesting, and their facilitator monitors the pace of the conversation.