The Hidden Power of Furniture
By Peter Willis
Intoxicated by our lofty ideas and meaningful projects, we can forget that we are, first of all, physical creatures. When you have to facilitate a tricky gathering, begin by paying attention to the furniture.
A short while ago I needed to host a meeting of seven of my neighbours, who had split into two uneasy camps on the question of how our neighbourhood should represent its distress and frustration to the city authorities. The issue? Insufficient management of the troops of baboons who sleep on the mountain above our picturesque village here on the fringes of Cape Town, yet spend much of their day searching, at times quite aggressively, for human food or waste on our properties.
Four of the neighbours, all of whom I regard as friends, had taken exception to a dialogue process I and the other three neighbours had begun two years previously, aiming to create a bridge between our beleaguered village and the remote authorities. They felt left out and believed the wider ‘voice’ of the residents was getting lost in my team’s subtle negotiations with the city officials, which were often carried out away from the public gaze. So, we’d agreed to meet to resolve the impasse.
As the meeting approached, I foresaw that its agenda would be contested, as would, more deeply, my and my team’s very legitimacy in running the dialogue process. We were all in theory friends, yet I knew this would be a very tense gathering.
How did I prepare?
For nearly an hour before they arrived, I occupied myself with furniture. This had two purposes: I knew that while poorly deployed furniture can ruin a meeting, thoughtfully arranged furniture might just contribute to a more honest and even-tempered conversation; also, by taking charge of the look and feel of the room and moving a lot of furniture around – some of it several times – I knew I would be investing myself into the meeting’s subtle dynamics in a way that I couldn’t put into words but which, from past experience, I knew to be effective.
My three big decisions
Lay out the chairs in a relatively tight circle, making it hard to sit back and stay out of the dialogue.
Reject the four comfortable armchairs and prefer upright chairs so that everyone was at the same height.
Lay out jugs of water and glasses, even though it was the end of a weekday and some might have expected to be greeted with a glass of wine. I was signaling that this was to be a serious, focused discussion.
By the time the first neighbours arrived, I felt fully present in the room and in charge as the host. When the leader of the four frustrated neighbours pulled out his printed agenda and proceeded to read his lengthy opening statement, I was calm and open to what might unfold. I was grounded in my unspoken but assumed role as not just host but also facilitator.
For a good while the meeting felt bumpy, with many assumptions, polite accusations and frustrations needing to be aired. After nearly two hours I felt we were listening to one another well enough that we could probably move towards a common task. Sure enough, the idea of a residents’ petition to the authorities was tossed into the ring and all quickly agreed to it – the first signs of coherence since we sat down. Soon after, I suggested we had done enough for one evening and we all parted in good spirits.
My lesson
Never underestimate the power of furniture when you facilitate, whether it is a tricky meeting like this was or a workshop or business presentation. By taking charge of the room in a physical sense well before participants arrive, you give them a subtle but powerful signal that someone – in this case you – is in charge here. This automatically inclines participants towards a sense of order. By contrast, if you arrive in a rush at the same time as participants and have no opportunity to move the furniture to suit your purposes, you not only have less implicit authority, you may also end up having to work with an ill-suited arrangement of chairs and tables. He or she who controls the furniture sets the tone for the meeting.
If you’d like advice or assistance in facilitating difficult meetings or workshops, do get in touch.
