The star leader today is not just someone who has excellent individual skills. They are the people who can bring out the best in a team.
Whether it is in sports or in the boardroom, a “star” is someone who “makes everyone around them even better.”
A key skill in making a team stronger is the capability to effectively facilitate meetings. A recent article in Harvard Business Review gives us some ideas on how we can improve our facilitation skills:
- Set the Stage. Make sure everyone understands the big picture and the specific challenge that you will be addressing today. Remind them of your mission and vision – and how the issue you are addressing today fits in.
- Attunement to Team Dynamics. Use your empathy and your knowledge of each team member to keep team relations positive. Be attentive to the energy in the room. Keep things upbeat and moving forward.
- Include Everyone. Some people will jump right in. Others will be deep in thought. Be sure to encourage the quieter members to participate. Make sure that people don’t take too much “airtime.” A simple tactic to encourage this is to ask everyone to write down their thoughts for a few minutes before sharing them, which has been shown to raise the likelihood of introverts participating.
- Play to People’s Strengths. When you see an opportunity for a team member who has a particular talent to contribute, pump them up and invite them in: “Chris, you are great at creating a fun atmosphere for the kind of activity we are discussing. What are some of your ideas?”
- Wrap Up and Summarize. “Stick the landing.” Once you come up with a great plan, acknowledge the team for their excellent work. Make sure everyone understands the next steps and who will do what. Make sure this is sent out to everyone in writing after the meeting.
Keep this list in mind the next time you facilitate a meeting. By developing these skills, you can turn a group of talented individuals into a cohesive team that is greater than the sum of its parts.
Excellent facilitators are architects of group performance who integrate diverse expertise, promote equitable contributions, and cultivate trust to generate collective intelligence—a team’s ability to innovate and solve problems. The good news is that this isn’t a trait you’re born with; it’s a skill you can develop.
*Ideas for this blog taken from: Zaki, J. “Every Team Needs a Super-Facilitator,” Harvard Business Review, September-October 2025.
