Facilitation Do’s Facilitation Don’ts

Active listening:
Don’t allow arguments and discussions to go around you, as facilitator. Make them go
through you and provide frequent and thorough reflection so that everyone is driven to
Make contact, absorb, reflect, and confirm; confirming WHY somebody said something or
understand the same rationale or evidence.
WHY the facilitator is doing something.
Annotated agenda:
Don’t assume that everyone shares understanding about the terms being used because filters
and biases cause misunderstanding. It’s better to assume that it’s unlikely you have
Visualizing and documenting what needs to be done and said in advance, especially
consensual understanding, even when participants claim to agree.
instructions for the methodology and tools you plan to use.
Decision-making:

Teach your participants the components of high-quality decision-making and illustrate using
a decision-matrix:
Stop cheerleading with positive remarks such as “great idea” or “I like that.” Dr. Thomas
1. Verify purpose of your objective
Gordon (Harvard) proved that judgments or affirmation to the positive can actually be more
2. Detail your options
injurious to group participation than negative comments.
3. Delineate criteria
4. Prioritize the criteria
5. Apply prioritized criteria against the most qualified options
6. Test the decision quality to see how well it supports the original purpose

Definition Tool:

Put the MG RUSH Definition Tool in your hip pocket and use it regularly, recalling the five
Don’t forget the MG RUSH 3-step method for resolving conflict:
activities a robust definition demands, namely:
1. Active listening to prevent ‘violent agreement’
1. What is it NOT
2. Appeal to objectives, from project through enterprise (see Holarchy)
2. Describe it
3. Thoroughly document, then take off-line, typically to the executive sponsor
3. Detail the attributes, characteristics, requirements, or specifications
4. Illustrate it
5. Get two examples from the business

Deliverable:
Don’t rely on “one size fits all” and overuse the same tool (e.g., PowerBalls). Decision-
making ranges from the simple to the complicated through the complex, and extends from t
Know what DONE looks like; nothing can save a leader when they don’t know where they are
qualitative through the quantitative—so use the most appropriate tool in your specific
going. Hence, codify your deliverable and share it, before the meeting begins. While others
situation.
call it “right-to-left thinking” some say “start with the end in mind.”
Focus:
Avoid using the first person singular, specifically the terms “I” and “me.” Additionally,
Value the importance of focus and perspective. The hardest thing to do with a group of smart
avoid too many thank-you’s and self-references such as “I think”, “I want”, and “I believe.”
people is to get them to focus on the same thing at the same time. Consequently, remove
distractions so that focus is all that remains.
Holarchy:
Don’t permit groupthink and reliance on habits and patterns of the past. “We’ve always do
Connect the dots; provide a holarchial explanation that quantifies the importance and impact it this way” will not persist forever. Hence, incite participants to understand that change can
of your meeting, typically measured in terms of investment at risk (e.g., $$$) and/ or FTP (full- be proactive or reactive.
time person).
Preparation: Don’t forget or skip the MG RUSH professional 7-activity Introduction and 4-activity Revie
and Wrap. Consider rehearsing the introduction so that the meeting begins smoothly, thus
7:59AM preparation and interviews. Because, no facilitation class in the world will make you giving participants confidence. Participants remember the last five minutes so close with cle
successful when you show up unprepared. action steps.
Precision:
Don’t permit discussion and comments when you are in a listing mode. Brainstorming
demands that during ideation, there should be no discussion. The facilitator is normally the
Rhetorical precision becomes increasingly important, the more complicated the topic or
first person to violate this principle.
scope of discussion. Hence, monitor your rhetoric.
Roles:
Don’t lead a meeting without first sharing the purpose, scope, deliverables, and simple
agenda, preferably in writing and preferably shared with participants before the meeting or
Stress roles in the meeting emphasizing that all participants are equals, regardless of title or
workshop begins.
tenure in the hallway. Then treat everyone the same, and don’t be deferential to “executives.”
Structure:
Don’t string on virtual participants at the end. Put them in a virtual seating arrangement up
Structure your discussion to avoid asking for the deliverable; rather ask for parts of the front, and call on them first, not last. Next, enforce a protocol even among the live people so
deliverable that aggregate to the final deliverable. Remember the mathematical expression: Y that virtual participants know who is speaking.
= f(X) +(x) + (x) and ask about the little “x’s” , not the “Y” or even the large “X’s”.
WHY First:
Don’t discount the value of visual feedback. Remember that more is better and it is easier t
edit stuff ‘out’ of your final documentation than it is to fully remember what was said.
WHY before WHAT before HOW; always build consensus around the purpose of something
Therefore, capture verbatims and edit later.
before beginning your analysis and solution development.
Facilitating "Do's" and "Don'ts"
Brief, practical tips for directing a small-group discussion
Mike Shepherd

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Are you a good facilitator of small group experience? Do you lecture too much…or let people interact too much? Is truth being taught or is it shared ignorance? How do we
balance teaching and group interaction in small group experiences? Here are some suggestions you might consider.

1. Do help people discover truth.

2. Do stress application.
3. Do help everyone participate.
4. Do ask good open questions.
5. Do keep discussion on track.
6. Do encourage participatory learning.
7. Do model a depth of sharing.
8. Do create a safe place for discussion.

1. Don't lecture about the truth.

2. Don't center on facts alone.
3. Don't dominate the Bible study time.
4. Don't answer all of the questions yourself.
5. Don't discourage discussion.
6. Don't give all the answers.
7. Don't stay with information & content alone.
8. Don't allow criticism, the emphasis of wrong answers, unsolicited advice.

Effective facilitators of small group experiences will:

 Encourage everyone to participate.

 Pay attention to body language-90% of communication is nonverbal.
 Make clear what group members are saying.
 Manage conflict as it arises.
 Be loyal to the small group process and manage it.
 Not be the answer person and listen to others share.
 Follow the Leader and curriculum.
 Open up and share intimately.
 Help create a safe place for others to take off their masks.
 Make application to Life Change.

 Every workshop facilitator is different, and every group needs a different approach, but these handy hints could help when planning and delivering a great workshop.

 Dos
 Practice makes perfect
 If you’re planning a workshop, you can always try out activities on your colleagues. For instance, if you’ve created a ‘Plan Your Research’ tool, ask someone in the office
to fill it out, check whether it works and how long it takes them.
 Timed agenda
 Make an agenda with detailed timing. This way, if there are multiple facilitators at the workshop there’ll all know how long things are supposed to take.
 Timekeeping facilitator
 If you have the luxury of having more than one facilitator, then appoint a timekeeper. It’s best if the time-keeper is not the main workshop facilitator as they’ll already have
a lot to think about and keep track of.
 Schedule lots of (long) breaks
 It’s important to give people time to breath during the workshop, to have a cup of tea and relax. It’s also important for people to know when the next break is, so that they
feel comfortable, you could simply put it on a piece of paper on the wall. Schedule long breaks in case one of your activities runs over.
 Audience appropriate
 Tailor the location of the workshop and the activities to suit the needs of your participants. If the workshop is for young people make sure that; it’s short, it’s in an easily
accessible environment and it doesn’t interfere with exams or other important commitments. Similarly, if you’re working with new parents you’ll need to think about
childcare needs. If you’re not sure what location or activities your target audience will enjoy, then schedule a call with one of them before the workshop and ask them what
they think of your agenda and location.
 Back up activities
 Occasionally you have a group of workshop participants who are so on-the-ball they get everything done in half the time. Make sure you have a few activities up your
sleeve for if this happens. We recommend; Never Have I Ever, the game where everyone stands in a circle. The person in the center says ‘Never Have I Ever… spoke to a
friend about mental health’. Everyone who has spoken to a friend about mental health swaps places. The last person to find a place asks the next ‘Never Have I Ever…’.
 Share the workshop
 Unless you’re running a top secret workshop, it’s a good idea to encourage people to share what they’re doing at the workshop. If it’s a big workshop or one in a series you
could even create a hashtag that everyone uses. If you’re doing this, make the wifi code known to everyone.
 Laptops away
 People might be tempted to check their emails during the workshop. We recommend having a no laptops policy, so that people are present physically and spiritually at the
workshop. You could suggest putting phones away too, unless it’s to share the workshop on social media!
 Capturing
 Capture the flavour of the day with photographs, quotes, voice recording and video. It’s important to capture what people say in their own words, so noting down quotes is
the most important thing. It’s up to you whether you feel photos and video are appropriate, but they are very useful when sharing your work with people in reports, talks,
meetings and funding applications.
 Experience
 Think about what your participants are getting out of the experience. Are they learning something? Are they getting an opportunity to meet others or share their experience?
Make sure you balance your intentions with what they might want. For instance, if you know you need to do a complex mapping activity that might not be fun but is
important, make the next activity something that they gain skills from, or have fun doing.
 Feedback
 Give people an opportunity to share how the workshop went anonymously. Put two pieces of paper on the wall asking ‘What went well?’ ‘What did you learn?’ ‘What
would you change?’ and ask people to put a post it note on each. If you take the feedback on board then every workshop you do you’ll get better at facilitating.

 Don’ts
 Focus on outcomes
 The most important part of running a workshop, focus group or meeting is that everyone in the room is safe, happy and having fun. If you prioritise the workshop outcomes
over people’s wellbeing the data you collect will be less useful.
 Cram too much into the agenda
 It’s hard to get everyone in one room sometimes, so once you do it’s tempting to cram a lot into the agenda. You’re better off having less activities to give people room to
chat and feel comfortable. Think about one key think you want to get out of the day.
 Take it too seriously
 Remember that great facilitation comes with practice, it’s OK to not be amazing at it every time. And what makes a great facilitator anyway? Just someone who is
enthusiastic about the workshop they’re facilitating. So you can’t go wrong!