Facilitation Tip Sheet The facilitator is responsible for managing meetings, keeping conversations on track, and ensuring each member’s voice is heard. This tip sheet gives some tips for how to accomplish these tasks. You can also reference the Advanced Facilitation Guide for an advanced guide to facilitation (suggested for experienced facilitators). You can read through this document as often as needed to help keep your responsibilities in mind. You might find it helpful to print it out and bring it with you to CoP meetings and events. We suggest that you coordinate your activities with the person who is leading your community as well as any Subject Matter Experts (SMEs). What is Facilitation? To facilitate is “to make easier” or “help bring about.” (Merriam Webster). Thus, facilitation in the context of communities of practice is to help smoothly manage the flow and discussions of a meeting or event. The facilitator guides the dialogue and attempts to maximize member’s time and energy by keeping the event and discussions on track – in terms of time and topic. By taking a group through a process that produces a specific outcome (learning, decision-making, problem-solving, etc.), facilitation generally encourages all members to participate in some way, shape or form. By recognizing and utilizing the unique and valuable contributions of each member, an effective facilitator increases the collective value of the entire community. By mediating the group process, the facilitator plays an active and critical role in ensuring that a community taps deeply into its own knowledge. What Makes a Good Facilitator? Competent facilitators have both personal characteristics and acquired skills that make them good at what they do. Many good facilitators make a difficult process seem very natural and intuitive, even when lots of planning and training goes into the craft. We’ve listed some key characteristics here and they are explained in additional detail in the “Advanced Facilitator’s Guide.” Chances are, if you’ve volunteered to take on this role, you have these traits or you have an inclination toward them. • Good facilitators value people and their ideas • Good facilitators think quickly and logically • Good facilitators are excellent communicators • Good facilitators are both product and process oriented What are the Facilitator’s Basic Responsibilities? As a facilitator, you will want to take some basic steps as part of your responsibilities during a meeting or event. The basics are listed below. In the Advanced Facilitation Guide, the basic responsibilities are explained in greater detail. Additional responsibilities that advanced facilitators often take on are also outlined there. • Prepare in Advance. Good facilitators make their work look effortless and natural, but prepare in advance to be effective. Take into consideration the “who, what, why, and where” of your meeting or event to help you figure out the “how.” • Plan and Distribute the Agenda. 1/6 The meeting agenda is the document that defines what will be done at any particular meeting or event, and it helps both leaders and participants know what to expect and how to prepare. Working with the coordinator and the subject matter expert should get you on the right track for the content of the agenda. You may want to consider using Attachment A – Meeting Agenda as a basis from which to build your full meeting plan. • State your objectives at the beginning of the event. Members will be much better prepared to contribute and help you meet the objectives if they know what they are. Again, work with the coordinator and SME to determine these – you may even want to have the coordinator or SME present the intended outcomes. Your job as a facilitator is to ensure that the group understands what needs to be accomplished. • Establish Community Expectations. These ground rules help participants establish appropriate ways to interact with each other during the meeting or event. Refer to the “Community Expectations” resource for more information. In a nutshell, you want the group to agree to a respectful, collaborative process. By stating the rules up front and getting agreement from the group, you’re more likely to see that happen. • Guide the group in presenting and sharing information. Your methodology may vary, but the methods you use should include all members in the discussion and prevent one or two members from dominating the dialogue. Everyone may not talk, but no one should feel excluded from the process. • Provide closure and reiterate action items. As part of ensuring that all ideas and points are captured accurately, it is also the role of the facilitator to ensure that action items are noted and that follow-up on the item is assigned to someone. Consider using Attachment B - Follow-Up Item Log as a way to track action items, particularly over time. What Do I Do? Some Trouble-Shooting Tips As a facilitator, you may be required to intervene to keep the event on track and obtain optimal productivity. Listed below are some tips for intervening in particular circumstances. Each is explained in additional detail in the Advanced Facilitator’s Guide. Staying on-task and on-time. Your community may have a lot to get accomplished in a short amount of time. With groups of passionate and knowledgeable people, it is easy to veer off onto other topics or easily get sidetracked by minute details of a conversation. In order to help the group stay focused, you may want to: • Remind the group of the “keep focused” expectation • Don’t be afraid to directly re-focus the group on a particular agenda item • Try to close the item or set it aside in a “parking lot” for consideration later • Let the community decide Dealing with unproductive behavior. Difficult behavior is often unintentional or occurs as the result of an emotionally charged situation. You might be dealing with inattentive members who are engaging in side-bar conversations, taking calls or indiscreetly dealing with e-mail. You might also be dealing with personal agendas or disrespectful behavior. Progressive intervention will most often assist you in dealing with behavior that does not help the community achieve its meeting goals or objectives. • Use gentle and appropriate humor for redirection • Restate the ground rules directly 2/6 • Direct your questions to the individual for clarification • Seek help from the group • Address the issue at a break or offline Stimulating productive inquiry. While passionate people often have a lot to say and suggestions for action, it is not uncommon for communities to experience lulls in an on-going conversation or a stand-still in a single event. You might want to use the following techniques to keep the conversation going. • Use probing questions • Invite the experts to speak up • Call on individuals in the group • Invite debate 3/6 References 1. Willkinson, Michael. “Facilitation Excellence: The Seven Separators: What separates top facilitators from good ones?” at: http://www.leadstrat.com/library/articles.asp. July 2008. 2. Tarmiz, Halbana. Jan de Vreede, Gert. Sigurs, Ilze. 2006. “Identifying Challenges for Facilitation in Communities of Practice.” Proceedings of the 39th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences 3. Good Group Decisions, Inc. 2007. “Characteristics of Good Meeting Facilitators.” Good Group Decisions, Inc., 98 Maine Street, Brunswick, ME 04011. Accessed at: www.GoodGroupDecisions.com. July 2008 4. Willkinson, Michael. “Target Characteristics of Facilitator Candidates.” available at: http://www.leadstrat.com/library/articles.asp. July 2008. 5. “Basic Facilitation Skills.” May 2002. The Human Leadership and Development Division of the American Society for Quality, The Association for Quality and Participation, and The International Association of Facilitators. 6. “Community of Practice Design Guide A Step-by-Step Guide for Creating Collaborative Communities of Practice” Copyright © 2004, iCohere, Inc. 4/6 Attachment A – Meeting Agenda Meeting Title / Purpose Logistics Date: Time: Conference Details: Location: Meeting Materials Required ▪ ▪ ▪ Participants Facilitator: Note taker: Moderator: Other: Invitees: Objectives: ▪ ▪ ▪ Agenda Topics Time 5/6 Lead Attachment B – Follow-Up Item Log Action Item Description Priority (H/M/L) Date Added Assigned To 6/6 Date Due Status Comments Facilitation Tools for Meetings and Workshops In this tools briefing: Pg. 2 Core facilitation tools Plus tools for: Pg. Pg. Pg. Pg. Pg. Pg. 7 9 11 12 14 17 Introductions and endings Building trust Participation and discussion Tackling difficult issues Prioritising and planning Waking up, warming up and winding down Pg. 20 Evaluating This is a compilation of tools and techniques that we have found useful for participatory meetings and workshops. We've categorised the tools, but many of them can also be useful in other contexts. Don't be bound by our categories! We have more detailed information on some tools available on our website, and you might also find it helpful to read our briefings on Facilitating Workshops and Facilitating Meetings. Here's a few general guidelines for using these tools: ✔ ✔ ✔ Every group is different: some tools may not be appropriate in a specific group or situation. Don't force a tool on a group or an individual but let people decide for themselves to what extent they want to participate. Be flexible: don't let your choice of tool dictate what happens, but fit and adapt the tools to the needs of the group. Be creative and invent your own tools. Use visual aids such as whiteboards. Use them to write down instructions, questions to consider and to record responses from the participants. ✔ ✔ Be aware that people might not be happy to share everything that was said in a pair or a small group with all the people in the room. Do explain the purpose of a tool before asking the group to use it. That way people feel in control of what they are doing, allowing them to participate more fully. www.seedsforchange.org.uk 2010 Core facilitation tools These are the basic tools you'll come back to time and time again: Group agreement 5 minutes ­ 1 hour to set up; any number of people It can be useful to start your meeting or workshop by negotiating a group agreement. The aim of the group agreement is to create a safe and respectful space in which people can work together productively. Essentially a group agreement is a set of statements that set the tone for how people will behave within the meeting or workshop. It might include: “respect everyone's opinions”; “allow everyone an equal opportunity to speak” (this could be more specific – “no interrupting” for example); “confidentiality”; “mobile phones switched off, or onto silent mode”. The key thing about a group agreement is given away by it's name – it only works as an effective facilitation tool if it's agreed by the group. Agreements can be proposed to the group, but not imposed. For more information and various ways to apply this tool, take a look at our briefing Group Agreements for Workshops and Meetings. Active agreement is a useful addition to any group agreement. Essentially it's an agreement that the group will actively signal their opinion on any given issue. This allows you to ask the group questions knowing you'll get a definite answer. So for example, you might feel that group energy is low and ask the group if they need a break or are happy to carry on with the next activity or agenda item. If they simply stare at their feet what do you do? Active agreement avoids this. Silent applause (see Handsignals below) can be a useful way of showing active agreement. Handsignals are a simple technique that can make workshops and meetings run more smoothly and help the facilitator see emerging agreements and common ground. We find three simple signals usually suffice: Raise a forefinger when you wish to contribute to the discussion with a general point. Raise both forefingers if your point is a direct response to a point that's just been made or a question that's just been asked. This allows you to jump to the head of the queue, in front of all those people raising just one finger. Use wisely and discourage overuse! Silent applause – when you hear an opinion that you agree with, wave a hand with your fingers pointing upwards (this saves a lot of time as people don't need to chip in to say “I'd just like to add that I agree with...”). You can signal disagreement with a downward wave of the fingers. Sometimes with big, diverse or difficult groups more hand signals can be useful. Take a look at our briefing Hand Signals for different examples of usage and clear explanations of what they can do. Pg.2/20 Facilitation Tools Go-round 1 – 3 minutes per person; 3 – 30 people Everyone takes a turn to speak on a subject without interruption or comment from other people. Go­rounds are useful for equalising participation and giving everyone some clear space to express their opinion. Allowing people to 'pass' means that no­one feels put on the spot. To keep it focused clearly state what the purpose of the go­round is and write the question on a flipchart where everyone can see it. You can set time limits as necessary. For a more in depth explanation of this tool take a look at our briefing Tools for Group Work on our website. Ideastorms 10 – 30 minutes; 5 – 15 people A tool for sparking creative thinking and helping to quickly gather a large number of ideas. Begin by stating the issue to be ideastormed. Ask people to call out all their ideas as fast as possible – without censoring them. Crazy ideas are welcome – they can help people to be inspired by each other. Have one or two notetakers to write all ideas down where everyone can see them. Make sure there is no discussion or comment on others' ideas. Structured thinking and organising can come afterwards. For a more in depth explanation of this tool take a look at our briefing Tools for Group Work. A variation … A roving ideastorm is a useful variation of the ideastorm that increases the level of participation and gets the group physically moving. It also allows you to think of ideas around several different, but related, issues at once. In a roving ideastorm small groups each start at a different 'station' (a tabletop or wall space with a sheet of flipchart paper on it) and have a short ideastorm on that station's topic. You call time and they then move round the other stations ideastorming as they go. A short, well enforced time limit will keep the small groups moving from station to station and make this a dynamic experience. So, for example, in a meeting skills workshop you might want to get some ideas on tools to deal with problem behaviour encountered in meetings. One station might be labelled 'dominant people', the next a 'shy and quiet people', a third 'speakers who take time to get to the point' and so on. A roving ideastorm allows the group to share their knowledge and creativity with no 'top down' input from you and no need for a feedback session at the end of the exercise. A few hints and tips... ✔ As people move around they will arrive at a station that another group has just vacated. They'll therefore need to be able to read the ideas of the previous small groups, so make sure groups summarise their ideas intelligibly, and write them clearly. ✔ The new group just adds extra ideas other groups didn't think of. This means that they have less work to do as they progress, because most of the ideas will already have been thought of. You can reflect this in the time limits you set. You might give them six minutes at the first station, five at the second, four at the third, three at the fourth etc. ✔ Finish by sending the groups back around the stations, so they can read what other groups added to the lists. www.seedsforchange.org.uk Pg.3/20 Small groups Time dependent on task; 3 – 15 people per group There are many reasons why you may want to split into smaller groups. Large groups can sometimes become dominated by a few people or ideas, stifling creativity and the contributions of others. By contrast, smaller groups allow time for everyone to speak and to feel involved and can be a lot less intimidating. This can increase the energy in the room because more people are more actively involved. It can also make it possible to discuss emotionally charged issues that would be difficult in a large group. The final advantage is efficiency – many topics can be discussed more effectively in a smaller group – for example the details of a newsletter's layout. Similarly, you can cover several different topics at once – with each group taking on one topic or task. Think about the sort of group you need – a random split (e.g. numbering off or by hair colour etc.) or groups of people with particular experience or skills or with energy for the topic? Explain clearly what you want groups to do. Write specific questions or topics on flipchart paper or a blackboard beforehand. If you are going to have feedback at the end, you need to say clearly what they need to feedback and ask them to ensure someone from each group is ready to give the feedback. Sometimes it is important to hear a full account of each group's discussion, often it is not necessary. Encourage the people giving feedback to be concise, think about setting time limits, or asking groups to feedback key points. For more information on this tool take a look at our briefing Tools for Group Work. Paired listening 5 – 15 minutes; 2 people per group This tool creates a space where everyone is heard, enabling participants to explore and formulate their own thoughts or feelings on an issue without interruption. It can help in uncovering and resolving conflict as well as allowing people to gather and consolidate their thoughts before a group discussion. Listening in pairs is also a good way of developing skills in active listening. Split into pairs, one person is the listener, the other the speaker. The speaker talks about their thoughts or feelings on the issue that you've chosen. Encourage the thinker to speak first thoughts – that is to speak as thoughts enter the mind without analysing or holding back. This Pg.4/20 may seem difficult at first – think of it as holding an internal monologue, but out loud. The role of the listener is to give full attention to the thinker without interrupting, questioning or commenting. The listener can provide an attentive and supportive atmosphere through eye contact, body language, encouraging noises, smiles and nods. If the thinker gets stuck the listener may ask neutral questions such as “How does that make you feel? Why do you think that?” After a set time (one ­ four minutes is usually plenty) thinker and listener swap roles. This exercise can be followed by a go–round in the full group, with every participant summarising the thoughts of their partner. Facilitation Tools Roleplays and simulations 10 minutes – 3 hours; 5 – 100 people Both roleplays and simulations are an opportunity to enact a scenario, practice skills around that scenario, and explore emotional reactions to it. The difference is simple. If people are taking on a specific role within the scenario it's a roleplay. If they are exploring a scenario as themselves it's a simulation. In some situations some participants will be themselves whilst others take on roles and interact with them. Simulations are good for practising new skills, or existing skills in new situations. Roleplays help to understand people's reactions, and can give insights into the thoughts and feelings of “opponents”. For either, select a situation to be played out. Ask yourself what you want to examine and why. A simple situation is best. Explain the situation carefully, including the groups represented (e.g. police and protesters) and the physical layout. If you need people to take on roles ask them to volunteer– never force people to play a role they're uncomfortable with. Give them a few minutes to get into their roles. Ask everyone who is not playing to be active observers. The facilitator stops the simulation or roleplay when enough issues have been uncovered, the exercise comes to a natural end or people want to stop. The play should also be stopped if a participant shows great tension or gets too involved. Have a short break, de–role (see below) and then evaluate the exercise. Evaluation gives participants and observers the chance to assimilate and analyse what has happened and how well they put their skills into effect. Start by asking the players how they felt in their roles. Ask observers for their impressions and then allow discussion. What have people learnt and how will they apply their insights in real life? Discourage comments that tell participants what they should have done. Compliment people for having the courage to participate regardless of how the scenario turned out. These tools are there for learning. Use encouraging language such as “Another option that you might try is...”, “ Perhaps this would work...”, “I learned ... from your tactic and would like to try...”. If new insights come up the group might want to try them out in a new exercise rather than talk about what might happen. For more on using roleplay, see our briefing on Facilitating Workshops. A variation... Hassle lines are a form of quick roleplay. They are great for getting people to explore their emotional responses to a situation, to look at body language or to prepare for a particular situation such as aggression from the public or the police during a protest or action. As with any role play, make it clear that anyone who isn't comfortable participating is welcome to act as an observer. Participants form two lines, each facing a partner. The two lines are given roles and a brief scenario and then step towards each other and play their roles. The left line, for example, may take on the role of protesters, the other side of unsympathetic passers­by, making a provocative comment such as “Get a job”. After a short time (30 seconds to two minutes) the facilitator stops the roleplay and asks a few people for their comments, e.g. how it worked and how it made them feel. Roles can then be swapped and scenarios varied. For a more in depth explanation of this tool take a look at our briefing Tools for Group Work. After any roleplay it's important to provide participants with the chance to de­role, that is to come out of their role and leave any strong emotions behind. You will need to judge the level of de­roleing required, depending on the intensity of the roleplay. A simple shake, or a few deep breaths may be all that you need. Other options include taking a break, a physical game, or a visualisation that takes people's attention elsewhere (to a pleasant memory, for example). www.seedsforchange.org.uk Pg.5/20 Plus-minus-interesting 5 – 20 minutes; 3 – 20 people This is a process that allows the expression of opposing views without generating too much conflict. This tool can be used in the whole group, in small groups or individually. Write the topic across the top of a large sheet of paper. Draw a plus sign, a minus sign and an “I” (which stands for Interesting). Start with the plus and ask people to list anything that they feel to be positive about the topic. Write these without comment around the plus sign. When everyone has had their say move on to the minus sign and list everything that people feel to be more negative. Around the “I” sign list everything that people find interesting, ideas that could be explored further etc. Then move back to the plus sign and start a second round. The first round finds out what’s happening with the group. The second round builds upon it. One particular issue can come up in every section as what seems positive to one person could well be negative to the next. Spectrum lines 20 minutes to 1 hour; 5 – 100 people These can help to explore the different views on an issue within the group. It is a dynamic way of discussing philosophical rather than practical topics in large groups. Start by creating an imaginary or real line through the room (chalk or masking tape on the floor are good for indoor spaces). One end stands for “I agree completely”, the other end for “I disagree completely”. Outline the issue under debate and formulate it into a statement to agree or disagree with. Ask people to position themselves along the line according to their views. They may try out several spots before making a final choice. Ask them to have a short conversation with the person next to them, explaining why they Pg.6/20 are where they are. Then invite participants to share their viewpoints and feelings with the group. Repeat this exercise with other statements that explore the issue under discussion and see whether and how people’s viewpoints change. You could also use a curved line so that people can see each other. This exercise taps into both our intuitive and rational sides and needs to be done quietly and thoughtfully. A spectrum line may require strong facilitation to stop the group from slipping into general discussion. For more ideas and variations on spectrum lines have a look at our briefing Tools for Group Work. Facilitation Tools Tools for introductions and endings Meetings and workshops can suffer if participants feel they haven't had time to build a rapport with the rest of the group, or if they end too abruptly – some people like 'closure'. These tools are best used at the beginning or end of a meeting or workshop, but might be appropriate elsewhere. Personal introductions 30 seconds – 1 minute per person; 3 – 20 people Each person gives their name, where they are from and one other fact about themselves. This third fact could be freely chosen by each individual or the facilitator could suggest a theme (e.g. what kind of food they like, why they are at the meeting, something good that happened in the last week). Pair Introductions 10 – 20 minutes; 10 – 30 people Ask people to pair up with people they don't know or know less well. One person interviews the other for three minutes, then roles are swapped. Questions can include the reasons why the person is there and what they are hoping to learn or achieve during the event. When the whole group re­forms the pairs introduce each other, giving as much detail as they can remember. The facilitator could also suggest specific themes to be included in the interview. Name games 5 – 15 minutes; 10 – 30 people There are countless games that help people remember everyone else's name. Here's one of our favourites: The group stands in a circle facing each other. Everyone needs to think of a verb (action word) that begins with the same letter as their name. Have an initial go­ round where everyone says what their name is (e.g. Jumping James). When everyone has said what they're called, start off by throwing a (real or imaginary) ball to someone while saying their name and acting out the verb (so you throw a ball to Jumping James, and jump while you say his name). James then throws the ball to the next person, while saying and acting out their name (Laughing Lindsay)... Of course you can run the same game without the verb. In large groups you can add to the challenge and keep everyone on their toes by using several balls at the same time. People map 5 – 10 minutes; 5 – 40 people Create a human map to show where people consider their home. Indicate North, East, South & West, and allow participants to position themselves to create a map. Ask people furthest away where they are from. Continue with each cluster of people. People can also reposition themselves. You could vary this by asking where people would like to live or go on holiday etc. www.seedsforchange.org.uk Pg.7/20 Excitement sharing 30 seconds – 2 minutes per person; 3 – 20 people People share something exciting that has happened to them recently. Examples are: “I've harvested the first peas of the year”, “My friend from New Zealand came to visit,” “I've got a new job”. This creates a lot of positive energy for the meeting and puts people more in touch with each other's lives. You can use this instead of introductions when people already know each other. Make sure people keep it brief. Discourage comments or questions. Don't confuse excitement sharing with announcements. Feeling sharing up to 1 minute per person; 3 – 30 people Ask people to listen inwards and to consider how they feel. Then have a round with people describing in a couple of words or sentences how they feel, for example curious, nervous, tired, excited. This allows the facilitator and the group to tune into each other. If people are tired have an energiser and open the windows. You can use this at the start and then the end of a workshop to see if the workshop has had an effect on people's feelings. Getting present up to 5 minutes per person; 3 – 15 people Sit in a circle so that everyone can see and hear each other. Ask each person in turn to share concerns, distractions and events that are on their mind. For example: “I’m giving a presentation this afternoon and I feel nervous.” “My daughter had a baby last night. It’s my first grandchild.” Ask everyone to give their full attention to the speaker. As facilitator you can help people if they appear stuck. Interventions could include: “Is there any action you want to take?” “Is there anything else you want to say about that?” This tool is suitable for groups that work together closely and where there is a high level of trust. Personal object game 1 –2 minutes per person; 5 – 20 people Sit in a circle around a large sheet of paper. Ask everyone to take a personal item out of their pocket or bag – something that has some personal significance to them – place it on the paper and draw round it with a marker pen. Once they have drawn round it they can put it away again. Then take turns to pick one of the outlines. The person whose outline it is explains what the item is and why it's significant to them. Workshop gifts 10 – 15 minutes; 5 – 20 people A contemplative and fun game we've used at the end of workshops. Everyone is given a card with a 'gift' written on it. Everyone then takes turns to explain what they will do with their gift. Example gifts are: an apple tree whose fruit has Pg.8/20 the power to grant a wish to whoever eats it, an empty train that can travel anywhere in the world, and a cloak that turns the wearer invisible. Facilitation Tools Writing a letter to yourself 5 – 20 minutes; any number of people This might seem like a strange idea, but it's a lovely way for everyone to take the time to think about what they have learnt through a workshop, and what changes they might make, or steps they might take, in their lives or work because of it. Give everyone some paper, an envelope and a pen and ask them to write a letter to themselves that outlines the main things they have learnt at the workshop, and the changes they would like to bring about. Get them to put their letter in an envelope and address it to themselves. Next collect in the letters. Explain that they won't be opened but that they will be posted out in a couple of weeks or months. We all know that we often have great intentions of making change but simply never get around to it. However having these intentions, written in our own fair hands, land on our doormats 6 weeks later could be just the reminder we need. People bingo 10 – 20 minutes; 5 – 40 people A flexible and gentle icebreaker. Write down a list of questions you would like each person in the group to find answers to from other people in the group. The question can be specific to the session e.g. “What qualities do you have that makes you a good trainer?” or generic “How are you feeling today?” It is useful for everyone to have questions on sheet of paper to carry around and fill in answers as they get them. Each person should only ask one question to one person then find somebody else to introduce themselves to and ask another question. When they have found answers to all their questions they shout bingo and have finished. Ten questions gets people well mixed and a lot of information shared. Tools for building trust These exercises help build trust in a group by sharing personal details, feelings and challenges with each other. Alternative CV 15 – 25 minutes; 5 – 40 people Hand out coloured sheets of paper and coloured pens. Ask people to draw a pattern of their choice on their piece of paper. When everyone has finished ask people to fill the pattern with words or phrases describing what they like about themselves, skills they have and skills they would like to have. Ask people to write their name on this. Pass around the finished patterns for everyone to look at or hang them up on the wall. This exercise helps people to appreciate themselves and others for who they are, laying a good foundation for working together. Skilled hand exercise 15 – 25 minutes; 4 – 100 people Hand out paper and pens. Ask everyone to draw around their hands and to write something they do well into each of the fingers. Split into pairs. Pairs take turns discussing things they do well and how they acquired those skills. This exercise not only helps people find out more about each other, but also develops people's confidence. www.seedsforchange.org.uk Pg.9/20 Picture yourself 20 – 40 minutes; 6 – 20 people Hand out coloured paper and coloured pens. Ask people to draw or paint a picture that expresses who they are. When everyone has finished ask people to pair up and explain their pictures to their partners. The partners then introduce each other to the group using the picture. A journey of discovery 15 – 30 minutes; any number of people, depending on space Go outside into a garden or woodland. Form into pairs. One person closes their eyes, the other guides that person by the hand and takes them to discover natural objects with all their senses apart from sight. Swap roles after a set time. Participants need to be very careful not to abuse the trust placed in them by their partners – it's very pleasant to touch and smell a flower, but not a thistle! This can be quite a lot of fun especially after or in the middle of a long, tiring session, and is excellent for building trust. Trust circle 10 – 15 minutes; 10 – 20 people per group Ask the group to form a tight circle facing inwards. One person stands in the centre. They allow themselves to relax, and fall backwards, safe in the knowledge that their team­mates will catch them and then 'bounce' them gently round the circle. The tighter the circle, the less risk of accidents! Allow everyone that wants to to have a turn. This can be a lovely, relaxing and enjoyable game that brings groups together, but it obviously carries some risk, and requires everyone to be reasonably able­bodied. Trust ladder 10 – 20 minutes; 10 – 30 people Form two parallel lines facing each other, standing close together in all directions. One person volunteers to go first and stands at one end of the parallel lines and fall forward, crowd surfing style. The group lifts them and passes them down their double line, gently depositing them at the end. They then take their place in the ladder and the next volunteer has a go. Mirroring 5 – 15 minutes; any number of people, depending on space Split into pairs standing opposite each other. One person makes movements, the other tries to mirror them as well as they can. Swap roles. When both have played both roles, they can try to coordinate movements with each other, so that both become player and mirror at the same time. This works best with slow movements and needs a lot of concentration. Try not to talk while playing. Pg.10/20 Facilitation Tools Tools for encouraging participation and discussion Many of these techniques will help make discussion a safer space for quieter voices. They can also be used to formally explore group dynamics. Other tools already mentioned, such as group agreements and go­rounds are also excellent participation tools. Parking space 1 – 2 minutes to set up; any number of people This makes sure all ideas get recorded and participants don't feel like they've been ignored. Whenever anything comes up that's not relevant to the discussion at hand 'park' it in the parking space (a large sheet of paper on the wall). In other words write it up on the paper and deal with it later. This allows you to stay focussed but reassures participants they will be heard. Of course, if you want to avoid people feeling ignored, make sure you do deal with parked items! Consider having a space reserved on the workshop or meeting agenda to deal with parked items. Keeping a speakers list any number of people A tool that's used in conjunction with handsignals (see Core facilitation tools above). It simply involves asking people to raise a finger when they wish to speak, and noting them down in order. They are then invited to speak in that order. The group will soon become impatient with people that ignore this protocol and just barge in and interrupt. Talking sticks any number of people You can use a stick or a conch shell or almost any other distinctive object. Place the talking stick in the centre of the group. Speakers take it from the centre, say their piece and return it to the middle. Only the person holding the talking stick is permitted to speak (you can set a time limit if necessary). This tool allows people to consider and take their time in voicing their views as they don't have to be afraid that someone else might jump in. It also makes people conscious of when they interrupt others and helps them to break the habit. Matchstick discussion any number of people This can be used to place limits on dominant or over­eager speakers. It also encourages shy speakers to contribute. Each person is given the same number of matches (one to five matches depending on time available.) Every time someone speaks s/he gives up a match. When someone has used all their matches they may not speak again until everyone else's matches are gone too. Decide beforehand whether people may give their matches to other members of the group. www.seedsforchange.org.uk Pg.11/20 Tools for tackling difficult issues Here are some tools that are useful when dealing with difficult issues in the group. The following tools generally benefit from strong facilitation, so do lay down clear rules and don't let discussions get out of hand. Don't feel afraid to stop the process if necessary. If things do get heavy then bear in mind that conflict resolution requires both skill and experience, and shouldn't be done unprepared. It's much better to stop the meeting and seek help from experienced facilitators, such as those at Activist Mediation Network – www.activistmediation.org.uk Controlled dialogue 30 minutes – 1 hour; 3 people per group This tool is helpful when two people find it difficult to listen to each other and understand each other's concerns. Form a group of three, one observer and two speakers/listeners. There are three phases to this form of dialogue – after a set amount of time or points, the group can go on to the next phase: 1. The listener repeats word for word what the speaker has said. Only then are they allowed to answer. 2. The listener summarises what the speaker has said and then answers. 3. When answering the listener addresses all issues and concerns of the speaker. The observer makes sure participants stick to the format and helps out if necessary. Particularly in the first and second phase the speaker should concentrate on essential points as listening requires a lot of concentration. You can also use this exercise to practise listening and responding skills in the group. Sharing withholds 15 – 40 minutes; 5 – 30 people Withholds are thoughts that we keep to ourselves. They usually have to do with judgements about ourselves, others, or what is happening in the group. For this tool to work there needs to be a climate of generous listening, which may take some time to achieve. It may be helpful if the group commits to putting aside enough time to relax together and do this exercise. Set up an unstructured round asking people to make statements beginning with: “If I could change one thing in the group it would be...”, “What upsets me about this group is ...”. Do not allow anyone to respond to the withholds or start a discussion. Make sure that everyone has a say – it is highly unlikely that someone is completely happy with a group. At the end of the round, see if any themes have emerged and if anyone wants their issue discussed. Feelings meeting 30 minutes – 2 hours; 3 – 30 people Similar to sharing withholds. A meeting which is solely concerned with feelings. Many groups hold regular feelings meetings to catch any Pg.12/20 problems early. Participants do not have to deal with decisions and actions. Such meetings allow the group to involve and support Facilitation Tools members as whole people and to resolve concerns, problems and conflicts before they become too serious. It helps to use tools such as talking sticks or go­rounds to encourage active listening. Encourage people to use “I...” statements instead of speaking for other people too. Begin by asking people about where they are at in their lives outside the group. This will give a context for everyone's reactions when you come on to issues within the group. Listen for what is not being said. Some people and groups find it hard to admit to negative feelings and tiptoe around conflicts. Create a safe enough space so that people feel able to open up. Reverse role plays 30 minutes – 1 hour; 6 – 30 people A tool to allow people to understand both sides of a conflict. They can help people entrenched in one position to think more flexibly. They are useful for examining a critical incident that occurs repeatedly or is expected to occur and for developing a definition of acceptable behaviour (e.g. conflicts over power, sexism, ageism etc.). Set up a situation involving two sides. At an important point in the role play, have everyone freeze. Ask people to take the opposite role and take up the conversation where it left off. The facilitator may have to help people remember what the last lines of the dialogue were. It can help if the facilitator physically moves people to their new positions and says “You are now X, and you are now Y”. Give people a moment to mentally shift to their new identities and resume the role play. Follow the role play with an evaluation. Quick and easy prioritisation tools There are several quick and easy methods to gauge group opinion, so that you can rapidly drop unpopular ideas…. Show of hands 2 – 5 minutes; any number of people Obvious but effective. Run through your list or agenda and get a preliminary show of hands on how important each item is to the group. Those options that have less support are good candidates for being quickly scrapped. Remember to check with the people that made a suggestion before scrapping it – it’s best to avoid upsetting them for the rest of the meeting. It’s also possible that an idea that’s not popular at first glance can become the favourite on closer examination. Fist To five 5 – 10 minutes; any number of people A more complex version of the show of hands. Group members stick up: ✔ Five fingers for strong support and a willingness to lead the proposal forward. ✔ Four fingers for strong support, and a willingness to work on it. ✔ Three fingers for minimal support, but a willingness to work for it. ✔ Two fingers for neutrality. ✔ One finger for no support. ✔ Fist for no support and active opposition. www.seedsforchange.org.uk Pg.13/20 Thumbs spectrum 3 – 5 minutes; any number of people Another simple visual tool. Ask everyone to stand and imagine a vertical axis with support for an idea at the top and no support at the bottom. Get them to stick out their thumb and raise it along the imaginary axis for support (the higher the thumb the more support) or lower it for opposition (the lower the thumb the more opposition). If all the thumbs are up, you know the group likes the idea. If all of them are on the floor, it’s not going to work! Stickers and dots 5 – 10 minutes; up to 50 people You can achieve the same effect by giving everyone a number of stickers or dots (1–6 usually works). Write up a list of the ideas. Ask people to stick their stickers or make their dots by the item(s) that they consider to be most important for the group to deal with. If you give multiple dots or stickers, people have the choice of ‘spending’ them all on one item that they feel is really important/urgent, or spreading them across a number of options. More detailed prioritisation and planning tools Ranking 10 – 20 minutes; 5 – 20 people This is a great technique for using in small groups. Write each option on a card or post­it note and give each group a full set of cards/notes. Set a time limit and ask the groups to rank the options, or reduce the options to, say, three. Having a facilitator in each small group will help. It’s also helpful to set out clear criteria at the start – for example: “You’ve got 15 minutes. We’re looking for options that need to be done most urgently, are most important, and yet realistic within our budget. Also we’ve only got a week to make it happen, so please think about what we can realistically achieve in the time available.” 2, 4, 8 consensus 1 – 3 hours; 8 – 40 people This exercise will take time, but will help a group reach a decision that everyone can live with! Probably not one you’d use every meeting, but useful for the really important discussions. It’s usually best to impose tight time limits at every stage of this discussion or it can take ages! 1. Start in Pairs. Each pair discusses the list of options and is asked to agree their top three priorities. 2. Each pair then comes together with another to form a group of four. The two pairs compare their lists of top three priorities and agree on a joint top three. 3. Each group of four comes together with another to form a group of eight. Again, each group takes its two lists of priorities and reduces it to an agreed top three. 4. Repeat until the whole group has come back together. Hopefully three clear priorities have emerged. In the worst case scenario the group has six top priorities and may need to reduce it still further through facilitated discussion or another prioritisation tool. Pg.14/20 Facilitation Tools Urgent/Important grid 10 – 20 minutes; 3 – 50 people A classic time­management tool that can be applied to group prioritisation! You can use this tool on paper, or as a ‘Spectrum Line’. The group ranks ideas according to their urgency and importance: Urgent Priority Area Not Important Important Not Urgent Six thinking hats 30 minutes – 1 hour; 5 – 20 people per group This tool encourages a group to look at a situation from a new angle. Each 'hat' represents a different way of looking at something. There are a number of ways to do this exercise. For example, individuals within the group can wear different hats whilst the group discuss an issue. Another alternative is that everyone in the group can try on one of the 'thinking hats' for a while, then everyone can put on another one. As facilitator you may want to think about the order in which the group wear the different 'thinking hats'. Below is one possible order for a creative problem solving process. The roles the 'hats' bring give you a chance to thoroughly examine every option and to prioritise or choose the best one(s). ✔ White hat: White hatted people concentrate on the facts – what information and knowledge do you know about the situation? What can you learn about the situation from this information? What info is missing? Can you plug the gap? If not can you take it into account when discussing the situation? What can you learn from past trends? ✔ Green hat: Green hat people think creatively in a no­criticism, freeform thinking kind of way. ✔ Red hat: Red hats are the emotional input of the discussion. They allow themselves to be intuitive and act as much on hunches as fact. They are sensitive to the emotional responses of others in the group. ✔ Black hat: Black hats live under a black cloud! They should think pessimistically. Look for the flaws in the plan, find the obstacles! ✔ Yellow hat: Yellow hats bask in sunlight – they should think positively looking for the value in every possibility. What benefits does it bring? ✔ Blue hat: The blue hat is worn by the facilitator(s). They concentrate on process, calling on the other hats to add in their thinking as and when it's appropriate and making sure that each option is scrutinised from all perspectives. They are neutral, helping the group achieve it's task without trying to shape the decision. This tool actively seeks out the optimistic analysis, the pessimistic analysis etc., so every idea is thoroughly tested and when the decision is made, it's made on the basis of a creative and thorough process. www.seedsforchange.org.uk Pg.15/20 Pros & cons 15 – 30 minutes; 3 – 20 people per group Got several ideas and can't decide which one to go for? Simply list the benefits and drawbacks of each idea and compare the results. This can be done as a full group, or by asking pairs, or small groups to work on the pros and cons of one option and report back to the group. Plus-minus-implications 15 – 30 minutes; 3 – 20 people per group A variation of the simple 'pros & cons' technique. It will help you decide between a number of options by examining them one by one. Create a simple table with three columns titled Plus, Minus, and Implications. In the Plus column write down the positive consequences of the option. In the Minus column write any negative consequences of the action, and in the Implications column write down other possible implications whether good or bad If this doesn't make the top priorities or decision clear for you, you can extend the process by putting a score against each plus point, minus point or implications point depending on how strongly you feel about that point. Then add up the columns and see what the result is. If the Plus column scores highest the option is good. If the Minus column scores well, don't go with this option and so on. Diamond ranking 10 – 20 minutes; 5 – 20 people A variation of the general card sorting tool. The group takes it’s 9 top ideas and sort them into a diamond shape (see below) 1: most support 1 2–3: next best ideas 4–6: other possibilities 7–8: little support 2 4 3 5 7 9: weakest idea 6 8 9 Facilitating prioritisation tools – a word of warning It’s easy to deviate from your process and get bogged down in endless discussion. What starts as an attempt to briefly list the pros and cons of each option can easily be diverted into a full scale hour long discussion on just the first option. Be wary of this, and stick to your chosen process. Only if the process itself is clearly not working should you abandon it and go for another! Prioritisation, by definition, involves choosing some ideas over others. This means that throughout your prioritisation exercise you'll be discarding ideas. There are 2 possible pitfalls that you can easily avoid: ✔ The first is throwing away an idea too early, deciding later that you were too hasty, but not having written it down anywhere. So always note down ideas and keep hold of the notes until the decision is finally made. If new ideas arise, put them in the parking space ✔ Secondly, people are usually more attached to the ideas that they thought of, so if you're facilitating, be wary of throwing ideas away too lightly and offending people. It can help to remind the group regularly that you're looking for ideas that are best for the group as a whole. You can also ask permission to discard ideas, and thank people for being willing to put aside their personal preferences. Pg.16/20 Facilitation Tools Tools for waking up, warming up and winding down When people stop concentrating or become irritable in a meeting, this could simply be because they've been sitting and listening for too long. A stretch or a game can re­energise people. Games can change the atmosphere in other ways – from lifting the spirits in the group to creating a quieter, more contemplative mood. Be sensitive to the group and individual members – the idea is to relax people, not to make them feel embarrassed or isolated. Don't coerce people into playing games. If people don't feel like playing, they could get themselves a cup of tea or go to the toilet. Also remember mobility issues. Sometimes a simple break or a stretch works just as well. Rain making 5 minutes; 1–100 people This is a lovely co­operative game that always brings a group together and lights up people's faces! Ask everyone to gather around you in a tight semi­circle, several people deep. Divide the semi­circle into three groups. Explain that you're all going to create a rainstorm by making four simple sounds in a round. The sounds are as follows... ✔ Drizzle – gently rub your palms together to produce a whispering sound. ✔ Light rain – move your hands up and down in opposite directions, with the palms brushing against each other, as if you are brushing sand off the palms. ✔ Heavy rain – clap your hands together. ✔ Hail – cup your palms and clap them against your thighs. Start off group one on making drizzle. Once that's under way turn and signal to group two to start with drizzle, then group three. Turn back to group 1 and get them to start light rain whilst the other maintain their drizzle, then turn to group two and do the same, then group three. Keep the round alive until all segments are making hail. Then work backwards so that group one stop hailing and make heavy rain, then two, then three, until you work back through light rain to drizzle and then silence! Green trousers game 10 minutes; 5 – 20 people Form a circle and take one seat away. One person stands in the middle and calls out something like "Everyone with green trousers". Everyone with green trousers then jumps up and runs to a seat vacated by someone else. The person left without a seat remains in the middle to call out something else. www.seedsforchange.org.uk Pg.17/20 Knot game 10 minutes; 10 – 20 people Stand in a circle, close your eyes. Walk towards the centre of the circle with outstretched hands. Find another hand for each of yours. Then open your eyes. Unravel the knot without opening hands. Involves getting physically close to others, stretching, laughing and problem solving. Make two simultaneous groups if there is a large number of people. Animal sounds 5 minutes; 10 – 50 people Participants are blindfolded and assigned an animal. The challenge is to use animal noises in order to meet up with other animals of same species. Aim to have at least three animals of each species. Releases energy. Loud, fun, chaotic, then gradually order and unity. Wizards, pixies, giants 10 minutes; 10 – 100 people A very physical team version of 'Rock, Paper, Scissors'! Sort the group into two teams and explain that each team has to choose one of three options – Wizards, Pixies, or Giants. Demonstrate the action for each choice. Wizards step forward and use their arms to 'zap' their opponents (and of course say "Zap!" as they do so). Pixies bend down low and scurry around in circles quickly whilst chattering to themselves in high­pitched gibberish. Giants step forward and raise themselves to their full height (arms stretched above their heads, hands clawed) and they roar. Obviously. Now get the teams to huddle together and give them a minute or two to agree their choice. Then they stand facing each other across the room, and on your count of "One...Two..." they take two steps forward. On the count of “Three...” they do their thing, be it wizardly, pixie like or gigantic. Here's how to score: • Wizards 'zap' all known Pixies and they fall asleep. • Pixies scurry round giants legs distracting them. • Giants overpower wizards by stomping around them. Play enough rounds for a clear winner to emerge, or until laughing begins to hurt. One variation sees the winning team chase the losers. Any losers that are touched before they get to the safety of their starting point join the winning team. The game is won when one team captures all of the other. Pg.18/20 Facilitation Tools Count to ten 10 minutes; 5 – 20 people An excellent game for focusing people and getting them to work together. It creates laughter and energy without being physical. Because it's not a physical game it's more suitable for less mobile groups. With everyone sitting or standing in a circle, explain that they have to count upwards – set a target (usually 10) if you like. There are a few complications though. Only one person can say any one number. If at any stage two or more people speak simultaneously the group have to go back to 1 and start again. Nor can the same person say more than one number in succession. It's possible that some clever so and so will attempt to co­ordinate the group with hand gestures or nods, or even by speaking so that they count around the circle. Discourage this. The point is to enjoy the challenge, not necessarily get to 10. If the group succeeds too easily, try the whole thing again with a twist. Either get them to count to 20, or ask them to shut their eyes, or turn their backs, or lie down, or any other cunning mechanism that prevents them from seeing each other! Body part twister 5 minutes; 5 – 20 people Great for getting people working together and energised, it is physical and needs people to be comfortable leaning on each other. Call out different body parts, these are the only parts of the body the whole group can have touching the floor. Encourage people to work together to find a solution and balance on each other if they need to. For example, to a group of nine people you could call out four bums, two feet, one head, two hands, four knees. Call out the next set of instructions as soon as everyone is in position. Think before you call out combinations or you could call out something that is physically or numerically impossible! Eye-catching 5 minutes; 10 – 20 people Ask the group to stand or sit in a circle. People look at ground, then on "Heads up" look into someone else's eyes at some point around the circle. If two people are looking at each other, they must swap places with each other. If anyone moves and no one is looking at them or they sit in the seat of someone who hasn't been looking at them, they are out. Who am I? 15 minutes; 5 – 10 people Ask everyone to think of someone they admire who they could answer questions about, they should be known to most of the group. Keep it a secret. The group asks one person at a time questions about the person they admire until they guess it. The group gets three goes to guess the identity, if they don't get it in three attempts that person wins. www.seedsforchange.org.uk Pg.19/20 Tools for evaluating meetings and workshops Evaluation allows us to learn from our experiences. It should be a regular part of our workshops as it give us the chance for honest feedback on the process and content of the event, allowing us to improve in the future. Everyone who participated in an event should be encouraged to take part in its evaluation. Bear in mind that there will be differences of opinion and that it is not necessary for the group to come to agreement on the matter. It is important to point out what was successful as well as what could have gone better. Begin with positive evaluations wherever possible. The structure of the evaluation should be planned carefully – how will you draw out what type of information? Keep evaluations of the process and of the content of the events separate. Below are some possibilities: • Have a round where everyone sums up their feelings or ask everyone to write down comments on a large piece of paper. • Ask everyone to call out two or three high and low points of the workshop. • Draw up an evaluation questionnaire and distribute it amongst the participants for filling in. • Ask “What are you taking away from this session?” This rapid review can help people notice what they have learned. • At the beginning, ask people to write their hopes and fears for the workshop or meeting on post­it notes and stick them on the wall. At the end ask them to take down any hopes that have been fulfilled and fears that have been dealt with or proved unfounded. • List the expectations that were gathered at the beginning of the meeting. To what extent were they satisfied or changed as the event progressed? Do the same with goals. • Use a graph on a large piece of paper representing the entire workshop. Each participant, using a different coloured pen, crayon or chalk, draws a line from one end to the other, drawing it above or below a central line depending on how much s/he has enjoyed/gained from the session. For more briefings and training workshops see: www.seedsforchange.org.uk Participatory Facilitation Techniques Some of the techniques profiled in this mini-workshop are listed below. Additional techniques and tips are provided in Designing Participatory Meetings and Brownbags: A TOPS Quick Guide to Linking Development Practitioners, available at: http://www.fsnnetwork.org/sites/default/files/designingparticipatorymeetingsfinal_0.pdf The guide Engaging Everyone with Liberating Structures by Group Jazz is also an excellent resource, available at: http://www.groupjazz.com/documents/EngagingEveryone.pdf. Technique How to apply in meetings 1-2-4-ALL is a technique from the guide Engaging Everyone with Liberating Structures that facilitates rich conversation in small groups and then brings the small groups together to integrate their ideas around an important question or issue. Give participants a short amount of time to silently reflect on a question or issue (1). Then ask participants to find one other person and share their ideas. You can invite them to talk to the person next to them or, if you’d like them to move around and mix it up a bit more, ask them to stand up and find a partner (2). Give the pairs 5-10 minutes to discuss the question. Then ask two pairs to join up (4). Suggest that they each first share interesting things they heard or said in the previous rounds. Then continue with the conversation as a group. Less time is needed in the pairing of pairs. Then invite everyone back to the whole group (All). Without “calling on” individual small groups, ask an open question such as “What insights emerged from your conversation?” or “What did you learn that is important for the large group to understand?”. The technique can also be done as 1-3-6-All, using trios rather than pairs. Read more: https://www.usaidassist.org/resources/1-2-4-all 1-2-4-All can be used to generate, discuss, or reflect on questions of interest to the working group, including develop action agendas. The technique gets everyone in the room engaged in the conversation and produces a natural synthesis of the ideas as pairs or trios join and integrate their ideas. 25-to-10 (Crowd Sourcing) is a technique from the guide Engaging Everyone with Liberating Structures for quickly generating and rating ideas. Distribute one index card to every participant. Pose a question, and ask everyone to think about their best response/idea silently, and then write it clearly on the card. When all have completed their card, ask everyone to mill around swapping cards repeatedly until the cards have churned and no one has their own card. At the signal, ask participants to pair off. Each person reads the idea on the card in their hand and tries to sell the idea to the other person. Then trade cards and rate the idea on the card on a scale of 1-5: “5” being fabulous and “1” just OK. At the signal, each person makes a new pair and repeats the procedure. Repeat five times. At round 5, each card should have 5 ratings. Each person adds up the score for the card in their hand. The facilitator asks for any idea with a score of 25…24…23..etc. until the highest scored idea is identified. Ask the person to read the highly rated idea aloud. Continue to identify and read out the top 10 high scores. If the group is small, each card can be used to express more than one idea. This is a great method to generate ideas and get the sense of the entire group about them, allowing for ideas to be rank-ordered. How to apply in meetings Technique Card Sorting is a way of gathering and organizing ideas that draws on the knowledge of the whole group. Similar to 25-to-10, each participant reflects on a question and writes one idea on a card or post-it (you can allow people to generate more than one card). It is helpful to have a sticky wall on which cards can be posted and reposted, or butcher paper if post-its are used. After all the ideas have been generated and posted, ask all to look at the posted ideas and begin sorting them into like groups, such as ideas that can be easily implemented together. Encourage participants to add names for the groups or categories. Once ideas have been sorted into like groups, ideas can be rank ordered by giving each participant an equal number of colored dots to vote on the ideas (e.g., a participant can places 1 dot on each of 10 ideas, or weights their vote by placing more than 1 dot on an idea they feel strongly about). Card sorting and voting is a fast way to generate written ideas and engage the whole group in categorizing and ranking them. Field Trip Around the Room is a technique that can be used in a meeting to organize how members of the group discuss several topics and integrate their ideas for how to address them. It uses small group conversation and successive discussions of the same topic by different groups to help to integrate the ideas of the whole group around specific topics/questions posted on flip charts in the corners of the room. To organize the field trip, divide the participants into groups—one group for each issue to be discussed (ideally, 5-8 people per group). (A quick way to divide participants into groups is to have them count off in sequence—1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, etc.—and join the group of the number they said.) Have each group stand by one of the flip charts, and when instructed to do so, discusses the topic/question and writes their answers on the flipchart in a 10-minute round. Each group has the opportunity to address the issues on each chart sequentially in 10-minute intervals before moving on to the next chart. Each group leaves one person behind to explain what their group has just put on the chart – that person has 1 minute to explain before moving on to rejoin his or her group. After every group has worked on every flip chart, have the groups return to the flip chart they started at. Give each group a few minutes to study the comments left by all groups and then give a short report-out of the key ideas noted on the chart and suggest next steps to follow up on these ideas. Read more: https://www.usaidassist.org/resources/field-trip-around-room This technique is a good alternative to plenary discussion when you have several issues that specific groups need to discuss. Similar in concept to a knowledge café but faster and engages the participants in creating the synthesis notes. Gallery Walk (aka Walk-About) is a technique from the guide Engaging Everyone with Liberating Structures that gets the whole room on its feet to take a walking tour of posters or flip chart pages generated by different groups that reflect each group’s answers to a question or series of questions. All the charts are posted around the room, and the whole group walks around to look at them one at a time. A member of the group can be asked to share one or two highlights, or the meeting facilitator can make comments on each chart, but most of the information is conveyed as participants read each chart. After the gallery walk, ask for reflections on what people saw with an open, inviting question, such as “What stood out for you?” This is an energizing way to organize small group report-outs because it gets everyone on their feet and moving around the room. A Knowledge Café is a method for hosting conversations about questions that When a technical Participatory Facilitation Techniques 2 How to apply in meetings Technique foster discussion about topics important to participants. These conversations link and build on each other as people move between groups, cross-pollinate ideas, and discover new insights into the questions or issues. The Café host asks the meeting participants to sit as groups of five to six people at small tables covered in paper to allow for participants to write on the table cover. Each table has a clearly identified question (e.g., written on a table tent). In Round 1, participants discuss the “table question” for 20 to 30 minutes and make notes on the table paper. The table host uses a notebook to summarize the discussion as it continues. When the café facilitator gives the signal, everyone except the table host moves to another table of their choice. Ideally, the members of the table should try to choose different tables so that they do not move from table to table as a group. In subsequent rounds, the table host welcomes the new guests and briefly shares the main ideas, themes and questions of the initial conversation to encourage new table guests to link and connect ideas coming from their previous table conversations. By providing opportunities for people to move in several rounds of conversation, ideas, questions, and themes begin to link and connect. At the end of the three rounds, all of the tables or conversation clusters in the room will be cross-pollinated with insights from prior conversations. Read more: https://www.usaidassist.org/resources/knowledge-café team has a large event with multiple stakeholders or staff from field offices present, a Knowledge Café can be organized in order to engage all participants in conversation around a set of predetermined questions. The design also encourages discussion among different groups, since participants move independently among tables to discuss questions that interest them. Popcorn Report-outs is a technique for eliciting comments from those who feel moved to share them, rather than calling on tables or groups sequentially to report out. Ask the open question, “What did you hear in your small group that is important for the whole group to understand?” and allow the group to think for 20-30 second before you say anything further. Some people will be moved to shared (like the first kernels of popping popcorn), and hearing from a few people will likely encourage others to also share reflections. The facilitator can also ask a question such as, “Did anyone have a different view?” to elicit other views. Hearing from 5-8 individuals in a large group can create a sense of the key issues discussed across the small groups and takes less time and usually involves less repetition than group-by-group report-outs. Use to bring the ideas of small group discussions back to the whole or to get a sense of how participants reacted to a presentation. Speed Consulting is a group technique that draws on the experience of participants to advise another participant on how to address a specific problem or issue. It uses small group conversation and a fast-paced schedule to focus participants on providing concrete, actionable advice. In advance, identify a number of people (around 10% of the total) with a program implementation issue which they would like help with – they are to play the role of the client who will be visited by a team of brilliant management consultants. Implementation issues should not be highly complex; ideally, each issue could be described in three minutes or less. Sit one issue owner at each table. Everybody else at the table plays the role of the high-priced consultant—paid by the minute! The issue This is an engaging way to build in peer problem solving into any meeting. Participatory Facilitation Techniques 3 How to apply in meetings Technique owner remains at the table throughout the exercise, while the groups of “visiting consultants” move around. 15 minutes per round is usually enough time for the consultants to dispense valuable advice based on their own experience. The time pressure is designed to prevent any one person monopolizing the time with long-winded explanations. Can be done with 1-3 rounds, depending on how much time is available. As the end of the exercise, ask the issue owners to comment on the input they received, and then ask the consultants to do the same. Typically, both groups of participants will voice surprise at the breadth and value of ideas that they heard. Read more: https://www.usaidassist.org/resources/speed-consulting Speed Networking is a technique from the guide Engaging Everyone with Liberating Structures for getting all participants in a meeting to reflect on a question and share their insights with others in small group conversation. Invite everyone to think individually about a provocative question that relates to the purpose of the meeting or the group. Make it a question that levels the playing field and for which there is no “right” answer—something that everyone in the group has an equal ability to talk about. Tell participants that when they hear the bell, they should find a partner. Explain that partnering with a person they know less well than they know others will be most interesting. Invite the pairs to have a conversation about the suggested question. After a short time (5-10 minutes depending on how much total time you have), ring a bell or use some signal to let participants know it is time to find another partner and have another conversation. Ask participants to raise their hand if they are looking for a partner so everyone can see who else needs a partner. Three “rounds” are usually sufficient to allow for a lot of mixing and conversation. Tell participants that when the bell rings continuously, they should stop their conversation and come back to the large group. Have a short large group conversation about what the participants experienced in the exercise. Speed networking is a great way to generate energy at the beginning of a meeting by providing an opportunity for everyone to speak early on. Storytelling is a way to share knowledge that incorporates the context, emotion and tacit knowledge. The story conveys much more than a series of basic procedural steps. It can contain the rationale, the strategy and the cultural values implicit within the actions taken by the story teller. It is invaluable to put messages in a context that learners can better understand through key details. One way to use story-telling in a large group is to have people gather in small groups of three to five. In each small group, each member has two minutes to tell a story centered on a question provided by the facilitator. Use a bell or other signal to let all groups know when it’s time to begin and when it’s time to go on to the next story. After two minutes, the next person begins their story. Once each person in the small group has told their two-minute story, everyone is asked to get up and find a new small group of three to five people that have not yet heard their story. Repeat the process of each person sharing a two-minute story in groups of three to five people. Continue until each person has had the chance to tell their story three or four times and has heard 12-16 stories. Then bring everyone back into the large group. One way to process what people Use storytelling as an alternative to formal presentations or as a way of sharing successes or challenges. Because stories naturally have an emotional content (how the person felt about the situation described), the storyteller seems more approachable. Members who listen Participatory Facilitation Techniques 4 How to apply in meetings Technique heard in the stories is for the facilitator to ask people to share what they learned from the stories they heard and from the act of telling them. What new methods have they heard about? What insights have they gained into the problem being discussed? What do they want to know more about? Read more: https://www.usaidassist.org/resources/storytelling to another member tell a story are more willing to give that person a follow-up call or email to learn more detail about what happened. TRIZ is a technique from the guide Engaging Everyone with Liberating Structures that can help a group think creatively about how to solve a problem or improve a complex process by thinking about the opposite of the desired result. TRIZ encourages participants to think outside the usual solutions by envisioning what would be the perfect system to prevent the desired result from occurring. By focusing on how to ensure that the opposite occurs, characteristics that may be preventing the desired result from happening are more easily identified and can then be addressed. Groups generate a list of the key elements of the perfect system to prevent the desired result from occurring and then compare that list to the current situation to identify what aspects of the system are actually in place now. For each element of the “perfect system to prevent the desired outcome” that is similar to the current situation, identify what it would take to eliminate the similarities. Use these insights to design specific changes to make in the current process/system. Read more: https://www.usaidassist.org/resources/triz TRIZ brings a game-like quality to the identification of barriers to achieving our desired results. As a structured creativity exercise, TRIZ works best in a small group (5-8 participants), but can be used in larger groups by applying the technique in several small groups working in parallel and then bringing pairs or trios of groups together to share and integrate their insights. Voting with Your Feet (aka Agree/Disagree) is a technique for engaging participants in expressing their views for or against a position by moving to one side of the room or the other. The facilitator can ask for volunteers to explain their position at each vote, for and against. If done with several questions in succession, it creates a lively milling of the group as participants move back and forth between the positions. Read more in the TOPS Quick Guide “Designing Participatory Meeting and Brownbags” This is a quick and lively way to get the sense of the group on an important question. Participatory Facilitation Techniques 5 Tips for Working with Groups:  Why are we here? Think through your objectives for the meeting and the needs of participants. What is in it for them? Receiving information passively is a low-level need and not one that best uses highvalue face time. Think of face-to-face meeting time as a scarce and precious resource that should only be used for purposes than can’t be better accomplished another way. Meetings that provide opportunities for creating new insights and knowledge, that get people talking and exchanging ideas, and that engage people in problem-solving tend to be more highly valued than meetings where participants are mainly just listening. Meetings can better achieve such engagement and learning goals if they are purposefully designed to do so.  What will happen that will make the best use of everyone’s time? How do you want people to interact during the meeting? Is there value in having people connect with others who don’t happen to be sitting at the table they chose when they walked in the room? At what point in the activity would it be helpful to bring together people of different experiences? Who should come together and when? And how will ideas generated in small groups come back to the whole room? Having a plan for the meeting which describes and indicates times for each activity and gives directions to all those facilitating helps to make the best use of scarce meeting time. It’s a good practice to check the planned times with a colleague to make sure they are realistic.  How the room is set up makes a difference. Classroom style set-up suggests passive listening. Small groups (4-6 people) are more conducive to deep conversation than 10 or 11 people crowded around a large round table. If possible, remove tables and just use chairs. Use of chairs without tables makes it easier to re-arrange participants in different size groups and to do whole-room activities like “voting with your feet” or gallery walks. Tables can also be too conducive for participants to bring out their laptops and multi-task.  Build in time for reflection. Before beginning a discussion or conversation, ask each participant to think silently for a minute about the question or topic under discussion. Giving just a small amount of time for individual reflection increases the quality of each person’s contribution, since it allows each person to organize their ideas and connect new information with their own experience.  People learn by talking; the more participants can discuss, debate, and analyze ideas by talking about them, the more they learn. Listening does provide us with new ideas, but as long as those ideas are just swimming silently around in our heads, they are neither fully formed nor actionable. It is only when we put an idea together in a way that allows us explain the idea to others, that the idea takes shape for us as well as for those we are talking with. For this reason, new knowledge and insights are best created in small group conversation. A small group of 3-5 members is the size that produces the richest and most in-depth thinking. It is large enough to contain diverse views yet small enough for members to engage each other. Engaging each other means asking questions to clarify the meaning another has expressed and challenging as well as building on others’ ideas.  After small groups have been in conversation, their ideas need to be brought together in a large group setting to integrate their insights into the thinking of the whole. In a lengthy meeting, small and large group discussions can be alternated to stimulate knowledge creation and synthesis. How can the meeting be designed to make this happen—to go efficiently between small and large groups, to integrate and synthesize ideas? Instead of lengthy group report-outs, which can be tedious, try giving a few volunteers the chance to respond to a question like “What did you learn in your small group that is important for the whole group to understand?” Gallery walks are another way to share insights with the whole group.  People are more likely to share insights and reflections when they have already established a connection. Give people a chance to get connected to each other before they try to construct new ideas together. Use introductions, social activities, information provided before the meeting, or icebreakers that allow participants to talk informally to get a sense of each other. Icebreakers that allow participants to frame themselves in a way that shows what knowledge and experience they can offer Participatory Facilitation Techniques 6 the group are a good way to establish connections. For example, when asking people at round tables to introduce themselves, ask them to say their name, organization, and then something substantive, like “tell us one best practice that you’ve found to be effective in your work” or something related to the topic of discussion. It is these examples that others in the room are more likely to remember and associate with that individual. Conversely, icebreakers that don’t relate to anything of interest to people may seem forced or even awkward. This handout is adapted from “Facilitation Techniques to Make Working Groups Lively and Fun” by Lynette Friedman and Lani Marquez, April 13, 2015. Participatory Facilitation Techniques 7
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