The CraftBook of Facilitation

WHAT IS FACILITATION?

Facilitation enables a group of people to achieve their own purpose, in their own agreed way.

GROUP PURPOSE: THE WHY

Why are we here? Give time for needs to be identified, and seek clarity on the group purpose.

PURPOSE PATHFINDER

To get to our desired destination, as a group, then we need a compass to help steer the course..

GROUP CULTURE: THE HOW

How we do business: what’s acceptable behaviour, & what’s unacceptable behaviour, around here?

MODES & MANNERS MENU (3 pages)

A selection of process agreements, practices, ground rules, contracts and group culture options.

FACILITATING ONSELF

What are the blocks to your intuition? And how can you get in the zone?.

LISTENING & EMPATHY

Listening & empathy: your most demanding job, and most intricate skill set.

NEXT LEVEL LISTENING

Noticing, sensing and processing all that information.

DYSFUNCTIONS IN GROUPS

When groups go bad: who’s drawing the power, and how are they wielding it? can you name it?

FACILITATOR FAUX PAS

Common mistakes and leadership lapses || tips, triggers and traps for facilitators to avoid.

FORMATS FOR FAIR VOICE

A selection of common and useful methods for hosting discussions and exploratory debates.

THEORY & THINKING

Get the right thinking: the framework for understanding your role as the steward of the process

METHODS, SKILLS & TOOLS

A collection of facilitation tools for your toolbox and skills for your skillset.

TACTICS, TRICKS & TIPS

Handy and helpful facilitation hacks and heuristics for herding humans.

BEGINNINGS ARE CRUCIAL

The five fundamental must be tended to in the first five beats of the session: in 5 mins or 50 mins.

BASIC INTERVENTIONS

Herding humans means steering the conversation for the hardworkers, holiday makers & hostages.

SCENARIO SIMPLE SOLVER

Role play and picture play suggested ways to help you manage & cope with some tricky situations.

SURE SIGNS OF SUCCESS

How will you know that you’re on the right track? And other nice things you can celebrate.

UNDERSTANDING GROUPS

How do groups work? Effective groups are self-reflective. Your job: open & steer the conversations.

GROUPS IN FORMATION

You’re supporting a group that’s meeting for the first time, or it’s taking on board new members

THE GROWTH OF GROUPS

The cyclical stages and phases that groups often fall through (or stay perennially stuck in).

ORGANISING & DECISIONS

What makes a group tick? Make up, elements, who’s in / out, power wielders, decision mechanisms

DIMENSIONS & DIAGNOSTICS

A diagnostics tool and health check for your group.

GROUPS ROLES MODELS

Various prisms to peer into the people, personalities and peculiar interactions in your groups.

POWER SHARING

Power is the capacity to make change or to get stuff done.

CONFLICT: HURT & HEALING

Chart the course: invite to the opportunity, listen deeply, give space to grow, stay the course.

MEDIATION METHODS

Supporting parties to resolve disputes: by helping each to be heard & to negotiating a settlement.

CULTURE CHANGE CHALLENGE

You’ve been asked to facilitate sessions exploring culture change in a group that is toxic & divided.

QUIRKY QUESTIONS

A facilitator’s cheat sheet of questions for participant connections and group awareness

ACTIVITIES FOR SMALL GROUPS

A go-to list of games, connectors, activities and time fillers for small groups of 4-10 players

TOOLS FOR MAKING DECISIONS

• Generating Ideas
• Dot voting
• Who, What, When
• Now, Wow, How

etc.

GETTING UNSTUCK

Some tools and approaches facilitators can use to help groups and participants get unstuck.

SESSION CLOSERS

They’ll remember very little of what happened, but they will recall how they felt at end of session.

CO-FACILITATION

When co-facilitation becomes no facilitation: two strong leaders often don’t listen to each other.

TOOLS LIST & SESSION AIDE

• Suggested gear packing list
• List of go-to discussion formats
• List of go-to games as connectors, breathers and breakers
• Sample life-savers and time-fillers

PRACTICE YOUR CRAFT

I am currently under construction: upgrade to intuition in progress. Thank you for your patience.

SESSION DISCOVERY & DESIGN

A planning and preparation tool to help design a new facilitated session.

SMALL GROUP FACILITATOR

A cheat sheet for supporting a small group of people dicsussing a topic

BOARD / COMMITTEE MEETING

A cheat sheet for supporting a board or committee meeting.

PANEL DISCUSSION CHAIR

Your job is to make your panelists look good, and to give the audience an interesting experience.

TRAINING SESSIONS

Facilitation-based approaches & ideas to engage the learner and deliver your session content.

SESSION DESIGN STARTER 1

Short starter signposts that could get you going for different session types. Do your homework!

SESSION DESIGN STARTER 2

Short starter signposts that could get you going for different session types. Do your homework!

SESSION DESIGN STARTER 3

Short starter signposts that could get you going for different session types. Do your homework!

SUPPORTING STRATEGY PLANS

Co-ordinating projects, programs, events, committees, courses, campaigns and organisations.

DECISION MAKING MODES

Leadership, governance, authority, power structures, agreement making

SUPPORTING FUNCTIONS

Helping your group audit your skills, competences and best practice knowledge

BOARD BUSINESS BASICS

Governance board: roles, responsibilities, processes, protocols, norms, functions & figuring out.

CHAIRPERSON CHEATSHEET

You’re leading a voluntary board: what should you be thinking about?

CONFLICT RESOLUTION PROTOCOL

If an inter-personal problem persists, here’s what we know we will do.

NEEDS, EMOTIONS & RESOURCES

Emotions are indicators that your needs are being met – or not.

COURAGEOUS CONVERSATIONS

Stepping into difficult discussions with another, where you can both walk out of it together.