Effective facilitators know how to take charge of meetings and guide the participants toward effectively addressing the topics at hand, focusing on the items to be discussed and meeting their defined objectives. You want to be able to prepare for a meeting carefully and with a strategy in mind, so that you can lead the group toward achieving whatever they need to accomplish. In this lesson, you will learn how to prepare for a meeting.

You have identified techniques for laying the groundwork for an effective meeting by clarifying the purpose of the meeting, identifying the participants, and creating your agenda. Now you will set the stage for your meeting by establishing a meeting climate and learning how to resolve challenging situations that might arise during the meeting.

Effective facilitators know how to take charge of work sessions and lead others to greater productivity. You want to lead a meeting efficiently and with purpose, so that you can help your team members achieve their stated goals. You want to master the skills necessary to lead a session effectively, make sound decisions, publish meeting minutes, and close a meeting.

You have learned how to create a positive meeting environment, lead a meeting, resolve challenging situations that arise, and make sound decisions during a meeting. You also learned how to create and publish effective meeting minutes for stakeholders, and how to close a meeting. Now you will look at several special types of meetings.

You'll wrap things up and then validate what you've learned in this course by taking an assessment.