A Simple Facilitation Technique: The Parking Lot

What happens when you are running a meeting or a workshop and the group starts to stray away from the agenda?

Maybe someone mentions a topic and another person jumps in to add their thoughts.  Before you know it, the entire group is now discussing something outside the scope of your meeting.  I have seen this happen time and time again.  And so have you right?  When I am supporting a facilitator with graphic recording, I always offer to create a Parking Lot for the meeting.

The Parking Lot is a placeholder for capturing ideas that should be followed up at a later date outside of the meeting.  It keeps your meeting on course and it shows the contributor that you acknowledge their idea/concern.

Here is a quick video that explains how to use the technique.

What’s your favorite method for keeping meetings on track?  I’d love to hear it.

Facilitating a meeting involves juggling a number of moving parts. We hope this technique will help you during your next meeting or workshop. Learn how we can support you with visual notes and meeting design, click here

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Lisa

Visual Thinker | Graphic Recorder | Sketchnote Artist at See In Colors

Lisa Nelson loves combining art with life. She is the Founder and Chief Visual Strategist of See In Colors where she leads a team that designs, facilitates, and captures conversations with hand-drawn pictures. By blending the power of visuals, communication and project management, Lisa helps organization have impact for social change. See In Colors is based in the Washington, D.C. area and serves clients world-wide.

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