Three patterns to help make your facilitation easier
Posted by Andrew 20 August 2007When it comes to facilitating groups, Viv often talks on how Improvisation is at the heart of facilitation. As she says:
Improvising is not the same as being unprepared. Indeed, the ability to improvise requires a lot of preparation, of learning skills and techniques and of practicing.
To help you ‘improvise’ better I have listed 3 patterns, you might call them techniques, which I have learnt from Open Space Technology and have found to be really helpful in my own facilitation.
Pattern 1: Self-organisation
Problem: You have a whole bunch of people who you need to have organised into sub-groups to work together. How do you do it?
Answer: Deceptively simple. Let them choose. The task is to find a way to frame or articulate the set of interests which will naturally precipitate out a grouping of people.
Pattern 2: Physical movement
Problem: You would like to generate rich discussion around topics that matter. Topics that people feel responsibility for, and passion about.
Answer: Get people moving. Instead of standing up the front of the room and using the marker pen to capture those which people call out. Ask people to move, with their bodies, to in some way articulate their choices. In Open Space Technology this is done in the opening circle where participants write up their topic of interest on A3 sheets and then post them on the wall. In other approaches, like Sociometry, physical movement along a spectrum is core to generating rich, fun and insightful discussion. I wouldn’t be alone in saying that physical movement couples powerfully with the “to take a stand for” metaphor.
Pattern 3: Solutions focus
Problem: How do we avoid getting bogged down in all the gunk, goo and negativity that might be present?
Answer: Focus on what works and what’s working. Use what’s working as a way to frame and move forward into those areas where support is needed. In Open Space Technology, this is often captured in the theme which brings everyone together. For example, a theme of “How can we improve our knowledge systems” comes across differently to “How can we leverage and build even better knowledge systems”. In Solutions focus, the use of scaling is often used. Here you can ask the question, through a physical line up on a scale from 0–10, how well would you say its working? When the answer is 3 out of 10, the next question is, why is it 3 and not 2. Next, you could ask everyone to take one step forward, towards the 10 end and ask what’s involved and underneath the making of that 1 single step forward.
How can you find ways to incorporate self-organisation, physical movement and a solutions focus into the next meeting or workshop you are planning to run? And don’t forget. Be prepared to be spontaneous!