3 - Art of Facilitation

• make things easy

• way of working with people

• enables and empowers people to carry out a task or perform an action.

Why is FACILITATION important?

Facilitation

a developmental educational method which encourages people to share ideas, resources, and opinions and to think critically in order to identify needs and find effective ways of satisfying those needs

Facilitation

• Can be used in many settings

• Encourages greater participation and responsibility for decisions.

• Group members come to value and develop their own expertise and skills.

Facilitator

helps people to decide what the group wants to accomplish, reminds them of their responsibility in achieving it, and encourages and helps them to complete an agreed task or activity.

Facilitators

ensures that the needs of individuals within the group are recognized, acknowledged and responded to

Objective role

Facilitators plays an _______ role; or s/he may be stimulating group members to create solutions to problems

• Task

• Process

Styles of Facilitation: (2)

• Directive

• Exploratory

• Delegating

• Participative

For Task:

Directive

giving people information, instructing them how to do something

Exploratory

asking questions, encouraging people to voice their experience and ideas

Delegating

assigning tasks, roles, and functions to individuals

Participative

taking part in discussion, sharing personal experiences and encouraging others to do likewise

• Interpretive

• Cathartic

• Evaluative

• Sharing

• Directive

For the Process:

Interpretive

putting other words on a contribution or helping someone to find the words to express what s/he means

Cathartic

encouraging and modelling the expressions of feelings and emotions as they emerge by asking a question

Evaluative

assessing what someone says, providing a statement of value in relation to behavior

Sharing

encouraging the sharing of past and present feelings and those about future events

Directive

guiding members as they explore their feelings and begin to express them

• Listening

• Confidentiality

• Respect

• Equality

• The value of personal experience

• Agreed goals

• Group process

• Trust and safety

• Inclusion and encouragement

• The importance of positive/beneficial experience

• Participation

Facilitators should commit to the ff:

two-way process

Good communication is a ____ _____: one person transmits a message and another receives it

Effective communication

is crucial in group work for both the facilitator and the group

ideas or feelings or experiences

When people perceive their ___ or ____ or _____ (or all three) are valued by the group and the facilitator, they contribute more, and this leads to a shared sense of the group acting together

Active listening

is the key to effective communication and a core skill for facilitators

Active listening

more than simply listening to someone.

• absorbing what is being said and letting the speaker know that s/he has been heard.

Active listening

It is about ensuring that the speaker feels ‘listened to'

True

T or F.

Keep in mind: you are not facilitating groups to counsel them

• Summarizing

• Clarifying

• Reflecting

• Paraphrasing

• Explaining

• Open-ended

• Encouraging

• Silence

• Linking

Active Listening Skills (Verbal): (9)

• Facial expressions

• Gestures

• Eye contact

• Personal space

• Body language

• Timing

Active Listening Skills (Non-Verbal): (6)

Summarizing

Drawing together several things a speaker said to make one statement

Clarifying

Checking that what was said is understood

Reflecting

Picking up on the explicit or implicit feelings expressed by a speaker and demonstrating an understanding and acceptance of these

Paraphrasing

Repeating back to the speaker a little of what was said either in her/his own or similar words.

Explaining

Giving an interpretation of previous statements

Open-ended

Asking the speaker questions which will encourage further disclosure

Encouraging

Includes thanking the person for her/his contribution and offering praise

Silence

Allowing some time between what a person says before the facilitator speaks

Linking

Statements/questions/comments can be linked by the facilitator using short sentences indicating interest, support and encouragement to continue

• Try to pressure groups against time limits

• Let the group avoid dealing with issues and conflict

• Offer your own view point unless you tell the group you are playing the devil’s advocate.

• Try to steer the group toward what you think is the right decision

• Side with a particular point of view or opinion in the group.

• Exhibit a judgmental attitude

Don’ts of Effective Facilitators:

• Establish rapport

• Observe behavior and feedback

• Facilitate group setting time limits that you enforce unless the group changes operating guidelines.

• Active listening and help group members to develop respect by listening to each other.

• Setup comfortable and safe space for members to openly communicate and contribute ideas

• Encourage shy or introverted members to come forward with their ideas

• Prepare materials needed for the activity.

• Include everyone in the conversation.

• Synthesize and summarize any group sharing.

• Affirm and thank members for sharing or contributing

Do’s of Effective Facilitators: