GenCap Technical Workshop

Facilitation Skills
(Meetings, Facilitation, Coordination)

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

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

Innovation / Idea Generation/ Possibilities/

Proposals

Criteria Setting

Idea Selection/
Agreement

Synthesis/Discussion

Action Plan
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 Modes is designed

high
Interaction between Trainer & Participant
Facilitation Modes by Sabine Bhanot and Jerome
L’Host based on ideas of John
Townsend and Arthur D. Little

Moderating
Stimulating

Proposing

Empowering
Telling

Trainer’s contribution to content

Interaction among participants
Ownership of outcome by participants
Participants’ level of knowledge
Energy in the audience
low Time available
 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.
 What is coordination?

• 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 sort of coordination?
• “Facilitatingdifferent
Why/when do we need people to work together for a
to coordinate?
goal or effect”
• Whom do we coordinate with?
 But most of the time we are not coordinating others,

• we
Doare coordinating with them.
I “coordinate others” or “coordinate with
 Coordination
others”? is a voluntary process

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

someone else?
• How do we know if coordination is working?

• How do we know when it is not working?

 Coordination is a negotiation process
• “Facilitatingdifferent
Do we really all havepeople to work
the same together for a
objectives?
goal or effect”
• Usually, each stakeholder has a different agenda
 But most of the time we are not coordinating others,

• we
Weare coordinating with them.
each engage in coordination only if we think
 Coordination is amore
we will achieve voluntary
of ourprocess
own objectives that
way than by working alone.

• It has costs and benefits

 Coordination as negotiation: Benefits
& Costs
+ -
 Avoid duplication • More work
 Avoid contradiction • Compromises
 External appearance of • Dependencies
unity • Slower
 Build relationships • Damage
 Information-sharing relationships
 Efficiency?
 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
Acceptance
Group Dynamics and behavior

Committed

Golden Torn
Triangle apart

Rebellious
Opposing
Passive Grouchy

Antagonism
 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 reformulation
This 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. Answer
The 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)

Concluding Assumptions Discovering

(Meaning)

Data
(Facts)
 HOW TO MODERATE ?

• 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
 BIBLIOGRAPHY / RESOURCES

www.Thiagi.com
www.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