What is effective facilitation?

What is effective facilitation?


What is effective facilitation?

Facilitation is the process of guiding a group through a discussion or activity to achieve a specific objective. It involves creating an inclusive and collaborative environment where all participants feel comfortable expressing their ideas. Effective facilitation is crucial for engaging participants and fostering meaningful and purpose-oriented conversations.

Facilitation is an art that involves creating an environment where every participant feels valued and contributes actively. By mastering facilitation techniques, one can enhance group dynamics and achieve more meaningful outcomes.

Key elements of effective facilitation

Active
listening

Listen to participants with the intent of understanding their perspectives.

Use verbal and non-verbal cues to show attentiveness, such as nodding, summarising, and asking clarifying questions.

Neutral
positioning

Remain neutral and unbiased, allowing diverse viewpoints to be explored.

Avoid expressing personal opinions or favouring one perspective over another.

Clarity of
purpose

Clearly communicate the objectives and goals of the discussion or activity.

Help participants understand the purpose and expected outcomes.

Creating a
safe space

Establish a safe and non-judgmental environment where participants feel comfortable sharing their thoughts.

Encourage openness and respect for diverse opinions.

Effective Communication

Use clear and concise language. 

Encourage participants to express themselves openly and respectfully.

Techniques for Facilitating Participation

Brainstorming

Generate ideas by encouraging participants to freely share their thoughts without judgement. Use sticky notes to make it easy to cluster similar ideas together.

Open ended questions

Encourage discussion by asking questions that require more than a simple yes or no answer. Example: "What are your thoughts on...?"

Visual aids

Use visuals like charts, graphs, or slides to enhance understanding and engagement. Visual aids can help convey complex information more effectively.

Small Group Discussions

Break larger groups into smaller ones to facilitate more intimate and focused conversations, and to make it easier for shy individuals to participate. Rotate facilitators to give more people ownership of the outcome of the session

Role plays

Encourage participants to act out scenarios related to the topic. This can deepen understanding and provide different perspectives.

Other facilitation tips

Traffic cop

Manage participation within the group. 

  • Gently call out the silent ones “we have not heard from you yet. Would you like to share a perspective on this topic?   
  • Respectfully ‘pull the microphone’ away from the ones monopolising the conversation: “I know you have a really important point to make on this, I just want to make sure we also hear from some of the others. Will come back to you in a minute.”

Silence is golden

When inviting participants into a brainstorming session or to respond to a question, ask them to do some thinking for 2-3 minutes in silence first. 

This levels the playing field a little between the extroverts and introverts in the group. Otherwise, the extroverts will dominate the conversations while the introverts are busy listening.

T-junction

The “T junction is a focusing technique that ends endless unstructured debates and produces a better quality decision. Set up a “T” for the issue and then have the group brainstorm the pros and cons and often the preferred choice will simply stand out with little need for further discussion.

Parking lot

The parking lot is a place for issues or ideas that may not be directly related to the discussion. The issues are parked temporarily to prevent unnecessary discussion or the waste of the groups time but because it is placed in the parking lot, people do feel that their opinion were acknowiedge at the it will be addressed later. At the end of the workshop, the group returns to the parking lot to resolve all the issues by either deciding to add or remove it from the agenda.

Flip charting with flair

The use of flipcharts and post-it pads during a workshop ensures that everyone is having a hands-on experience. Both their minds and bodies are engaged and the benefits includes that participants begin to internalise the work and this leads to greater ownership of implementation.

Flipchart tricks:

  • Use different colours. Black and blue for writing and red, green and other colours to highlight or draw.
  • Have enough flip chart stands or use a long piece of paper on a wall or table
  • Write large and lowercase in block letters
  • Don’t block flip chart with your body
  • Number pages – and stick up in sequence afterwards
  • Don’t edit – use peoples words, as they say it, in short sentences.

Thought starter reflection questions

Jot down thoughts on these questions – to the extent they are relevant to your experience at the session:
  • When did the mood in the event shift from “why are we here?” to “this could be interesting – I am excited to be part of this.” What triggered this shift? 
  • When did you have to go “off script” on the agenda or to change the agenda? What triggered this? What did you adjust? How did it go?
  • What was most surprising to you at the event?
  • What new insights did you gain about the issue at hand, and about the way leaders in the system interacted with each other?
  • Where did the conversation get stuck? What got it unstuck?
  • How would you characterise the level of trust among participants in the meeting? To what extent did this shift as the meeting progressed? To what do you attribute this shift, if indeed it happened?

Thought starter...

Reflection Questions 

Jot down thoughts on these questions – to the extent they are relevant to your experience at the session:

  • When did the mood in the event shift from “why are we here?” to “this could be interesting – I am excited to be part of this.” What triggered this shift? 
  • When did you have to go “off script” on the agenda or to change the agenda? What triggered this? What did you adjust? How did it go?
  • What was most surprising to you at the event?
  • What new insights did you gain about the issue at hand, and about the way leaders in the system interacted with each other?
  • Where did the conversation get stuck? What got it unstuck?
These are 100-Day Challenge Mentors. 

They did some work before you received the Challenge Note. This included:

  • Writing the Challenge Note, and making sure that the leaders of all the organisations represented on the team are comfortable with it – and committed to supporting the work of the team
  • Helping the leaders of these organisation recruit you and your colleagues to the team
  • Gathering some baseline data and other information that will help you and your teammates set your 100-Day goal and develop your plan.
  • Making sure all the preparations are made for a successful Lift-Off workshop, when you and your teammates will meet and get your 100-Day Challenge started. This includes venue, facilitation support, food, swags, comms, travel arrangements and whatever else is needed.

 

Mentors will participate in all or part of the Lift-Off Workshop, mostly at the start to provide context and answer questions, and at the end to give you and your teammates feedback about the goal and plan you develop.

During the 100 days following the Lift-Off Workshop, here’s what the Mentors will do:  

  • They will check in every two weeks with the team leaders to see how the team is doing and what support they and the team need.
  • They will keep other organisational leaders informed and engaged during the 100 days, and pull them in to help as needed.
  • They will participate in the last part of the Refuelling Workshop, halfway through the 100 days, to see what additional support the team needs, and to begin to plan with the team for sustainability and scale-up.
  • They will work with the team at the Sustainability Workshop to finalise recommendations on sustaining the results and building on the work of the team.