1. Introduction to Facilitation Techniques
DISCUSSION NOTES:
Time for this block: 30 minutes
Learning Step Objective: Prior to completion of the course, the student will be able to recall the primary duties of a facilitator and will be able to compare and contrast the role/function of a Facilitator to that of Practitioners and Consultants.
Students will list and explain the levels of facilitation (basic, developmental, and strategic in a classroom environment with 100% accuracy.
Students will differentiate the roles and functions of facilitators from those of Practitioners and Consultants.
Students will identify the levels of the Role and Function matrix and the characteristics and responsibilities at each level though handouts and interactive discussion.
Introduction to Facilitation Techniques

2. Facilitation Facilitator:
One who contributes structure and process to interactions so groups are able to function effectively and make high-quality decisions. A helper and enabler whose goal is to support others as they pursue their objectives.
For more explanation of facilitators and facilitation skills, go to the CTB

3. Two Types of FACILITATION
Facilitated Instruction (Content)
Facilitated Meetings (Process)
DISCUSSION NOTES:
* What is the difference between content and process used in this context?
* How does facilitated instruction differ from facilitated meetings from
a facilitator’s perspective?
* From a participant’s perspective?
(content and process ownership)
* Ask how many of the participants expect to be facilitating within their own work groups when they return to their various locations.

4. BASIC Levels of Facilitation
Facilitator takes primary responsibility for managing the process
Facilitator helps group temporarily improve its process (gives them the fish)
Group is dependant on facilitator to help them solve future problems
Examples: Cross Functional Teams Ad-Hoc or Temporary Teams (not required to report to one another), Short-Term Process Action Teams (PATs)
Some examples of times when the basic level of facilitation may take place may be for an action planning committee for a prescription drug drop off or town hall meeting.

5. DEVELOPMENTAL Levels of Facilitation (cont)
Group shares responsibility for managing the process
Facilitator helps group permanently improve its process (teaches them to fish)
Reduced dependence on facilitator for solving future problems
Facilitator designs interventions to change group behavior
Examples: Long-term Councils/Committees, In-Tact Work Groups
At this level, a facilitator may initially facilitate monthly coalition meetings, with the intent of improving the meeting quality and showing the coalition members how to efficiently and effectively facilitate a meeting.

6. Find your Audience Preparation Talk to leader
Find out goals / expectations of meeting
Size of group
Constraints (time, meeting area, confidentiality)
Resources (what does facilitator need to bring)
Logistics (bathrooms, refreshments, tables, etc)
For more about planning meetings, see in the Community Tool Box
Without well understood goals and expectations for a meeting, it is unlikely the meeting will be productive. The facilitator MUST understand what the goals are to plan the facilitation correctly. Preparation is essential to effective facilitation. Size of the group, constraints such as time and location, resources, and agenda all need planned in advance, based on the goals and expectations. The facilitator is responsible for making sure all of these are in place.

7. Layout of room conducive to type of meeting Materials easily available
Preparation (cont)
Prepare your Area
Layout of room conducive to type of meeting
Materials easily available
Butcher Block paper, water color markers, masking tape, correction tape, Easel(s), A/V ……….just to name a few!!
Climate control
Layout of the room should provide the group with the best possible setup conducive to the type of meeting. Think about:
Are they going to work as small groups?
Do they need to see a projector screen?
Do they need to see other items?
Who will be speaking? Will everyone have to turn awkwardly to see certain people speak?
Be sure to have items to facilitate. Have too many items. It is recommended to have a facilitation kit that includes pens, paper of various colors and sizes, stress relievers, ice breakers, and tape.
No one wants to be in a meeting in a hot room. Think about how many people will be in the room, find out if it will affect the room, and adjust accordingly. Always consider climate.

8. Techniques SPEECH GRAMMAR PRONUNCIATION ARTICULATION FORCE INFLECTION
RATE
Explain the differences of each of the different items and demonstrate.
Discuss the importance of each to credibility of facilitator.
* GRAMMAR - correct usage of the spoken and written word.
* PRONUNCIATION - corrects sound and the correct accent where it should be on the syllable…the correct “m-phass-sis placed on correct syll-lall-able”
* ARTICULATION - Production and combination of separate sounds to create intelligible speech….using the tongue, the teeth, and the lips to produce the correct sounds.
Involves tongue, lower jaw, lips and breath stream to form specific sounds.
* FORCE - Combination of proper volume of voice power combined with modulation of volume
Involves rate, pauses, and inflections Important to vary
* INFLECTION: Change in normal pitch Use inflection to increase emphasis on certain words.
Principle difference between saying words & communicating ideas.
* RATE -- Speaker’s speed of delivery Speak fast enough for comfortable listening
yet slow enough to be understood Take advantage of a vocal “change of pace”
* PAUSES - Punctuation marks of speech * listener has a chance to evaluate and absorb
* give emphasis and convey meaning * help you relax and breath
* opportunity for you to think about what you’re going to say next

9. Techniques (cont) QUESTIONING PURPOSE REASONS WHAT IS A GOOD QUESTION?
BOOMERANGS
* IF ACHIEVING EFFECTIVE ANSWERS IS YOUR GOAL, HOW DO YOU ACCOMPLISH IT?

10. QUESTIONING….ASK, PAUSE, CALL
Techniques (cont)
QUESTIONING….ASK, PAUSE, CALL
ASK THE QUESTION
PAUSE
CALL ON PARTICIPANT
For more on techniques, check out the “facilitator skills and tips section at
Ask, pause, call is one technique for keeping people engaged. Ask the question, pause for 8-10 seconds or longer, then call on someone if appropriate. Do not fear the uncomfortable silence! Give people time to think and engage. Someone WILL speak up. If you interject as the facilitator, it may appear you are uncomfortable or not confident. Pausing until someone speaks up shows that you are willing to take the time to get the answer, and this stresses the importance of what you just asked.

11. Controlling the talkative ones
Techniques (cont)
Movement in the “pit”
Gestures
Eye contact
Silence
Controlling the talkative ones
For more on techniques, check out the “facilitator skills and tips section at
Make eye contact. Try and make it with everyone regularly
Be animated, but not distracting. Don’t use crutchwords or crutch gestures (wringing hands, hands in pockets, tapping pens, etc)
Do not allow one or two individuals to control the group by talking to much. This may require assertiveness in possibly cutting off someone who is dominating the discussion with unproductive talk.

12. ROLES Facilitator Recorder Meeting Manager Group Members
Roles of Participants
ROLES
Facilitator
Recorder
Meeting Manager
Group Members

13. INTERACTIVE METHOD (FACILITATOR)
Roles of Participants (cont)
INTERACTIVE METHOD (FACILITATOR)
NEUTRAL
DOES NOT EVALUATE OR CONTRIBUTE
FOCUSES ENERGY
PROTECTS INDIVIDUAL & IDEA
ENCOURAGES PARTICIPATION
HELPS FIND WIN/WIN
A facilitator is in his truest form if he or she is completely neutral. The facilitator does not have input, he or she just moves the meeting along towards its goal. If the goal is to paint the house, the facilitator does not input which color, how many people are going to paint, or when. The facilitator would simply move the meeting along, being sure all the essentials were covered, helping dealing with dissenting opinions, and drawing consensus from the group.

14. INTERACTIVE METHOD (RECORDER)
Roles of Participants (cont)
INTERACTIVE METHOD (RECORDER)
REMAINS NEUTRAL
CREATES GROUP MEMORY
DOES NOT EDIT
USES WORDS OF SPEAKER
ASKS GROUP MEMBERS TO VERIFY ACCURACY

15. INTERACTIVE METHOD (MANAGER)
Roles of Participants (cont)
INTERACTIVE METHOD (MANAGER)
ACTIVE PARTICIPANT
REMAINS THE FINAL AUTHORITY
CAN REGAIN CONTROL
NO LONGER PERCEIVED AS IMPOSING
VIEWS ON EVERYONE

16. INTERACTIVE METHOD (GROUP MEMBERS)
Roles of Participants (cont)
INTERACTIVE METHOD (GROUP MEMBERS)
ACTIVE PARTICIPANTS
WILL KEEP FACILITATOR HONEST
RESPONSIBLE FOR THE OUTCOME

17. INTRODUCTION Welcome (Meeting Manager, YOUR Team)
Meeting Process
INTRODUCTION
Welcome (Meeting Manager, YOUR Team)
ICEBREAKER – Know your audience
NATO (Nature, Agenda, Time, Outcome)
Be sure to kick off the meeting by creating the appropriate atmosphere. Let participants know or build (depending on the type of meeting) what the meeting “etiquette” will be. Always let them know the time frame, and stick to those times. And last but not least, be sure the group knows the goals of the meeting.

18. Meeting Process
Decision
Making
Tools

19. FOCUS THE GROUP Develop Common Ground Rules Explain Bin/Parking Lot
Meeting Process
FOCUS THE GROUP
Develop Common Ground Rules
Explain Bin/Parking Lot
The “Parking lot” is for important ideas that come up that require discussion, but do not help the group towards the stated goal of the meeting. For example, if the group were discussing the budget for an action plan, and the goal was to come up with a suitable budget, then a discussion about the possibility of new accounting software might happen, in which case, the facilitator would place it in the “parking lot”, as it does distracts from the goal of making a budget for the action plan. The accounting software could be discussed if there was time at the end of the meeting, and at a minimum, a time would be planned at a later date in which it would be discussed. Do not let parking lot items just “sit and rust” in the parking lot. They go there because they are important enough issues that they need to be addressed.

20. IDEA GENERATION Brainstorming Unstructured (Free form)
Meeting Process
IDEA GENERATION
Brainstorming
Structured (One-at-a-time method)
Unstructured (Free form)
Silent (written)

21. IDEA GENERATION Points to remember about Brainstorming:
Meeting Process
IDEA GENERATION
Points to remember about Brainstorming:
Never judge ideas as they are generated
Don’t quit after the first lull
Try to write down all of the ideas exactly as they were presented
Encourage outrageous ideas

22. CLARIFY Clarification of ALL ideas need to be done
Meeting Process
CLARIFY
Clarification of ALL ideas need to be done
Everyone in the group must have an understanding

23. LOOP & GROUP Quick and easy way to reduce data
Meeting Process
LOOP & GROUP
Quick and easy way to reduce data
Used to combine duplicate or similar items into one thought or phrase

24. DATA REDUCTION Multi-Voting
Meeting Process
DATA REDUCTION
Multi-Voting
quick and easy way to find items of highest importance
not meant to be used as a way to “prioritize” ideas
best suited for long lists
See for an in-depth explanation of multi-voting
Multivoting is a group decision-making technique used to reduce a long list of items to a manageable number by means of a structured series of votes
See for an in-depth explanation of multi-voting

25. DECISION MAKING/PRIORITIZE
Meeting Process
DECISION MAKING/PRIORITIZE
Nominal Group Technique
priority value
Pairwise Ranking
6 or fewer

26. OUTCOME Present group with THEIR outcome Meeting Process
The group should always have a tangible product resulting from the meeting. This may be as simple as meeting minutes, but the facilitator should strive to create something more. An action plan in the form of a matrix, a written vision or mission on paper, a powerpoint or spreadsheet might be appropriate in different situations. Don’t let a group walk out of a room without a product.

27. CLOSURE Facilitator/Team (Appreciation – “Thank You”)
Meeting Process
CLOSURE
Facilitator/Team (Appreciation – “Thank You”)
Leader/Meeting manager

28. Levels of Decision Making
Consultative
Democratic
Consensus
Delegative (committee)
For more on decision making, see
in the Community Tool Box
Consultative – Leader consults with group members, then leader makes decision.
Democratic - Leader and group discuss issue, then vote. Some possibly weighted percentage of group members is needed to agree on a decision.
Consensus - Leader and group members discuss issue and reach a mutually supported decision.
Delegative - Leader delegates decision to group or subgroup to make, sometimes within leader’s identified constraints.

29. Levels of Acceptance of Decisions
Decision Making
Levels of Acceptance of Decisions
Internal Commitment
Enrollment
Compliance
Noncompliance
Resistance
Internal Commitment - Believes in the decision and sees it as his or her own; will do whatever is necessary to implement it effectively.
Enrollment - Supports the decision; will work within his or her role to implement the decision.
Compliance - Accepts the decision but does not believe in it; will do what is formally required within his or her role.
Noncompliance - Does not support the decision; does not follow through on formal requirements within his or her role
Resistance – Actively undermines the decisioin.
Entertain a discussion of how to match the type of decision making rule to the type of support needed.

30. What Motivates Adult Participants?
Participation
Real world application.
“the boss says so”
Professional advancement.
Escape or stimulation.
Pure interest.
What Motivates Adult Participants?

31. Barriers to Adult Participation
Other responsibilities
Lack of time
Insufficient confidence
Having to learn
Fear of being judged
Not in their functional area (lane)
See question 7 of the troubleshooting guide for more about barriers at
in the Community Tool Box

32. Dealing with conflict is a fact of every facilitator’s life.
Facilitating Conflict
Dealing with conflict is a fact of every facilitator’s life.
What can you do to view conflict as a positive sign?
Check out this tool for resolving conflict at in the Community Tool Box
Conflict means people care!

33. Types of Conflict Facilitating Conflict FUNCTIONAL DYSFUNCTIONAL
People are open to hearing other’s ideas
People listen and respond to ideas even if they don’t agree.
Everyone tries to understand the views of the other person.
There’s a systematic approach to analyzing the situation and looking for solutions.
DYSFUNCTIONAL
People assume they are right.
People wait until others have finished talking and then state their ideas w/out responding to the other person.
No one is interested in how the other person sees the situation.
Hot topics get thrashed out in an unstructured way.

34. Facilitating Conflict
Facilitator’s Behavior
FUNCTIONAL
DYSFUNCTIONAL
Functional Dysfunctional
Stay neutral Join the argument
Point out the difference Ignore – pray they’ll
so they can be understood go away
Have rules and use them Set no norms
Ask for concerns Sidestep hot issues
Make people focus on facts Let people get personal
Problem solve concerns Get defensive
Invite and face feedback Squash dissent
Facilitate assertively Stand by passively
Get closure and move on Let it drag on ..and on..

35. Facilitating Conflict
STEPS IN MANAGING CONFLICT
Step 1: Venting
listening to people
they feel heard
built up emotions are diffused
Step 2: Resolving the Issue
choosing the right structured approach to get to solutions
can use all of conflict style choices but must choose appropriately
VENTING
Not all groups are intense
Some objectively discuss the facts
Some even listen attentively
The best collaborate to find the best solution
HOWEVER………..
VENTING.. You might face…
people pushing their point of view
people becoming angry
negative body language
sarcastic of dismissive remarks
people “yeah – butting” and criticizing
“shutting down”
anger resulting in relationship damage
RESOLVING .. You might face…
AVOID – ignore.. Maintain silence. Try to change subject.
ACCOMMODATE – ask for tolerance. to get along.. Sometimes involves asking one person to give in to another…
COMPROMISE – look for middle ground ask each person to give up something to get something which could be more important.
RESOLVING ... You might face…
COMPETE – use force to make points and squelch conflicts … personal wins vs other losses.
COLLABORATE – face the conflict, draw people’s attention to it ... surface the issues resolve them in a win/win way
Compromise seeks to find middle ground. Use in 20% situations
when choices are polarized.
* Collaboration gets people to find the best solution for everyone. #1 preferred approach use it in 65% of all conflict solutions.
* Avoiding doesn’t deal with the issue. Use it in those 10% of situations when issues can’t be resolved.
*Accommodating just smoothes things over. Use it only in those 5% of situations when keeping peace is most important.
*Competing divides groups.

36. Two Basic Aspects of All Conflict Handling Modes
Facilitating Conflict
Two Basic Aspects of All Conflict Handling Modes
ASSERTIVENESS
…the extent to which the individual attempts to satisfy his or her own concerns
COOPERATIVENESS
…the extent to which the individual attempts
to satisfy the concerns of others

37. Two Basic Aspects of All Conflict Handling Modes
Facilitating Conflict
Two Basic Aspects of All Conflict Handling Modes
Assertiveness
Cooperativeness

38. The Five Conflict Handling Modes
Facilitating Conflict
The Five Conflict Handling Modes
Competing
Collaborating
ASSERTIVENESS
Unassertive Assertive
Compromising
Avoiding
Accommodating
Uncooperative Cooperative
COOPERATIVENESS

39. MANAGING INTERVENTIONS NECESSARY WHEN:
someone isn’t listening
people are interrupting each other
one person uses a sarcastic tone
people’s comments get personal
the discussion is getting off track
For more on dealing with difficult people in meetings, go to the bottom of the webpage at &

40. Intervention WHEN DO I INTERVENE? Is the problem serious?
Might it go away by itself?
Do I have the time to intervene?
How will it impact the flow and outcome?
Could it damage the climate?
Do I have enough credibility to do this?
Will it damage anyone’s self esteem

41. “I’m noticing that…”. Intervention INTERVENTION LANGUAGE
“I’d like to offer an observation…
“A pattern I’ve observed is….”
“You seem to be….”
“ I’d like to describe what I am seeing here and
get your reaction to it.”

42. Facilitating Conflict
Conflict is not a negative factor for
a facilitator …
Not knowing how to handle the conflict, however, could be
detrimental!!

43. The focused conversation method follows
a natural conversation method. It can be
used to:
Provide meaningful dialogue
Broaden a group’s perspective
Elicit clear ideas and conclusions
Allow the entire group to participate

44. The facilitator asks questions in a specific
The Focused Conversation
The facilitator asks questions in a specific
order to result in resolution:
Objective – questions about facts
2. Reflective - questions to call forth immediate
personal reaction to the data
3. Interpretive – questions to draw out meaning
4. Decisional – questions to elicit resolution
The focused conversation is a style of participatory reflection as an inquirer, who comes at a topic with an open mind looking for a creative or viable option, or the facts of a particular matter – trying to open new ground or get a new take on an “ established truth”. The focused conversation process walks the group a 360 degree look at the problem, the facts, the feelings, interpretations, and ultimately, the decision to be derived from it. This is done by first asking about the facts. Questions like, “walk me through exactly what happened”. Or “what does a typical summer festival look like in our community?”
Next, the group asks the “how does that make you feel?” questions, or “reflective” questions. For example, you would state, “Look at your answer for what a summer festival looks like in our community. What would an outsider’s first impression be if this was their first time in town?”
Next, the group would interpret the facts and feelings and decide what they mean. “Which of our facts is most likely created the negative impression?”
Lastly, decisional questions would be asked to elicit resolution. “Which of these can or needs to be changed?”

45. Always follow up with a review: Confirm the group’s resolve
The Focused Conversation
Always follow up with a review:
Confirm the group’s resolve
Restate the conclusions
Require consensus
DOCUMENT the resolve!