C.A.Facilitator

C.A.Facilitator: Supporting Meetings with Networked Computers

"Don't forget the two o'clock meeting."
"Another meeting? How do we ever get any work done around here, anyway?"

Meetings are an essential part of group work, whether their subject is a current project or long-range planning. In many organizations, management strategies are shifting from traditional methods of hierarchical control to a greater emphasis on teams and empowerment. As a result, meetings are becoming increasingly important for sharing ideas, building consensus, developing plans, and evaluating results. Yet meetings are often perceived as unproductive, inefficient, and a distraction from "real work."

Meeting facilitators struggle with a double-bind, trying to support collective action without either stifling individual contributions or allowing the group to drift aimlessly. An effective facilitator must simultaneously manage time, material resources, information, and egos. This process involves stating agendas, recruiting participants, coordinating schedules, obtaining space and other resources, moderating discussions, maintaining focus on goals, recording the proceedings, confirming action assignments, and following up on results.

Group support systems (GSS) use networked computers to support these processes. Since the early 1960s, researchers have explored the possibility of exploiting the speed and memory capacity of computers to allow groups of people to work together more efficiently. A variety of commercial products are now available that can provide meeting support tools on local area networks.

In a typical group support system, meeting participants use computers to create and process a database of ideas maintained on a shared file server. This approach has several benefits:

Speed. Participants view information on computer screens and type responses, so everyone gets to "talk" at once. Conversational digressions are minimized, and the group stays more focused on its agenda.
Anonymity. Ideas are displayed as plain text, without information identifying the person who entered the idea. This feature encourages more candid and open discussion of sensitive issues.
Equity. In ordinary meetings, most of the talking is done by people who are perceived to have power or who have extroverted personalities. Group support systems allow all participants to have equal input.
Documentation. Every idea typed into the system is recorded in the database for permanent storage. The proceedings of all meetings can be searched rapidly, and verbatim reports can be printed on the spot.

These and other benefits explain why one group support tool, "C.A.Facilitator," is beginning to change the way meetings are planned and conducted at the Georgia Center.

The C.A.Facilitator Project

The successful use of group support systems at facilities like The Carter Center in Atlanta led to the formation of a Georgia Center committee to study the possible uses of similar software in a residential continuing education environment. Faculty from The University of Georgia's Terry College of Business offered invaluable advice about available software and the skills and personnel required for successful use of group support systems. C.A.Facilitator was identified as the best product available for the Center's existing hardware.

C.A.Facilitator is a meeting support tool for networked Macintosh computers. Developed by the management consulting firm McCall, Szerdy and Associates, C.A.Facilitator ("computer-assisted facilitator") combines point-and-click ease of use with powerful relational database capabilities. Some of its special features include tools for searching and managing ideas and topics; automatic report generation; the ability to create a wide range of ballots and evaluation instruments and to tabulate and display voting results; and integrated word processing, spreadsheet, and CAD programs.

Georgia Center staff worked closely with McCall, Szerdy and Associates, who had a strong interest in seeing how their product might be utilized by the kinds of non-profit and educational organizations that often hold meetings and conferences at the Georgia Center. This preparatory stage of the project included telephone and e-mail discussions about hardware requirements and installation procedures and culminated in an on-site training session conducted by Julia Szerdy.

Since its installation in the Georgia Center's Macintosh laboratory, C.A. Facilitator has been used to conduct more than 50 meetings. The range of groups and agendas reflects the flexibility and power of computer-based group support systems. Some of the participants and activities have included the following.

Georgia Center Staff: C.A.Facilitator has become a valued tool for internal strategic planning and organizational development. The system has been used to design computer-training workshops, debate a divisional reorganization, brainstorm about marketing and customer service, define long-range organizational goals, and conduct the biannual environmental scanning process.
Educators: Other units at The University of Georgia have used C.A.Facilitator. Faculty of the Department of Adult Education regularly conduct graduate seminars with the system. Administrators from a local elementary school and the Athens-Clarke County School District have held planning meetings. Participants in NUCEA (National University Continuing Education Association) and GSAMS (Georgia Statewide Academic and Medical System) conferences have also worked with the program.
Local Organizations: C.A.Facilitator has been used by local organizations such as the Northeast Georgia Girl Scout Council, Reach Every Adult Learner (REAL), and the Athens Area Chamber of Commerce.
Residential Conference Participants: Participants in culinary institutes for school food service personnel and members of the Georgia Childcare Training Network have worked with C.A.Facilitator in sessions conducted during residential conferences at the Georgia Center.

Outcomes and Observations

The C.A.Facilitator project has been beneficial both for the Georgia Center and for the program's creators. The Georgia Center provided a test site for several pre-release versions of the software and collected data about the usability of its interface design, particularly by individuals with limited previous computer experience. The recommendations of Georgia Center staff and meeting participants led to the incorporation of new features and options in the software and to significant enhancements in the program's ease of use.

Several factors appear to be key to the successful use of a group support system in the context of a continuing education center:

Advance Preparation
The quality of meeting outcomes is directly related to the quality of advance preparations. At the Georgia Center, these involve preliminary discussions between the client and the staff person who will facilitate the computer lab session. The wording of brainstorming topics and the sequencing of activities should allow the group to be as effective as possible. Questions must be open-ended, yet sufficiently focused to keep everyone on track.

Appropriate Use
Not all discussion can be conducted effectively through a group support system. Group motivation usually depends on more personal contact. The meeting format that seems to be most effective includes both computer-facilitated and face-to-face discussion, relying on the group support system to speed up idea generation, defuse controversy, and support voting and ranking processes. Evaluation tools should be used with care, primarily as a means of identifying the group's most pressing concerns.

Realistic Expectations
As for any meeting, results depend on the time, effort, and thought expended by the participants. One-time brainstorming sessions can produce valuable new ideas, but to achieve real gains in productivity, groups have to become thoroughly familiar with the system and use it over an extended period of time.

Some participants are initially uneasy about using a computer network in their meetings, concerned that the technology will somehow distance or dehumanize their interactions with others. However, most discover that systems like C.A.Facilitator actually improve communication and enhance face-to-face relationships. Just as technologies like the telephone, FAX, and e-mail have given people new ways to share their thoughts and feelings, group support systems can help organizations achieve the shared goals of their members.

For more information about the use of C.A.Facilitator at the Georgia Center, contact Brad Cahoon, Georgia Center for Continuing Education, The University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602-3603, (706) 542-1756. E-mail: webmaster@gactr.uga.edu.
McCall, Szerdy, and Associates may be reached at 426 North Hope Avenue, Santa Barbara, CA 93110 (805) 682-9985, or via e-mail to Julia@Facilitate.com or Mike@Facilitate.com. Their web site is at http://www.facilitate.com/.

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Last revised: Wed, Feb 26, 1997, 10:54:57 AM
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