Facilitation Tools and Techniques

Go-Round
Literally go round the circle of participants, giving
each person an opportunity to speak; the facilitator
can offer the chance to anyone who didn’t say
anything first time to contribute after going once-
round. It’s helpful to give thinking time to those
about to speak, by indicating which way round
you’ll be going. It can be combined with methods
to limit the length of time of each contribution.
Ice Breaker
A way to introduce people to each other,
encourage them to speak, relax, open up and feel
they have a right to be there. It can be the start of
building trust. They could share names and some
personal details or experiences. A level of risk-
taking or self-disclosure can help build a safer
‘container’ for the group.
IdeaStorm (Roving)
If there are several issues to get ideas about, the
group can be split into small groups, and move
from issue to issue on flipcharts on walls, to put
ideas on each and add to others. They are given
an allotted time which reduces as the sheets are
filled.
Parking Space - written on a sheet
When issues or questions arise in discussion
which will take too much time or that don’t seem
immediately relevant to the current purpose, they
can be written on a sheet to be looked at later on.
Ensure you do come back to them!
Small Groups
Split the group into small groups or pairs to
support everyone to be involved in discussions. It
benefits quieter and marginalised participants, aids
deeper conversations and thinking, and allows for
quality participation.
Paired Listening
As with small groups, it is a method of bringing out
everyone’s ideas and opinions. Each person
actively listens to the other and does not express
their own opinion, sometimes taking notes, they
then swap over.
Hot Seat
When a group is given or has encountered a
problem, arrange the seats in a circle with an
empty chair. People take it in turns to jump in the
‘hot seat’ to practice what they would do in that
situation. Ensure participants don’t describe what
they would do, but instead give it an actual try.
Spectrum Line
A way of indicating participants’
agreement/disagreement about an issue. Create
an imaginary line on the floor; in most cases, the
two ends of the spectrum will be ‘strongly agree’ or
‘strongly disagree’; participants line themselves up
accordingly. The facilitator can elicite reasons, to
open up further discussion and encourage
movement along the line as people listen to each
other.
Fishbowl
For larger groups, this is a method of observing an
activity or discussion, and giving feedback. One
group does the activity, the rest of the group form
a circle around them to observe, monitor and note.
There are alternate versions, for example, with an
empty seat in the inner circle, which allows people
from the outer circle to take the seat and join the
discussion.
Reverse Ideastorm
Instead of getting ideas on an issue, turn the issue
on its head e.g. instead of: ‘what makes a good
meeting?’, use ‘what makes a bad meeting?’ Adds
humour and also elicits people’s intrinsic
knowledge and understanding.
Energiser
Usually used when a group is stuck, to refresh.
Should involve brisk physical movement, some
can involve brisk brain activity too. It can serve
other purposes appropriate to that specific point of
proceedings, for example an exercise that you can
then debrief to draw out issues related to team-
work, co-operation or diversity.
Debrief
A debrief is a discussion that takes place following
a shared task, activity, decision or action. It can be
used, for example, to analyse what was done
successfully and what was not, or to explore what
was learned at a group or individual level.
Evaluation
Usually the final activity, evaluation can be done
verbally in a go-round, and/or on flipchart sheets
or specially designed forms. It should reveal what
people have got out of the session, how they feel
about the facilitation methods, what has worked
well and what needed doing differently. Where
people are writing their own thoughts, anonymity
can be used to encourage honesty.
Throwing it Back
When a questions arises, often directed at the
facilitator, it can be thrown back to the group for
answers or comments e.g.”That’s an interesting
question/comment Mo, what does anyone else
think?” It can be used when as facilitator you do
not know the best way forwards or want to
encourage the group to take ownership, e.g. “I’m
unsure about what we should do next. We’ve
heard…and also… What suggestions are there of
next steps?”. It is an important way of shifting
responsibility to the participants.
Weather Reporting
A vital skill in a facilitator, being able to assess the
‘temperature’ of a group and then naming it e.g. “I
sense there is a lot of anxiety at this point”.
Naming it may be enough, it may need discussing
or you could suggest a change of direction or
tempo such as getting everyone to do a short
physical exercise, take a break or pause for a
moment.
Active Listening
An important skill for a facilitator, to be always
listening to the group and their needs,
encouraging, reflecting what is being said, re-
stating points being made, clarifying what is
happening, checking and focusing. It is also an
important skill to encourage in all participants.
Forum Theatre
A problem-solving method. Participants act out the
story of the problem to the rest of the group, who,
when they have an idea about how things could
have been handled differently, jump in, take the
appropriate role and let the action flow from there.
More complex than hot seating.
.
Opening a Window
An action which can very much help change the
mood of a group; it’s suprising how much a
discussion and some individuals can be affected. It
can provide a short break, allow things to cools
down, and let oxygen or cool air into the room!
Refreshments
Essential to the maintenance of a group and
energy levels. Provides a break from discussion
and enables informal social interaction and
thinking time, processing whatever is needed,
intellectually and psychologically. They may be
provided for the whole group in a break, at a self-
selected time that suits each small group, or
always available for individuals who are flagging to
help themselves.
Evaluation
Evaluation of a meeting or workshop is usually
done filling in forms. There are many participatory
methods, such as the dart-board – divide the
target into segments to evaluate different aspects;
ask people to put a dot in each segment, the
nearer to the bull’s-eye the higher the rating; leave
space at the edges for qualitative feedback on
post-its that you distribute to participants. Don’t
watch too closely!
Shared Experience
Experiential learning comes from designing a
participative activity or challenge that builds a
relevant shared experience. It can then be
debriefed by the group, reflecting on the
experience, before learning the lessons
(generalising) and thinking about what that means
for their specific situation or issue (applying).
Eye Contact
Eye contact may seem unimportant, but if used
adeptly by the facilitator it can help people feel
listened to, fairly treated, understood, and noticed.
You can use it subtly to support those in the
margins of the group to step into their own power
and choose to speak up.
Receiving Kick-back
Sometimes a group can turn on the facilitator and
kick-back, especially when you have taken a
position or role that is there in the group but no-
one is willing to take on. The art is in not taking it
personally and using the feedback to uncover what
you believe is going on, and figure out the next
steps.
Digging Deeper
Digging deeper is a technique to use at a group
and an individual level. Below someone’s position
are their interests and needs; you’ll be more likely
to find commonality at the level of needs. Most
groups and individuals function at the level of
widely accepted reality. Sometimes however you
may catch the whiff of shared dreams or deeper
visions below, and can help the group bring them
to life together.
Supporting Divergence and Convergence of
Views
For a truly participative and creative decision-
making process, you need to support a wide
divergence of views, particularly in the first part of
any meeting. If you don’t, you will probably get
‘business as usual’, and the group will be less
effective. This may lead to a lack of energy and
follow-through. If you succeed, expect that there’ll
be a bumpy middle part of the meeting before it’s
time to help views converge to a fully agreed
decision.
Summarising
Regular summaries ensure everyone shares the
same understanding of the situation, and aids the
discussion to develop and to stay focused.
Sometimes it is useful to use the actual words
spoken by participants. Summaries can also be
used to help pace a discussion, providing a
reflective moment.
Framing
Framing is setting the context, boundaries and
direction for a discussion. The wording and tone
used influence the way the group develops; asking
about concerns rather than fears is one example.
Too tight a boundary can limit this growth and thus
create conflict as people break out of the framing
that was set.
Observation
It’s a balancing act to be able to observe the
holistic picture of what’s happening with a group at
the same time as focussing on detail – being at a
distance and getting stuck in! One model of
observation (and listening) is to do so at the levels
of head, heart and feet, or thinking (including ideas
and principles), feeling (including values &
experience), and will (including intentions and
energy).
Questioning
It’s a key skill that comes in many forms, with a
fundamental starting point that a group can be
trusted to have the answers they need. What kinds
of questions will help the group and the individuals
within it? Non-leading elicitive ones? Follow-up
“why…”s? ‘Assertive questioning’? You can use it
to show curiosity and interest in someone’s views,
supporting margins e.g. “Ezra, it looks like you
might have something to say?”
Reflecting in Action
Reflecting in Action is the skill of thinking on your
feet as the meeting or workshop is happening,
adapting how you frame interventions and
changing what you had planned next. It is, in
essence, responding to what is happening in the
group, at all levels. Reflection on Action is what
you do after the event through self-evaluation or
debriefing.
Naming Elephants
Naming the elephants in the room means naming
something that some people or the whole group
may be struggling to acknowledge. When done
well, this can relieve the pressure that comes from
sensing that something is present but unnamed. It
can help people who don’t feel they can speak up
to step into their own power.
Throwing it Back
As one means of shifting power and ownership to
the participants, the facilitator can throw a question
back to the group e.g.”That’s an interesting
question/comment, what does anyone else think?”
You can also ask the group for proposals or ideas
to help the group move forwards if stuck.
.
Giving Attention to One Individual
There are many reasons to do this, some perhaps
counter-intuitive. It could be because they are
marginalised in the group, or have disengaged;
ask them about themselves in a break. When they
are dominating, rambling or repetitive, they may
need attention in order to help them move on or it
could be that they are trying their best to name
elephants in the room or take on an unvoiced role
or position for the group that is needed for the
overall process.
Working with Conflict
It’s easy in mainstream British culture to avoid
conflict, seeking to harmonise a group or resolve
conflict at the earliest opportunity. But conflict can
be a creative and necessary process for a group to
fully explore their purpose and make decisions.
You can help the group by how you build the
container and frame the discussion, aiding
individuals not to take it as about them personally.
mean for what’s happening in the group, and could
naming it aid the process?
Enabling Full Participation
Enabling full participation does not necessarily
mean getting everyone to speak in a go-round or
starting a meeting by sharing feelings, though it
could. Everyone participates in different ways at
different points, although for the sake of the group
and the task you may encourage people to leave
their comfort zone at times. It’s your role to enable
people to step into their power and for the group’s
process and decisions to feel owned by all.
Humour and Smiling
Humour is a useful tool for lightening the mood
and engaging people; it can be tricky to judge the
appropriate moment and kind of humour that
matches a group’s culture. A ‘reverse ideastorm’ is
a good example and generated by the group.
Smiling in many cultures can be used to put
people at ease, and show you are listening and
interested.