Weighing up the ROI of an Expert Facilitator or Host
How do you weigh up the return-on-investment (ROI) of an expert facilitator or host?
Facilitation is a key skill and service offering that I put to work in supporting my clients. It’s a role than goes relatively unnoticed when it’s done well compared to when it’s not, and it’s worth understanding the gap between good and not-so-good.
Have you ever encountered these scenarios?
- The stand-in host say, “there’s a run sheet but I haven’t looked at it yet…” before bumbling through the next 3 hours.
- The collective heart and soul of the room sinks when the facilitator inadvertently makes offensive remarks, and ploughs on oblivious.
- A panel discussion is so dominated by one panel member that the other guests hardly get a word in, thus depriving the audience of their valuable perspectives.
- You are unclear or confused by the facilitator’s instructions for a whole-of-room activity.
- A conference host has been unable to prevent a guest speaker from running 20 minutes over, stealing time from the (irate) speakers who follow and throwing the whole agenda out.
This is a small selection of the ways that substandard hosting and facilitation can detract significant value from an event!
There are two main choices: the free internal option versus the paid external expert facilitator so it’s important to consider the ROI on expert facilitation and hosting.
I’ll admit that it’s in my interest to advocate for external services, but hear me out!
Events aren’t cheap
Getting people together for off-sites or events is an expensive exercise: add up the travel, accommodation, venue hire, catering and payroll for the time their away from their desks for starters and it will come to a tidy sum. These are the hard costs.
More importantly, what is the opportunity cost if the objectives for the event aren’t met? What does that mean for the people, teams and organisation(s) in question? How much reputation is on the line for the leaders and brands involved?
These ‘softer’ costs are typically many, many multiples of the hard costs.
When the design, hosting or facilitation aspects of an event fall short, there’s a lot at stake.
The vibe
Your facilitator or host is responsible for creating the mood for the event, supported by the organisers and event staff.
What mood is required? Should it be fun, professional, serious, energised, cool, interactive, relaxed or something else?
How much risk do you want to take?
A group of high level executives might be up for dancing and throwing around balloons. Or they might not.
Experience helps when making these decisions and delivering the mood that’s chosen.
An afterthought?
However, the planning process sometimes goes like this:
The venue and headline speakers are locked in early on, the rest of the logistics are set in motion and …. the hosting or facilitation decisions become an afterthought – there’s someone internally who can jump in for sure, right?!
This thinking prevails until, closer to the event, the sponsor or event producer wakes up at 2am in a cold sweat wondering if the internal option is best?
Probably not, but the external one comes with extra cost and the budget is already stretched.
Do they go with an internal person or find the extra dollars for the external option?
Weighing up the pros and cons
There are pros and cons to both options.
Internal options come with inside knowledge: familiarity of the organisation and people involved, the context for the event and a grasp of technical issues.
The downside is they might not have session design skills, experience managing audiences nor ability to achieve the event objectives. You can easily end up in one of the scenarios painted at the beginning.
Going internal can be a high risk proposition.
I’ve also found that internal facilitators are often people who, by taking on that role, diminish rather than elevate their status as a result.
An external facilitator won’t have the inside track, although with sufficient research and briefings they can make up many of those shortfalls. Lack of familiarity can often be an advantage as they won’t be swayed by people and existing agendas.
Plus, they can play an active, independent and value-adding role in the design phase.
When it comes to delivery on the day their skills really come to the fore because they will singularly focus on achieving the event objectives.
The ROI of expert facilitation and hosting
As an facilitator myself, I clearly love the external option! But I also know that for some events it can be challenging to get that over the line due to time, resources or both.
Making a conscious decision from the start leads to better preparation and outcomes.
An expert facilitator or host brings added value that can be broken down into three components:
- Their input into event and run sheet design so that objectives are more likely to be met.
- Their superior ability to deliver to the brief and handle unexpected situations; and
- Their skill in reducing the risk of things going badly wrong.
In short, the ROI comes from design, delivery and risk reduction.
Estimate and weigh up the sum of those three components relative to the cost of the external facilitation and you have your ‘ROI’ figure.
About Phil
Phil Preston is a speaker, facilitator and strategist who works at the intersection of business, leadership and society. He can be reached via hello@philpreston.com.au or +61 408 259 633.
