GenCap Technical Workshop

Facilitation Skills(Meetings, Facilitation, Coordination)

Trainer: Jérôme L’host Geneva – 22 February, 2012

To share some successful Facilitation best practices

To experience stage heat and work on the Execution Gap

To discuss and sort out real-life issues (Co-development Mode)

To Know

To Want

The Execution Gap

To Do

Effective group meetings really boil down to three things:1. They achieve the group'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 an agreement ?

Do you want to generate ideas?

Are you getting status reports?

Are you communicating something?

Are you raising awareness ?

Are you trying to influence ?

Are you making plans?

Are you co-ordinating ?

Focus, Focus and…Focus

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

At the close of the meeting/session, 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?

Diamond Facilitation Structure

Issue ID

Information Immersion

Opportunity Area Identification, Common Interest

Criteria Setting

Idea Selection/ Agreement

Synthesis/Discussion

Action Plan

Innovation / Idea Generation/ Possibilities/ Proposals

Expansion / Divergence

Focu

s / Conve

rgence

Example: Stages in collective decisions

• Sharing information• Prioritization of issues• Constructing proposals• Collective action decisions• Monitoring/evaluation

Facilitated reflection

Q1- What is facilitation ?

Q2- What is expected from a Facilitator ?

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

Facilitation ModesIn

tera

ction

bet

wee

n Tr

aine

r & P

artic

ipan

thigh

Trainer’s contribution to contentInteraction among participants

Ownership of outcome by participantsParticipants’ level of knowledge

Energy in the audienceTime available

Facilitation Modes is designed by Sabine Bhanot and Jerome L’Host based on ideas of John Townsend and Arthur D. Little

low

Telling

StimulatingModerating

Proposing

Empowering

Facilitation Modes: 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.

• CO-llectively put things in ORDER• Working together towards shared goals• A voluntary process• Usually without clear vertical authority• “Facilitating different people to work together for a goal or

effect”• Coordination skills are for everyone involved, not just for

“coordinators.”

What is coordination?

“Facilitatingdifferent people to work together for a goal or effect”

But most of the time we are not coordinating others, we are coordinating with them.

Coordination is a voluntary process

• Why/when do we need to coordinate?

• Whom do we coordinate with?

• Do I “coordinate others” or “coordinate with others”?

• What does it feel like to “be coordinated” by someone else?

What sort of coordination?

• How do we know if coordination is working?

• How do we know when it is not working?

“Facilitatingdifferent people to work together for a goal or effect”

But most of the time we are not coordinating others, we are coordinating with them.

Coordination is a voluntary process

• Do we really all have the same objectives?

• Usually, each stakeholder has a different agenda

• We each engage in coordination only if we think we will achieve more of our own objectives that way than by working alone.

• It has costs and benefits

Coordination is a negotiation process

Coordination as negotiation: Benefits & Costs

+Avoid duplicationAvoid contradictionExternal appearance of

unityBuild relationshipsInformation-sharingEfficiency?

-• More work• Compromises• Dependencies• Slower • Damage

relationships

Put yourself in their shoes

– Analyze each group’s interests, positions, objectives. Do we all have common interests?

– What can they get out of coordinating with me/us? Can they do better than their expectations?

– How can I help them achieve their objectives and get more out of this coordination relationship?

The coordinator as mediator

• Since coordination is negotiation, sometimes a neutral party can help diverse groups find their zone of possible agreement.

• A good coordinator encourages participation and buy-in from parties whose absence would obstruct others.

• A coordinator helps parties look behind their positions and identify interests that might be shared with others.

• A coordinator uses a problem-solving approach to overcome obstacles to agreement.

Coordination as facilitation and cooperation

• Sometimes coordination fails to produce results, even when the parties involved have shared objectives and would all benefit from jointly coordinating their efforts. Opportunities are wasted.

• Why?• Process problems.– Poor management of the process– Bad meetings,– Wasted time– Pointlessly obstructive behavior…

Meetings or no meetings?

• Coordination does not aim to meet

• It aims to achieve action and change.

• A meeting is just a tool - to be used only when it is the right tool to get the job done.

Problems in coordination

• Hierarchy and uneven power relationships

• Favoritism or bias

• Conflict of interest

• Weak participation

Meeting problems

• Unclear objectives

• Group size

• Agenda size/complexity

• Lack of key actors

• Disruptive behavior

Dealing with difficult participants

What is a difficult participant ?

How to deal with them ? Group dynamics Acknowledge receipt

Com

mitt

ed Golden Triangle

Passive Grouchy

Hesitating

OpposingRebellious

Torn apart

Antagonism

Acce

ptan

ceGroup Dynamics and behavior

Dealing with dysfunctional behavior

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

You name it…

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

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 ?

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