Excerpts from Facilitaiton Training

1. Excerpts from Facilitaiton Training Spring 2012

2. Desired Outcomes - Training • Understand what occurs in a meeting (and in group dynamics) in order to conduct effective meetings. • Apply fundamental facilitation skills to improve the effectiveness of Decision Lens meetings • Become proficient in facilitating stakeholders through developing and refining criteria: brainstorm, cluster, define, refine • Become proficient in facilitating stakeholders through establishing priorities in a pairwise comparison process Perspectives

3. Facilitation perspectives

4. Facilitation/Facilitator Definitions Whatdefinition that resonates with you • “Facilitation is the process of helping a group complete a task, solve a problem or come to agreement to the mutual satisfaction of participants… one good measure of good facilitation is that the group members feel they’ve done their work themselves” (Great Meetings, Great Results, 7). • “A facilitator is an individual who enables groups and organizations to work more effectively; to collaborate and achieve synergy. She or he is a ‘content-neutral’ party who by not taking sides or expressing or advocating a point of view during the meeting, can advocate for fair, open, and inclusive procedures to accomplish the group’s work” (Facilitator’s Guide to Participatory Decision-making, xv) • “A facilitated session is a highly structured meeting in which …the facilitator guides the participants through a series of predefined steps to arrive at a result that is created, understood, and accepted by all participants” (The Secrets of Facilitation, 23). Perspectives

5. Facilitator Roles Which hats do you typically wear in a meeting? Modified from Great Meetings, Great Results, p. 9 Perspectives

6. Greatest Fear What is your greatest facilitation fear? Perspectives

7. Facilitator Role: Time Management • The group is running behind 30 minutes. The facilitator says: • “Just a time check. Let’s speed up the comments so that we can make sure we accomplish the objectives.” • Nothing. He/she doesn’t notice they are behind schedule. • “Just to jump in… We have a lot of rich discussion going on right now, and it is naturally beginning to replace what we plan to accomplish later. Is that OK with everyone?” Perspectives

8. Participant Role: Tangents • The group is 15 minutes into a 1 hour meeting. One of the subject matter experts begins to enlighten the rest of the group in extensive detail about one of his many areas of expertise. Many find it very interesting, but it is not on topic. As a participant, what do you do? • Nothing. It is the team leader’s meeting, so defer to her. • Say, “This is very interesting, but will it help us achieve our objectives? Just don’t want to rehash this in another meeting.” • Join in the conversation, and use the time to build relationships. • Other? Perspectives

9. Facilitator Role: Revisiting the Agenda • The group established objectives and the agenda at the beginning of the session. Half-way through the meeting they get off track because of another pressing issue relevant to the group but not related to the purposes of the meeting. Facilitator says: • Nothing, knowing that this is a pressing issue that the group needs to resolve. • “I’m noticing we are starting to focus on another extremely important issue outside the scope of our meeting. My job is to help us stay on task, so can we put that in the parking lot and revisit if there is time?” • “I’m noticing that we are starting to focus on another important issue that is not on the agenda. Is this something that the group would like to address now?” Paradigms

10. Participant Role: Agenda Setting • There is no stated purpose or agenda to the meeting. As the meeting begins, it is still not very clear what the intended outcomes are. As a contributor, what do you do? • Say Nothing, hoping that the purpose and outcomes of the meeting will become more clear. • Recognize this is not a great use of time, and turn to your laptop, tablet, or smart phone. Or all three. • Ask what the end goal of the meeting is. In other words, why do we need to talk about …? • State what you hope to get out of the meeting, and ask if that is consistent with the rest of the group. Perspectives

11. Participant Role: Follow up • There is seven minutes left in the meeting and you know that several have “hard stops” at the hour, including you. The success of your job depends on people taking specific actions as a follow up What do you do? • Say Nothing. Not your responsibility. Just plan to email the others later. • Ask the meeting leader: So what actions do we need to take? • Call out those you are dependent on for action: “Debbie, will you do this for me?” • Insert yourself and state, “This has been productive. Since I have to leave, I just want you to know that I plan to do the following…” Perspectives

12. Facilitation Perspectives • Energy Levels • Stages of Group Development • Divergence vs. Convergence • Group-Oriented vs. Self-Oriented Behaviors Perspectives

13. Managing Energy Energy is defined as the level of engagement and attention of participants in a meeting. The trick is to keep things interesting! More frequent breaks Small-group participation Multiple Presentation Styles Attention Activities Writing Visuals Foreshadowing Group Discussion Music A Full-day Facilitated Session High Collective Energy Low 10:00 am Break Lunch Break 3:00 pm Break 8:30am 5:00 pm Meeting Duration Perspectives

14. Facilitation Perspectives • Forming • Storming • Norming • Performing Perspectives

15. Convergence and Divergence: Part 1 Perceived Discussion of Ideas Stakeholder 1 Decision Stakeholder 2 Stakeholder 3 = expressed idea Adapted from Sam Kaner, “Facilitator’s Guide to Participatory Decision-Making.”

16. Convergence and Divergence: Part 2 Actual Portrayal of Group Decision-making GROAN ZONE Divergence Convergence Group Decision = expressed idea Adapted from Sam Kaner, “Facilitator’s Guide to Participatory Decision-Making.”

17. Group Oriented vs. Self-Oriented Behaviors “Great Meetings, Great Results”, p. 27.

18. Facilitator Roles Within your environment, what do you see as your role with respect to facilitation? Perspectives

19. Fundamentals

20. Fundamental Skills • Establishing the Agenda • Tracking against the agenda • Identifying Ground Rules • Using a Parking Lot • Wearing Different Hats • Designing an effective meeting • Outlining the Purpose • Engaging Participants • Mirroring, Tracking, & Summarizing • Thinking on Your Feet • Building Consensus Fundamentals

21. Fundamental Skills • Establishing purpose/agenda and tracking against it • Engaging Participants • Mirroring, Tracking, & Summarizing • Designing an effective meeting Perspectives

22. Outlining the Meeting Purpose • Succinctly outline why you are all there • Provide Context • Answer the “so what” question • Create a stake in the game Fundamentals

23. Outlining the Purpose: Activity Activity: Below are examples of purpose statements. Give a purpose statement for a recent or future meeting. Example Purpose Statements: • “The board and staff will refine the criteria developed by the core team that will be used to prioritize IT assets.” • “The facilities planning committee will identify the data required for evaluating facilities and, if no data is available, modify the criteria/projects accordingly.” • “The Human Resources Director and staff will develop initial 360 evaluation competencies for the HR senior manager position.” Fundamentals

24. Setting an Agenda • Review the agenda; instill ownership (e.g., this is “their” agenda) • Constantly and visibly track progress against the agenda (use a parking lot as necessary) • Review, Preview, Big View Fundamentals

25. Setting an Agenda: Activity • Activity: Pick a point on the agenda. Turn to the person next to you and explain how you might review, preview, and provide the big view for the agenda. Fundamentals

26. Engaging Participants • Prepare a few simple questions ahead of time • Create good starting questions using image building phrases (“Think about…,” “Imagine…,” “If…,” and “Consider…,”) • Make it easy for group members to contribute (writing, breakout groups, explain the need for participation, etc.) Fundamentals

27. Mirroring, Tracking, & Summarizing • Repeat back what was said (e.g., “So if I hear you …” or “So your saying…”) • Don’t try to change the meaning; establish understanding, then build from there • Tracking/Prioritizing Conversations (e.g., “We have a couple of different thoughts here…”) • Summarizing and moving in one direction (e.g.,“So Bill has said X, and Jane has said Y… does it make sense to…”) Fundamentals

28. Thinking On Your Feet • Stay poised under pressure – preparation helps! • Focus on good reacting questions; guide the group’s flow by asking, not telling • Float ideas to the group (e.g., “Have you thought about…?”) • Peel the Onion Technique (Continue to ask “why…” to uncover rationale) • Avoid dwelling on or generating unneeded discussion; summarize and move on Fundamentals

29. Building Consensus • Define consensus at the beginning • Outline what we will ask at the end: • Can I live with the decision made here today? • Can I refrain from behaving or speaking negatively to others about the decision? • Can I readily support the decision and devote the resources necessary to make the decision successful? • A 70% solution is usually better than no solution. Fundamentals

30. Back Up Slides

31. Facilitator Role: Side Conversations • The group is 15 minutes into the meeting. To enhance the productivity of the group, they established a ground rule that there would be no side conversations. However, due to a controversial topic, a couple of participants begin to offer their opinions to each other quietly. Facilitator says: • Nothing at this point. If it gets worse, he/she will intervene, but knows the group is going through a storming phase and wants to let them work it out. Besides, the two involved in the side conversation are the CEO and CFO. • (Addressing those inside conversations): “If you wouldn’t mind, I’m trying to hear what the others are saying. Could you keep the ground rules so that we can stay on task? • “I’ve noticed there are side conversations going on, which is something we talked about at the beginning. Is that OK with everyone? Perspectives

32. Facilitator Role: The Whiner • Things are running smoothly and the group is performing well, except for one junior member of the group. He begins to voice his skepticism of the process, and then disagreement. He folds his arms and continues to suggest another process would be better. Facilitator says… • Nothing. She/he just ignores him because he is a junior member of the group and not really going to impact the decision-making process. • “So what you’re saying is…(express the concern). That must be frustrating because… (express the emotion). Is the issue that…? Do you have a solution you would recommend?” • “Thank you for your comments. I understand your concerns and wonder if we can take them off-line to discuss in more detail without detracting from the group’s decision-making process.” Perspectives