What facilitation principles or guidelines do you live by and why? Here are a few for reflection and consideration.
embrace emergence
There is an inherent tension between structure and freedom, focus and flexibility, and all are needed for emergence. Helping the group surface and unlock what is true and real for them is one of the key roles we play as facilitators. As facilitators, we must design to keep a group focused yet allow for emergence and embrace what is revealed. Being overly rigid and/or over-designing sessions will inhibit emergence and leave the group with a feeling that something was missing.
listen beyond
Listening is probably the most important facilitation skill. On the surface we listen for context and content; we listen and invite all the voices in the room; that’s just the first level. As we deepen our facilitation listening skills, we listen for patterns, themes, and connections. We listen for what is shifting in the group and what can be reframed. Deeper again, we listen for what is unsaid but yet what has energy; we listen for the small inflections, changes in breath, hesitant pauses, and silent participants that suggest something wanting to be said and surfaced. And even deeper, we listen for higher meaning, where the core, the truth, the heart is revealed.
design connection
It’s easy to just “dive in” meetings always have packed agendas, there is lots to be done in workshops, and everyone is eager to get to the objectives. But the quality of work we do depends on how well we treat each other, and how well we treat each other depends on our depth of connection. As facilitators, we need to be intentional about designing connection into our session and working towards balancing the tension between relating and producing.
shape and protect the space
As facilitators, it’s our job to create the space, the environment, or the container that will allow for vulnerable, honest conversation to take place. In this type of conversation, grounded in trust, disagreements will surface and understanding emerge. Shaping the space starts even before people gather with the expectations we set and the mindsets we invite into the room (real or virtual). The space we shape will determine how people interact, the safety they feel, the boundaries they respect, and the choices they make. Further, our facilitators’ role is to fiercely protect this space and ensure that nothing happens to damage or destroy the delicate environment created.
variety creates engagement
Full participation is the only way to achieve buy-in, and participation comes from getting people to “lean in.” Most meetings and workshops default to open discussions and presentations as their primary modes of engagement. However, these conversation structures encourage people to “lean out” in these modes, people are not wholeheartedly engaged or active in what is happening. Variety in conversation structures from individual thinking, thinking pairs, and small dialogs are critical building blocks of engagement that should come before open discussion and/or presentation. Similarly, variation in the role we ask of participants, from observer to feedback provider to co-creators, are ingredients that influence buy-in and commitment. Variety in the flow, activities, and process is as important as the outcomes and products created.
conversations should be visual
It’s easy for participants to get lost, and distracted and to take conversations down tangents when they all happen in a nebulous place. There is a limit to how much people can hold in their minds at any point in time; words get lost and forgotten after they are spoken, making it difficult to see connections and threads in a conversation. Making conversations visual creates an anchor point, a place where they take shape and where they become tactile. Integrating any form of visual capture into facilitation shifts the experience that the group shares. Visuals unlock emotion, energy, and connection — they create a frame for storytelling, and storytelling invokes empathy. Intentional use of visuals unlocks the group’s themes, threads, and insights.
hold lightly and let go
As facilitators, we spend as much or more time planning, designing, and even scripting sessions than we do “in-session” it’s easy to feel passionate about our creations. And, we have to master the art of “letting go to let come” (words from Otto Scharmer). Inquiry and curiosity are key skills in “letting go” when we think carefully about questions we pose and the prompts we offer, we create a space for the unexpected to occur. Letting go also extends to acknowledging that after all the planning, most times, nothing goes to plan. So hold the plan lightly, know how it serves you and be willing to let go and make changes on the fly.
get comfortable being uncomfortable
It’s not easy being comfortable in uncomfortable situations. Facilitators know that we can never really predict what will happen in the room, so we need to be able to live in the ambiguity. We need strategies to deal with the unexpected while showing ease and authenticity to the group. From unplanned distractions to secret agendas to a range of disturbing behaviors and unhelpful group dynamics, any and all of these may be present when groups gather together. It’s our role as facilitators to respond; despite how uncomfortable we may feel, we must respond with respect and in service of the group.
differences are launching platforms
Embrace challenge, and accept that differences of opinions are launching platforms for the creation of new ideas. Facilitators must role model welcoming diversity of ideas and encouraging the group to reframe how they respond to challenges and perspectives that are different from their own. For a group, this is not often their way of reacting to diverse perspectives. Facilitators can role model by meeting each person where they are at and showing value and appreciation for all the contributions and perspectives in the room. We can help the group experience a different way of accepting diversity and how this can lead to new and better solutions.
it’s not about you, and it is about what you bring
As facilitators, it’s our role to stay neutral at all times; our biases and opinions do not serve the group and should not enter the space. The experience belongs to the participants; they do the work, they explore the challenges, and they create the solutions. We should not do anything for the group that we would not ask them to do themselves. In handing over the challenges to the group, with the right support, they will almost always create something that they feel passionate about. Our role is to serve them and support them in reaching a shared outcome that they have all shaped and can buy into. While it’s not about you, what you bring to the room does matter; your energy, your mindsets, your attitude, your presence, and your authenticity all influence the group and their capacity to be successful.
Written by Tricia Conyers, Founder Island Inspirations Ltd., INIFAC Certified Master Facilitator, and Certified Virtual Facilitator
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