Facilitating With Ease!

by Bens, Ingrid

• ISBN13: 9781119434252
• ISBN10: 1119434254
• Edition: 4th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2017-10-30
• Publisher: Wiley

Summary

The definitive guide to running productive meetings

Facilitating With Ease! has become the go-to handbook for those who lead meetings, training, and other business gatherings. Packed with information, effective practices, and invaluable advice, this book is the comprehensive handbook for anyone who believes meetings should be productive, relevant, and as short as possible. Dozens of exercises, surveys, and checklists will help transform anyone into a skilled facilitator, and clear, actionable guidance makes implementation a breeze. This new fourth edition includes a new chapter on questioning, plus new material surrounding diversity, globalization, technology, feedback, distance teams, difficult executives, diverse locations, personal growth, meeting management, and much more. With in-depth, expert guidance from planning to closing, this book provides facilitators with an invaluable resource for learning or training.

Before you run another meeting, discover the practices, processes, and techniques that turn you from a referee to an effective facilitator. This book provides a wealth of tools and insights that you can put into action today.

• Run productive meetings that get real results
• Keep discussions on track and facilitate the exchange of ideas
• Resolve conflict and deal with difficult individuals

• Train leaders and others to facilitate effectively

Poorly-run meetings are an interruption in the day, and accomplish little other than putting everyone behind in their “real” work. On the other hand, a meeting run by an effective facilitator makes everyone’s job easier; decisions get made, strategies are improved, answers are given, and new ideas bubble to the surface. A productive meeting makes everyone happy, and results in real benefits that spread throughout the organization. Facilitating With Ease! is the skill-building guide to running great meetings with confidence and results.  

Author Biography

Ingrid Bens (Sarasota, FL) is a consultant and trainer whose special areas of expertise are facilitation skills, team building, conflict management, employee and organizational change. She has more than twenty-five years of experience as a workshop leader and organization development consultant. The workshops she currently conducts address core facilitation skills, advanced facilitation skills, and facilitative leadership strategies. Bens is the founder of both Participative Dynamics, a consulting firm located in Sarasota, Florida, and Facilitation Tutor, an on-line learning portal. She is author of 4 Jossey-Bass books and one Pfeiffer assessment.

Table of Contents

Introduction xiii

Chapter One—Understanding Facilitation 1

What Is Facilitation? 1

What Does a Facilitator Do? 2

What Do Facilitators Believe? 2

What Are Typical Facilitator Assignments? 3

Differentiating Between Process and Content 4

Facilitation Tools 5

Core Practices Overview 5

What Does Neutral Mean? 7

Learn to Say “Okay” 9

When to Say “We” 9

How Assertive Can a Facilitator Be? 10

The Language of Facilitation 11

Conversation Structures 12

Starting a Facilitation 13

During a Facilitation 15

Ending a Facilitation 16

Effective Note Taking 18

The Rules of Wording 19

Managing the Flip Chart 20

Facilitator Behaviors and Strategies 23

Core Practices Observation Sheet 26

Process Flow Observation Sheet 27

Facilitation Skill Levels 28

Facilitation Skills Self-Assessment 29

Chapter Two—Effective Questioning 33

The Principles of Effective Questioning 33

Question Types 34

Questioning Formats 34

The Importance of Follow-On Questions 36

Asking Sensitive Questions 36

The Question Bank 37

Chapter Three—Facilitation Stages 45

1. Assessment and Design 45

2. Feedback and Refinement 46

3. Final Preparation 47

4. Starting a Facilitation 50

5. During a Facilitation 51

6. Ending a Facilitation 52

7. Following Up on a Facilitation 53

Seeking Feedback on Your Facilitation 53

Chapter Four—Who Can Facilitate 55

When to Use an Internal Facilitator 55

When to Use an External Facilitator 56

When Leaders Facilitate 57

Facilitation Strategies for Leaders 57

Best and Worst Facilitation Practices for Leaders 62

Facilitation As a Leadership Style 62

Additional Role Challenges 64

Chapter Five—Knowing Your Participants 69

Conducting an Assessment 69

Group Assessment Survey 71

Comparing Groups to Teams 73

Understanding Team Stages 76

Forming—The Honeymoon Stage 76

Storming—The Potential Death of the Team 78

Norming—The Turning Point 83

Performing—The Ultimate Team Growth Stage 84

Adjourning—The Final Stage 85

Facilitation Strategies Chart 86

Team Effectiveness Survey 88

Chapter Six—Creating Participation 91

Creating the Conditions for Full Participation 92

Removing the Blocks to Participation 92

High-Participation Techniques 100

Group Participation Survey 102

Encouraging Effective Meeting Behaviors 103

Group Behaviors Handout 104

Observing Group Behaviors in Action 105

Peer Review Instructions 106

Peer Review Worksheet 107

Chapter Seven—Effective Decision Making 109

Know the Four Types of Conversations 110

The Four Levels of Empowerment 111

Clarifying the Four Empowerment Levels 112

Shifting Decision-Making Paradigms 115

The Decision-Making Options 116

Decision Options Chart 120

The Divergence/Convergence Model 121

The Importance of Building Consensus 122

Effective Decision-Making Behaviors 125

Symptoms, Causes, and Cures of Poor Decisions 126

Decision Effectiveness Survey 128

Chapter Eight—Facilitating Conflict 129

Comparing Arguments and Debates 129

Steps in Managing Conflict 131

The Five Conflict Options: Pros and Cons 134

Conflict Management Norms 137

Giving and Receiving Feedback 138

Making Interventions 142

Wording an Intervention 143

Dealing with Resistance 148

The Right Approach 150

Common Conflict Dilemmas 151

The Facilitative Conflict-Management Process 155

Interpersonal Conflict Worksheet 156

Group Conflict Checklist 157

Conflict Observation Sheet 158

Conflict Effectiveness Survey 159

Chapter Nine—Meeting Management 161

Meetings That Work 162

Our Meetings Are Terrible! 162

The Fundamentals of Meeting Management 164

Sample Agenda with Process Notes 164

Sample Process Check Survey 169

Sample Exit Survey 171

Meeting Effectiveness Survey 172

Facilitating Virtual Meetings 175

Chapter Ten—Process Tools for Facilitators 179

Visioning 180

Sequential Questioning 182

SWOT 184

SOAR 186

Facilitative Listening 188

Appreciative Review 190

Brainstorming 192

Written Brainstorming 194

Affi nity Diagrams 195

Gap Analysis 197

Needs and Offers Dialogue 199

Force-Field Analysis 200

Root-Cause Analysis 201

The Five Whys 204

Gallery Walk 205

Multi-Voting 207

Decision Grids 209

Exit Surveys 212

Survey Feedback 213

Systematic Problem Solving 215

Systematic Problem Solving Worksheets 217

Troubleshooting 225

Troubleshooting Worksheet 226

Chapter Eleven—Structured Conversations 227

Structured Conversation 1–Discovery 228

Structured Conversation 2–Environmental Scanning 231

Structured Conversation 3–Team Launch 234

Structured Conversation 4–Vision and Mission 236

Structured Conversation 5–Work Planning, Roles, and Responsibilities 239

Structured Conversation 6–Risk Assessment 241

Structured Conversation 7–Stakeholder Analysis 245

Structured Conversation 8–Communication Planning 247

Structured Conversation 9–Status Update Meeting 249

Structured Conversation 10–Creative Thinking 251

Structured Conversation 11–Midpoint Check 254

Structured Conversation 12–Systematic Problem Solving 257

Structured Conversation 13–Constructive Controversy 261

Structured Conversation 14–Survey Feedback 264

Structured Conversation 15–Interpersonal Issue Resolution 266

Structured Conversation 16–Overcoming Resistance 269

Structured Conversation 17–Project Retrospective 273

Structured Conversation 18–Project Adjournment 275

About the Author 277

Acknowledgments 279

Bibliography 283