FACILITATION SKILLS FIELDBOOK

Jérôme L’host – Senior Consultant

To understand What Facilitation is and Why it is important in our meetings & group activities

To get an overview of tools, tips and techniques for managing groups and meetings

To experience Facilitation techniques and to know when to use them

To keep on developing skills, attributes and behaviours that are directly related to successful performance on the job (UN Competency Framework)

Facilitated reflection

Q1- What is facilitation ?

Q2- What are the different roles in a group meeting/discussion ?

Q3- What is expected from a Facilitator ?

Q4- What qualities are necessary ?

Beyond a definition…

• Facilitation means making all group interactions easier;

• Facilitation helps groups and organisations identify and resolve difficult issues;

• It provides unique solutions to unique needs;

• It is based on techniques that are only appropriate or inappropriate, not right or wrong;

• Facilitation is based on perception; it is not an exact science.

A GOOD FACILITATOR …

• Is empathic

• Is results-oriented

• Masters process

• Is firm on outcome

• Is flexible on tactics

• Is energetic

• Listens actively

• Is good at non-verbals

• Involves everyone

• Pauses and reflects

Effective meetings really boil down to three things:

1.They achieve the meeting's objective.

2.They take up a minimum amount of time.

3.They leave participants feeling that a sensible process has been followed.

The Meeting's Objective

Do you want a decision?

Do you want to generate ideas?

Are you negotiating ?

Are you getting status reports?

Are you communicating something?

Are you making plans?

Are you promoting an idea ?

Are you coordinating across Units?

Focus, Focus and…Focus

To help you determine what your meeting objective is, complete this sentence:

At the close of the meeting, I want the group to ...

(Consider your next 2 meetings)

To prepare an agenda, consider the following factors:

•Priorities – what absolutely must be covered?

•Results – what do we need to accomplish at the meeting?

•Participants – who needs to attend the meeting for it to be successful?

•Sequence – in what order will you cover the topics?

•Timing – how much time will you spend on each topic?

•Date and Time – when will the meeting take place?

•Place – where will the meeting take place?

Fields of TrainingFields of TrainingIn

tera

ctio

n b

etw

een

Tra

iner

& P

arti

cip

ant

high

Trainer’s contribution to contentTrainer’s facilitation skills

Interaction among participantsOwnership of outcome by participants

Participants’ level of knowledgeEnergy in the audience

Time available

Fields of training is designed by Sabine Bhanot and Jerome L’Host based on ideas of John Townsend

and Arthur D. Little

low

Telling

StimulatingModerating

Proposing

Empowering

Fields of training definitions

TELLING means transmitting information rapidly

PROPOSING means selling an idea

MODERATING means encouraging productive conversations

STIMULATING means encouraging a richly creative environment

EMPOWERING means enabling the group to manage itself

- My Comfort Zone -

Look at the five intervention modes to see where you feel most comfortable, especially under pressure.Ask a friend or colleague for feedback.Then imagine yourself operating, at your best, in an intervention mode that is « new » for you.Do the exercise many times until you feel at ease. Start practising in your next meeting.

Autonomy of a facilitated group

Control and input from facilitator

Team in charge

Telling Proposing Moderating Stimulating Empowering

None

Full

ICEBREAKERS/ ENERGIZERS

• Foolproof – has been tested & works

• Amusing – trainees should enjoy it

• Bridged – linked to course content

• Unique- trainees should have not done it before

• Lively – movement, exchange, chatter

• Optimistic – positive and non-threatening

• Uncomplicated –easy to explain and organise

• Short – lasts between 5-10 minutes

http://www.thiagi.com/

A great online resource !An inspiring Master !

Lost on the moon

Your spaceship has just crash-landed on the moon. You had planned to rendezvous with the mother ship200 miles away on the lighted surface of the moon.

The rough landing has ruined your ship and destroyed all the equipment on board, except for the 15 items listed on the next page.

Your crew’s survival depends solely on reaching the mother ship, so you must choose the most crucial items available for the 200-mile trip. Your task now is to rank all 15 items in terms of their importance for survival, first individually, then as a group.

Please put number one by the most important item, number two by the second most important, and so on through to number 15, the least important.

YOUNASA

GROUP

Diff. Class. Class. Diff.

1 Box of matches

2 Food concentrate

3 50 m of nylon rope

4 50 m2 parachute silk

5 Solar-powered, portable heating unit

6 Two 45-caliber pistols

7 One case of dehydrated milk

8 Two 100 m3 tanks of oxygen

9 Stellar map (of the moon’s constellation)

10 Self-inflating life raft

11 Magnetic compass

12 Ten litres of water

13 Signal flares

14 First-aid kit containing injection needles

15 Solar-powered FM radio receiver-transmitter

Total

????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Biased or neutral questionsBegins with: Who, what, where, why, when, how, which…

Objective: Maximum of information

Example: What do you think about…?

OPEN -NEUTRAL CLOSED -NEUTRAL

Begins with a verb:

YES/NO

Example: Do you want to join us?

Limited spectrum of answer

Example: What do you like most about…?

OPEN -BIASED CLOSED -BIASED

A pushy question

Yes or confirmation

Example: Don’t you think we should…?

?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

HOW TO MODERATE ?

• Know the Mental Models: images, assumptions and stories people carry in their minds.

Chain Reaction (or simplified Ladder of Inference)

(developed by C. Argyris and D. Schon - « The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook »)

Conclusions(Actions)

Assumptions(Meaning)

Data(Facts)

Concluding Discovering

• Explore and moderate Mental Models

To avoid people battling over conclusions, you might:

• Explain briefly the concept of Ladder of Inference

Ask for clarification:

« Can you help me understand how you came to this conclusion ? »,

« Give me some data … »

• Ask others in the group what they think about the conclusion reached by one participant

HOW TO MODERATE ?

• Advocacy: making a point, sharing your own thoughts, feelings and ideas, examining the ladder of inference.

• Inquiry: asking about others’ or your own feelings and ideas. Asking questions.

Balancing Advocacy and Inquiry

Balancing Advocacy and Inquiry

e.g. presenter,

military officer,

barrister

No dialogue

Advocacy

High

Low

Low High Inquiry

e.g. observer,

soldier

No dialogue

e.g. investigator,

journalist,

psychiatrist

No dialogue

e.g. facilitator,

consultant,

doctor

Skillful dialogue

TALKING STICK

“Only the person holding this stick is allowed to talk”

• Useful for emotional conversations

• It forces everyone to listen to others (difficult groups, lack of respect)

• It makes participants think about the value of their comments

• To be used on very specific occasions

• Be aware of “violent consensus”

• Unity ≠ Majority

• Do not vote !

CONSENSUS

PRODUCTIVE CONVERSATIONS

- Aide memoire -

Speak one at a time

Listen to others with care

Go straight to the point

If you oppose, propose !

If you agree, shut up !

Balance advocacy & inquiry

Use talking stick

Balance airtime

STIMULATING

« Imagination is more important than knowledge »

Albert Einstein

Brainstorming

Carousel Brainstorms

Moveable media

Graffiti boards

Vizualisations

STIMULATING DIVERGENCE

BRAINSTORMS

• Topic understood by everyone ?• Think silently for a minute• Record all ideas instantly on a flipchart (do not rephrase)• Everyone speaks• Non-judgmental atmosphere• Challenge the group, encourage to make “far out” suggestions• Quantity is desirable• Motivate the participants• Have fun

STIMULATING CONVERGENCE

• Clustering (Post-Its)• Prioritization• Confluence• Fishbowls

PRIORITISATION

• Voting/Multivoting

• Rating

• Color Coding ideas

To be used as “first filter” – then apply common sense and consensus

• When consensus is critical• To make people talk to each other• To stop a single “Boss” taking over the group• To build a shared vision• To ensure buy-in under difficult conditions

CONFLUENCE

CONFLUENCE *HOW TO USE IT

•  Ask individuals to reflect on an important question and summarise their reflection or suggested answers in 40 words or less, on paper.

•  Pairing participants with a partner they don’t know well, ask them to share their answers and combine them into a single statement or item.

•  Then in groups of four, make them reach consensus on one combined sentence (or top three items for the group).

•  They arrive at a shared decision, gaining understanding and consensus around the issue(s) on the table

•  *This exercise is often called “survival of the fittest”, sometimes “convergence”, more rarely “Diad-Tetrad-Octad”

FISHBOWL

• To encourage consensus and negotiation under time and peer pressure;• To highlight inter-departmental communication barriers;• To dry-run difficult negotiations;• To limit negotiation to 4 or 5 people (efficiency) while enabling 20 or more

to take part in the wider discussion;• To show how difficult it is to belong to more than one group.

CLOSED FISHBOWL - Instructions

• One representative of each subgroup sits in a small circle in the middle of the full group.

•  Each person in the fishbowl represents a group of four or more, a thought group, and each has to make his point.

•  The representatives need to come to a consensus. If a fishbowl session last many hours, participants can rotate.

OPEN FISHBOWL - Instructions

• The open fishbowl is exactly the same asthe closed one, but there is one open chair for anyone who wants to make a point (no discussion)

• The open fishbowl gives everybody a chance to participate.

• Tell participants outside the fishbowl they can move in at any time, sit down, make a comment and then leave the open chair.

• Every time an observer comes in, the “fishbowl” has to be silent and listen.

« When a man comes to me for advice I find out the kind of advice he wants - and give it to him »

Josh Billings

EMPOWERING

The facilitator must:

• step back and observe the group dynamics

• transfer ownership and control to the group

EMPOWERING

USING GROUP DYNAMICS

Type of action Input to the group Facilitator’s role

MOVE

OPPOSE

FOLLOW

BYSTAND

Initiate a sequence or behaviour

Oppose a move

Support a move

Observe, ask questions, make comments

Gets and channels movers’ energy for direction

Legitimises opposition toprovide correction

Encourages “follow” action to provide completion

Enables “bystand” actions for perspective and reflection

Com

mit

ted Golden

Triangle

Passive Grouchy

Hesitatin

g

Opposing

Reb

elli

ous

Torn apart

Antagonism

Acc

epta

nce

Group Dynamics and behavior

Dealing with difficult participants

What is a difficult participant ?

How to deal with them ?

Acknowledge receipt The ‘acknowledge receipt’ is a tool which enables the facilitator to face attacks, objections, or aggression from others.It consists in a simple technique divided into four phases, all of them being equally essential.

1.‘Listen’ till the last note, and ‘quiet’By listening and keeping silent you show the other person a genuine interest in his/her concern, and you also give him/her the opportunity to calm down and become less aggressive (should that be the case). Moreover after having listened and understood the question you are able to formulate your answer with care and accuracy.

2. Constructive reformulationThis phase puts emphasis on the other person’s issue by showing him/her that you acknowledged receipt of his/her question or objection, that you received and understood his/her message. This phase also helps you to dig the positive side out of the question; it gives you indication on how to formulate your answer.Examples:Q. What you are saying is abstract… A. So if I understand well, you are looking for a concrete way of…  Q. I have been doing this job for the past 20 years, and I can tell you that…A. I can see you have a long experience…   

3. AnswerThe person asking the question usually expects from you a real answer – it should be clear, concise, and as complete as possible (if not, (s)he will not miss the opportunity to come back with the same issue).  4. Return-question‘Returning the question’ means re-opening the debate in a positive direction (remember ‘the questioner is usually the leader’). The objective of such a phase consists either in making sure your answer was satisfying to the other person, or in enlarging the debate with your whole team (discussion, argumentation, brainstorming, etc.).

Dealing with objections – Practice session

Objection Reformulation

Dealing with dysfunctional behavior

- Late comers- Mobile phones abusers- Side talks- Pax having an argument- « Oysters »- « Clowns »- « Dinosaurs »- Doodlers

BIBLIOGRAPHY / RESOURCES

www.Thiagi.comwww.Facilitutor.com

The Skilled Facilitator - Roger Schwarz

The Art of Facilitation - Dale Hunter, Anne Bailey, Bill Taylor 

The Facilitator’s Fieldbook - Thomas Justice & David W. Jamieson