The facilitator runs the meeting's process, not its content. Think of it as a referee: you don't play, you enforce the rules so everyone else can.
Mindset
- Lazy by design: Your job is to ask the right question, not solve the tension. If you're summarizing or filling in for someone, you're working too hard. Ownership stays with the tension-holder: give them the floor and step in only when things go off-track.
- Neutral and impartial: When you hold another role in the circle, signal clearly when you're speaking from that role.
Tools
- Framing: Before each agenda step, briefly explain what's expected: update only, or responses welcome? The better you frame, the less you have to intervene. Don’t hesitate to read the tactical meeting reference card aloud for each agenda item.
- Cutting off: When someone speaks out of turn or hijacks a tension, interrupt immediately. That's your job. Name it at the start of the meeting so it doesn't feel personal.
- Time-out: Last resort only. Pause the meeting and address what's blocking it. Only the facilitator can call one.
Key questions to use
- "What do you need?" — Open every agenda item with this.
- "Which role has the authority to decide this?" — When someone seeks consensus they don't need.
- "Is that from a role, or a personal opinion?" — When someone speaks as themselves where a role is needed.
- "Are you getting what you need?" — Ask the tension-holder, not the group.
- "'We' is the worst employee in the organization — it never does anything. Who specifically?"
Good to know
- You alone determine the order of tensions to discuss: by arrival order, randomizer, or clustering related topics.
Tips for governance meetings
- In the objection round: don’t decide yourself whether an objection is valid. Let the raiser test it against the criteria.
- You may raise an objection if a proposal violates holacracy's rules. That is the only moment you engage with content.