The Skilled Facilitator Approach

Chapter One

Presented by: Kevin Elliott

“This book is about helping work groups improve their effectiveness by using facilitative skills.”

•What is a Group Facilitator?

•What is a work group?

What is the point?

(pg. 5)

Some basic questions:

Group facilitation includes:

I. A Work GroupII. A FacilitatorIII. A ProcessIV. A Result

A Work Group is:

a collection of people striving to achieve a

common goal.

A Facilitator is:

who:

“diagnoses and intervenes to help a group improve how it identifies and solves

problems and makes decisions, to increase the group’s effectiveness”

“a person whose selection is acceptable to all the members of the group,

-- who is substantivelyneutral,

-- and who has no substantive decision-making authority”

(pg. 5)

•How a group works

togetherThe Result . . .

A Process is:

Git

r

Done!(Translation: Achieve Goals)

A word about the Facilitator: What is the job?

-- Basic facilitation

-- Developmental facilitation

-- CLARITY--

(pg. 7-8)

•Substantively neutral

•Not a group member

•Works for the entiregroup

Useful in a Range of Roles(pg. 8)

•Facilitative Consultant

•Facilitative Coach

•Facilitative Trainer

•Facilitative Leader

The Skilled Facilitator Approach

•Core Values

•Core Principles

•Techniques and Methods

•A Systemic Approach

(pg. 6)

The Group Effectiveness Model

•Identifies criteria for effective groups

•Identifies elements that contribute to effectiveness

•Describes what these elements look like in practice

(pg. 7)

Explicit Core Values

(pg. 9)

•Valid Information

•Free and Informed Choice

•Internal Commitment

•Compassion

Ground Rules:(pg. 9-10)

“. . . make specific the abstract core values of facilitation and group effectiveness.”

•Diagnostic tool – to identify dysfunctional group behavior

•Teaching tool – for developing effective group norms

•Guide -- for facilitator behavior

Diagnosis-Intervention Cycle(pg. 10)

A six step process that is:

“. . . a structured and simple way to think about what is happening in the group and then intervene in a way that is consistent with the core values.”

Low-Level Inferences(pg. 10-

11)

•Don’t over react!

“By learning to think and intervene using low-level inferences, we can increase the accuracy of our diagnosis, improve our ability to share our thinking with others, and reduce the chance of creating defensive reactions when we do so.”

•Make the smallest inferential leaps possible

Exploring and Changing How We Think(pg. 11-12)

“The Skilled Facilitator approach helps you understand the conditions under which you act ineffectively, and understand how your own thinking leads you to act ineffectively in ways that you are normally unaware of.”

•You don’t know everything

•You aren’t always right

•Your motives aren’t always pure

The process is as much for the facilitator as it is for the facilitatees.

A Process for Agreeing How to Work Together

--Must build a relationship with the group

--A psychological contract

-- Informed and free choice

•Objectives of facilitation

•Facilitator’s role

•Ground rules

Again, CLARITY

(pg. 12)

Group must define:

A Systems Approach(pg. 13-14)

•A group is a social system•Watch for unintended consequences•Treat the group as the client•Effective facilitator behavior and effective group behavior are the same thing•Your system must be internally consistent

Core values and principles!

The Experience of Facilitation

You are human, you have feelings, and they affect your facilitation, negatively and positively.

(pg. 14-15)

Group facilitation is a human process, not a mathematical formula

Making it Your Own(pg. 15-16)

•Use the principles, but find your own voice.

Questions?