Skills for Effective Facilitation

1
Skills for Effective Facilitation

• Connecting the Pieces

• NSDC Coaches Academy
• Memphis City Schools
• Day 4 -- July 26, 2007

2
Outcomes

• To gain increased understanding of
• The role of facilitation in group process
• Specific strategies for facilitating
  collaborative groups
• The elements of effective meetings

3
Making Meaning of This Session

• Considering the focus of this presentation . . .
• What is the group you will consider when you
  apply your new learning?
• What is your learning goal?
• What will be your indicators of success?

4
Drawing on your background Give One / Get One

• Number a sheet of paper from 1-10.
• What strategies have you used or observed others
  use that you consider to be effective
  facilitation strategies? List 2 or 3 on your
  paper.
• Now collect ideas from several other people to
  add to your list and share your ideas with others
  to add to their lists. Be sure to credit each
  person as the source of an idea.

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Facilitator ??

• A person who helps a group free itself from
  internal obstacles or difficulties so that it may
  more efficiently and effectively pursue its goals
• A person who precipitates group actions and
  activities without becoming integrated into the
  specifics of the processes

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A Quote

• . . . Guiding without directing bringing about
  change without disruption helping people
  self-discover new approaches and solutions to
  problems knocking down walls which have been
  built between people while preserving structures
  of value . . . and above all, appreciating
  people as people. All of this must be done
  without leaving any fingerprints.
• --- Bob Keisch, The Facilitator Descriptions,
  Responsibility, Selection criteria, Xerox, 1984

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Facilitator Communication Skills

• Model
• Reflect / paraphrase
• Clarify
• Summarize
• Link
• Refocus
• Check perceptions

What are your strengths? What are your
challenges?
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Facilitator Skills

• Identify and model norms for interaction.
• Maintain neutrality.
• Provide an equitable process.
• Be empathetic -- show understanding of the
  parties situation, needs, and feelings.
• Listen, paraphrase, clarify, and reflect
  participants comments.

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Facilitator Skills

• Initiate a structure for discussion.
• Intervene appropriately.
• Be authentic -- without defensiveness or hidden
  agenda.
• Encourage interaction.
• Provide a safe environment.
• Confront and challenge -- but only after empathy
  and respect have been established.

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Phases of Community

• Pseudo Community
• Chaos
• Trust, Listening, Emptying
• True Community

• Background Information
• All systems predictable
• Integration
• Ability to listen
• Concerns drive attributes

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Phase 1 Pseudo Community

• High concern for authority and rules
• Push to conform
• People displaying nice behavior

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Phase 2 Chaos

• Primary concern survival (personal and
  individual)
• Unmanaged conflict
• Fight / flight or counter dependent behavior
• Multiple sources

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Phase 3 Trust, Listening, Emptying

• Primary concern all voices are heard
• Explore possibilities
• Replace but with and

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Phase 4 True Community

• Managed opportunity to learn and discover best
  solutions
• Difference conflict strength

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Bad News / Good News
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Bad News / Good News

• Bad News
• 100 of the time -- ALWAYS -- something will
  throw you out of community into chaos. Chaos is
  a decisive/defining moment.

• Good News
• EVERY time you go in the direction of trust and
  listening, the team gets stronger.
• Teaching this frame is an intervention.

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Diagnosis Tool
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Norms

• Agreed upon guidelines describing how we operate
  and work together
• Why do we need them?
• Provides safety
• Enables / encourages risk-taking
• Increases productivity

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Categories to Consider

• Logistics / preparation
• Structure
• People
• Participation
• Decision - making
• Problem - solving
• Conflict resolution

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What is it about working in a group that is not
very functional that drives you crazy?

• Jot your ideas and discuss them with a learning
  partner.

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To help you identify norms, ask yourself the
following

• What do I need in order to
• Feel safe?
• Take risks?
• Be effective as a group member?

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Sample Norms for Effective Meetings

• One person speaks at a time
• No side conversations
• Listen to yourself and others
• Respect diverse points of view
• Ask for clarification when needed
• Maintain confidentiality of personal issues
• All group members participate
• Start and end on time

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Sample Norms

• Examine other sample norms on pages 86-88 of the
  packet. How might these norms impact the
  dynamics of a group? Share your thoughts with a
  learning partner.

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Characteristics of Effective Meetings
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Establishing Purpose

• Overall purpose
• Purpose of each session
• Non-purpose

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Establishing Purpose

• Overall purpose
• Describes the content of the project
• States the expected outcome
• Identifies quantifiable, measurable outcomes
• Clearly identifies the reasons for the task

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Purpose of Each Session

• States what the group will do at each session
• Is clear and specific
• Brings tighter focus to what is expected at the
  end of the session
• Identifies what is deliverable at the end of
  the session

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Non - purpose

• States what the group will not do

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Charge Statements

• Examine the section on charge statements on pp.
  92-96 in the packet.
• Identify a group you work with that could benefit
  from having a clear charge statement.
• What might be included in a charge statement for
  this group?

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Decision Making -- Inside/Outside

• Outside the Team
• To have a team
• Charge to the team
• Parameters of the teams work
• Level of decision making authority
• Use of external/internal facilitator
• Role of facilitator

• Within the Team
• How to accomplish the work
• How to make decisions
• Roles of team members
• Meeting time
• Meeting location

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Decision Making Methods

• Autocratic
• Shared
• Decision with input
• Simple majority
• Sufficient consensus
• consensus

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Problem-Solving Process

• Collecting information / data
• Generating ideas
• Organizing ideas
• Narrowing ideas
• Evaluating ideas
• Making decisions
• Implementing ideas
• Evaluating implementation
• Revision as necessary

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Design Tools

• Affinity
• Fault Tree
• Force Field Analysis
• Four Horsemen
• Histogram
• Gap Analysis
• Here to There
• Nominal Group Technique
• Preferred and Probable Future
• Structured Effective Questions

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Design Tools -- Jigsaw
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Exit Reflections

• As you think about your role as a facilitator,
  what will you
• Start doing?
• Stop doing?
• Continue doing?
• Share your thoughts with a learning partner.