Practical Facilitation: A Toolkit of Techniques

Contents......Page 8
The author......Page 12
Acknowledgements......Page 14
Introduction......Page 16
Types of consulting style......Page 22
Choosing a facilitator......Page 24
Making initial contact......Page 25
First meeting......Page 26
Contracting......Page 30
Deciding whether to co-facilitate......Page 40
Participants......Page 42
Advertising and promotion of the workshop......Page 43
Fees and costs......Page 44
Documentation of workshop data......Page 46
Converting a needs analysis to a draft workshop plan......Page 47
Preparing participants for a training workshop......Page 49
Mistakes and misunderstandings in consulting......Page 52
Keeping in contact with clients......Page 53
Conclusion......Page 54
Introduction......Page 56
Prepare: the P7 principle......Page 57
Developing presence......Page 58
Facilitator introduction and building rapport......Page 60
The purpose of the workshop......Page 62
Contracting......Page 63
Icebreakers......Page 67
Learning names......Page 69
Group structures......Page 72
Processes for forming groups......Page 74
Building trust......Page 78
Building cooperation......Page 80
Energizers......Page 81
Conclusion......Page 83
Dances with participants: questioning and listening......Page 84
Basic facilitative interventions......Page 87
Questioning processes......Page 88
The ‘ORID’ or focused conversation debriefing process......Page 90
Keys to understanding new concepts......Page 95
Developing the emotional tools of facilitation......Page 96
Visual language tools of facilitation......Page 103
Card sorts and storyboarding......Page 105
Conclusion......Page 106
Ways of describing differences in people: diagnostic questionnaires......Page 108
Aesthetics/space......Page 110
Sound......Page 112
Silence......Page 117
Poems and metaphors......Page 119
Metaphors and job roles......Page 123
Stories......Page 126
Drama-based processes......Page 136
Visuals......Page 141
Spiritual dimensions of facilitation......Page 150
Conclusion......Page 156
Introduction......Page 158
Opening ceremonies......Page 160
Language......Page 164
Misunderstandings......Page 166
Experiential learning......Page 168
The transitional learning model......Page 171
Myths......Page 174
Giving and receiving feedback......Page 175
Facilitating bi-cultural groups......Page 176
Mirroring process......Page 179
Creating value with diverse teams: mapping, bridging and integrating (MBI) model......Page 183
Conclusion......Page 187
Preventing inappropriate behaviour......Page 188
Who and what you should confront......Page 190
The intervention cycle......Page 191
Generic confronting skills and techniques......Page 194
Confronting the whole group......Page 195
Acts of god process......Page 198
Confronting a small group......Page 205
Making the best of a situation......Page 206
Conclusion......Page 207
Introduction......Page 208
The development of creative journals......Page 209
Various journal writing strategies......Page 210
Writing blocks and how to overcome them......Page 213
Reviewing your journal......Page 216
Uses of creative journals......Page 218
Evaluation of journal writing......Page 219
Uses of journal writing......Page 220
Tips......Page 221
Conclusion......Page 222
Robert’s rules......Page 224
Common problems in meetings......Page 225
Methods to improve productivity and collegiality in meetings......Page 226
Agendas, minutes, timekeeping, sharing roles and responsibilities......Page 227
Encouraging dialogue rather than debate......Page 235
Evaluating meetings......Page 239
How to encourage resistant groups to use new techniques......Page 242
Technology......Page 243
Conclusion......Page 244
Introduction......Page 246
History telling process: looking back......Page 247
Fantasy Friday exercise......Page 250
The search conference process......Page 251
Scenario planning......Page 262
Conclusion......Page 271
Introduction......Page 272
Our brains......Page 273
Harvesting dreams......Page 278
Brainstorming process......Page 280
Brainwriting process......Page 284
Nominal group technique......Page 286
Conclusion......Page 289
Introduction......Page 292
Opening up participants to their thinking about problems......Page 293
When facilitators are needed for group problem solving......Page 294
Individual problem-solving styles and strategies......Page 295
Diagrams and visual tools......Page 297
McMaster six-stage problem-solving strategy......Page 302
Strategic questioning......Page 308
Factors that prevent effective problem solving......Page 311
Decision-making processes......Page 314
Consensus process......Page 318
LENS process......Page 319
Conclusion......Page 323
Introduction......Page 324
Community participation: how we do it......Page 325
Restorative justice......Page 336
Restorative justice process......Page 342
Open space technology......Page 349
Stories of social change......Page 358
Conclusion......Page 360
Types of outdoor activity......Page 362
Why use outdoor training?......Page 363
Choosing outdoor training companies......Page 365
Roles, risks, reality and responsibility......Page 366
Division of labour: roles and responsibilities......Page 367
Risk and trust......Page 370
Insurance and safety......Page 373
Debriefing and learning transference......Page 374
Equity and gender issues......Page 378
What to wear/bring......Page 381
Spotto team building process......Page 383
Using journals in outdoor programmes......Page 386
Impact of outdoor learning......Page 388
Conclusion......Page 390
Modes of work are changing......Page 392
Different facilitator-mediated scenarios......Page 395
The differences between distributed groups and colocated groups......Page 398
Trust: the key element for e-groups......Page 400
How to build trust in distributed teams......Page 402
The role of silence......Page 404
Photos: to see or not to see......Page 405
The role of humour......Page 406
The role of feelings and intuition......Page 407
Ground rules for distributed groups......Page 410
The future......Page 413
Conclusion......Page 414
Definition of terms......Page 422
The importance of endings......Page 424
Factors that need to be considered when planning a ‘now what’ session......Page 426
The components of a ‘now what’ session......Page 427
Final ending rituals......Page 432
Conclusion......Page 434
Questions to ask yourself......Page 436
Kirkpatrick’s four-level evaluation model......Page 438
Three-stage evaluation......Page 441
Use of computers for evaluation......Page 443
What to do with the evaluation data......Page 447
Conclusion......Page 449
Introduction......Page 450
Learning from mistakes process......Page 451
Learning about facilitation: observing your own practice......Page 452
Learning about facilitation: from and with others......Page 457
Self-maintenance......Page 460
Conclusion......Page 461
Appendix 1: Community consultation and particpatory processes/models......Page 462
Contacts and references......Page 472
Index......Page 492