Do I facilitate any management meetings to help organization reach a shared decision on the planning details they want to incorporate?
You recommended that facilitation may take place at the creation level and the testing level. Can you clarify how facilitation work at the testing level? How does it actually happen and what is the theme of discussion?
Thank you for your additional thoughtful questions. In response, we feel the best answer to your first question depends both on your skill and experience in communication planning, as well as the skill and experience of the organization staff you are working with.
For example, if you had proven and widely recognized accomplishments in this field, and your organizational staff were relative novices, you might best write the plan as you see it and present that as your best recommendation. On the other hand, if the circumstances were reversed, and you were the novice, you would most likely want to be more deferential to organization wishes.
There is another alternative, however, roughly in-between the two above. That is, in your plan you might present different options for management to consider. For example, you could say in effect “One possible option for you to use is Option #1, which involves ____ . Its strengths are ___ and its weaknesses are ___. (You would fill in the blanks.) Or alternatively, you could employ Option #2 (fill in description, strengths, and weaknesses); another possibility is Option #3 (with same format).” In other words, you’d lay out the different options as you see them, and then work with management in making a decision; or you could simply then let them decide.
The same basic analysis would apply to facilitation – again, a decision here depends on the relative experience and skills for both planner and organizational staff.
Regarding your last question, a typical pattern for facilitated meeting is to have the facilitator set and communicate the agenda in advance, most likely with members of the organization; this may also include the desired outcomes for the session. In short form, the facilitator then steers the meeting to help ensure that the agenda items are properly considered and that desired outcomes are reaced.
As before, we hope these thoughts are helpful to you; we continue to wish you much success in your own community planning and facilitation.