Course Summary:

Welcome to the Facilitation Skills workshop. Facilitation is often referred to as the new cornerstone of management philosophy. With its focus on fairness and creating an easy decision making, facilitation can make any organization make better decisions.

This workshop will give participants an understanding of what facilitation is all about, as well as some tools that they can use to facilitate small meetings. 

Course Objectives:

Research has consistently demonstrated that when clear goals are associated with learning, it occurs more easily and rapidly. With that in mind, let’s review our goals for today. 
At the end of this workshop, participants should be able to:

• Define facilitation and identify its purpose and benefits.
• Clarify the role and focus of a facilitator.
• Differentiate between process and content in the context of a group discussion.
• Provide tips in choosing and preparing for facilitation.
• Identify a facilitator’s role when managing groups in each of Tuckman and Jensen’s stages of group development: forming, storming, norming, and performing.
• Identify ways a facilitator can help a group reach a consensus: from encouraging participation to choosing a solution.
• Provide guidelines in dealing with disruptions, dysfunctions, and difficult people in groups.
• Define what interventions are, when they are appropriate, and how to implement them.

Course Outline

Module One: Getting Started

• Workshop Objectives
• Pre-Assignment Review

Module Two: Understanding Facilitation

• What is Facilitation?
• What is a Facilitator?
• When is Facilitation Appropriate?
• Case Study
• Module Two: Review Questions

Module Three: Process vs. Content

• About Process
• About Content
• A Facilitator’s Focus
• Case Study
• Module Three: Review Questions

Module Four: Laying the Groundwork

• Choosing a Facilitated Approach
• Planning for a Facilitated Meeting
• Collecting Data
• Case Study
• Module Four: Review Questions

Module Five: Tuckman and Jensen’s Model of Team Development

• Stage One: Forming
• Stage Two: Storming
• Stage Three: Norming
• Stage Four: Performing
• Case Study
• Module Five: Review Questions

Module Six: Building Consensus

• Encouraging Participation
• Gathering Information
• Presenting Information
• Synthesizing and Summarizing
• Case Study
• Module Six: Review Questions

Module Seven: Reaching a Decision Point

• Identifying the Options
• Creating a Short List
• Choosing a Solution
• Using the Multi-Option Technique
• Case Study
• Module Seven: Review Questions

Module Eight: Dealing with Difficult People

• Addressing Disruptions
• Common Types of Difficult People and How to Handle Them
• Helping the Group Resolve Issues on Their Own
• Case Study
• Module Eight: Review Questions

Module Nine: Addressing Group Dysfunction

• Using Ground Rules to Prevent Dysfunction
• Restating and Reframing Issues
• Some of the ways of restating and reframing includes:
• Getting People Back on Track
• Case Study
• Module Nine: Review Questions

Module Ten: About Intervention

• Why Intervention May Be Necessary
• When to Intervene
• Levels of Intervention
• Case Study
• Module Ten: Review Questions

Module Eleven: Intervention Techniques

• Using Your Processes
• Boomerang it Back
• ICE It: Identify, Check for Agreement, Evaluate How to Resolve
• Case Study
• Module Eleven: Review Questions

Module Twelve: Wrapping Up

• Words from the Wise