Make sure to include adherence to time management in the group agreement before the facilitation process begins. Then, assign the role of timekeeper to a participant who wishes to take on a more active role. This way, someone besides you will be monitoring the schedule, and you'll also engage an eager participant by giving them a meaningful responsibility.

When the facilitated sessions are too long, 1) Use detailed agenda and timer to schedule each discussion topics. 2) Engage and Delegate the participants by providing relevant activities in the middle. 3) Prioritize and ensure if the core contents to be discussed are covered in the session. 4) Provide the speaker with information such as how much time is left for them to complete and the next speaker to begin. 5) Understand the pulse of the audience and ask the speaker to be more specific on topics which greater audience are keen and interested to know about.

A good way to manage time and facilitation is to preempt and plan for it. Good discussion is always good for the session. Here are my thoughts - - Set time expectations internally and externally. - Add buffers to allow sessions to ease out better rather than abrupt ends. - In case there's another session, guide the discussion into the next and adjust the time accordingly. - Keep track of time and encourage contributions that are shorter. Once you see the discussion is leading to the desired outcomes, draw collective reflections.

One of the main jobs of the facilitator is to help the group make choices & explore the trade offs. In some instances, these trade offs have to do with time. What to do in that moment varies depending on a lot of different variables. Here are some for your consideration: 1. Which session is running long? For ex, Is it the first session or the session before lunch? 2. How's the energy level of the group? For ex, are people sitting towards the front of their seat and nodding? Or are they leaning back and checking their phones? 3. Whose session is running long? Is it the session with those in power or those marginalized? You can use these questions to help you decide or even better do a quick menti to ask the group what THEY want to do.

It is always critical to have a structured plan which balances activities with discussion. Sometimes if the topic demands more in-depth discussion, you can have timed writing activities which focus the participants to write down their thoughts. As a facilitator it is good to assign breakout groups, assign a thought leader who can present ideas for the group, and encourage and give quieter participants a chance to share their voice. If discussions get off track, it is up to facilitator to bring back the focus and introduce a new activity or summarize the main points of the discussion. Also, know your audience. If they tend to speak more, have fewer activities. If they are quieter you may need more content.

As a facilitator, acknowledge openly that the session is running long—check-in for engagement and a need for a short break. Summarise the main points and actions from the meeting. Negotiate with the delegates about the best way to use the remaining time and assure them you will keep to the schedule, though you will facilitate at pace to keep to timelines.

If I find my session running behind schedule one thing I’ve found that works and is great for learners as well is combining individual discussions / scenarios into one conversation and talk through several elements of what has just been shared in a single activity. Not only does it help get you back on track time wise, it also helps learners to synthesize the previous individual learnings and conversations into a single scenario / discussion and helps to enhance realism in the classroom.

Here are options in my facilitators toolkit: 1. If there are speakers/group leaders still to come, talk to them and see if they could/are willing to edit their presentation to be more concise. Experience tells me they agree but end up taking same agreed time. 2. If its purely a facilitated session. Pause the programme at a good time and get group to decide how to solve problem, prioritising elements etc. At the end get the group to agree what they do with the bits cut, so its not lost or forgotten. 3. If there are group activities shave minutes off those to claw back time. 4. While break out groups happen, facilitator writes up summary and final agreements to make that section quicker.