The 5 Facilitation Skills Every Designer Needs
It’s a given that creatives need to have a keen sense of style and a level of mastery over their craft, but to do big and complicated creative projects requires more than design skill.
Managing a professional design project is 10% making art and 90% stressing about if the art will get done on time. A leader of a creative team needs to know how to plan, inspire, present, and get buy-in to ideas. In order to give your super-creative idea a chance of survival, you’ll need to skillfully push it along the development process with others. If you’re new to leading a creative team or just want to freshen up your skillset, here are 5 essential facilitation skills that are oft forgotten, but will help make sure your ideas get embraced.
#1. Structured brainstorming
You know the drill - the team gathers to spitball some creative ideas and it quickly devolves into a debate about the Game of Thrones ending. If you’re in charge of a creative project or a design team, it’s essential you facilitate effective brainstorming sessions.
Most brainstorming sessions can be greatly improved with a little planning and structure. Here a few tips to get you started:
Articulate what problem you’re solving
It seems obvious but It’s important you set the stage for what people are supposed to be thinking about. Brainstorming sessions that are too broad in nature, like “Does anyone have new marketing ideas?” will fall flat and fail to produce much more than “we should use cats?!” Aim for a problem statement that is more focused on what you hope the new idea will solve…
“How might we drive more traffic to the product page?”
“How might we…” is a powerful way to frame your challenge because optimism and possibility is already baked into the phrase.
Give everyone a chance to think before sharing with the group
Brainstorming goes off the rails when participants are asked to randomly share ideas out loud. Social dynamics and fear are too powerful and they can shape the discussion and silence participants in a hurry. The best way to combat group think is by allowing participants to generate ideas individually before sharing out loud. Individual reflection time reduces insecurity and ensures everyone gets a chance to come up with ideas.
Check out these other tips for Better Brainstorming
#2. Be inclusive
We all have the colleague that likes to dominate the conversation, has a million ideas and is always “right,” but it’s essential as a facilitator that you curb their domination before it infects the rest of the meeting. It’s the leader and facilitators job to make sure everyone feels heard. Taking control of the room can take a little practice, but there are few key steps to help you on your way:
Go around the room one at a time and have each individual share their ideas while others listen silently. This, as opposed to asking for volunteers, is far more effective and equitable.
Be in tune with who’s silent during open discussion - and make room for them to share. When someone starts to dominate a discussion, politely redirect your attention to those that are quiet.
“Thank you for sharing! I’d like to give a chance for others to share what they think. Emma?”
#3. Watch the clock
No one likes when meetings run over or veer wildly off topic, yet it happens everyday. So what gives? The conflict arises when the meeting organizer finds it difficult to balance between the unplanned, yet seemingly valuable discussion and the planned topic. This balance is even more critical when the agenda calls for presenters at the meeting. There is nothing more frustrating than being asked to present at a meeting and then having your topic cut for time. People will respect and remember when you hold the room accountable more than they will remember Steve’s beautiful monologue about the direction the brand is going. Being a good facilitator means occasionally telling people to politely shut the hell up and move on. It can sound like this…
“This an interesting discussion. I’m going to ask that we revisit this conversation at another time so we can stay focused on the objective for this meeting...”
Staying on time is a rare and memorable skill. Stay on track, plan for excursions, but get back on track, and everyone will thank you for it.
#4. Be concise
This skill helps you accomplish #3. Think of what needs to be said ahead of time and don’t talk any more than you need to. Most meetings could be done in half the time with a bit of planning and preparation. Some people are naturally comfortable speaking in front of groups, but if that’s not you, you don’t have to duck out on facilitation duties; practice is the answer. Write down your key points and recite them until your message comes out natural and concise.
#5. Tell a story
Whether you’re pitching concepts to a client or sharing out a project recap, understanding how to frame your work in the form of a story is an invaluable skill. Each client or manager reacts to things differently, asks different questions and will be hooked by different concepts. The art is in empathizing with what your client needs to feel, hear, and see to embrace the idea. In most cases, the idea alone isn’t enough to sell, you need to present from the worldview of the audience, not from the worldview of the genius creative.
Learning to manage the creative process and work with others is an essential piece of working in any creative field. Add these tricks to your skillset to separate yourself and give your team a boost.
For more help leading creative projects, bring a workshop to your organization.