Category Archives: facilitation design process

Where Do We Want To Be?

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Articulating A Bold Consensus Vision of the Desired Future

vision.path2As often attributed to Cat and Alice in Lewis Carroll’s novel, “if you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.”

The visioning phase of strategic planning is about becoming crystal clear on your destination – the vivid images of what you’ll see when you get there. This creative, aspirational, and visionary stage is usually the one that your participants are looking forward to. In this phase, the focus of participants shifts from the past/present to the future, while building on the best of today.

Before you facilitate a visioning process, ensure that the group or organization’s mission and values are clear to participants. Why? If not,  the answers they give may include “why we exist” and the “values that guide our work”, rather than “where we want to be in our preferred future”.

Ground the vision with insights from external and internal environmental scan conversations, to leverage strengths and opportunities, side-step issues and address obstacles to success. The questions to ask include:

  • What is our audacious goal?  In your boldest vision of the future, what is the most compelling and motivating stretch goal that you aspire to achieve?
  • What will success look like? How will you know that you’ve achieved your vision; what are the specific results you’ll see when you get there?

Call to Action:

If you are an executive, manager, strategic planner, change agent, professional facilitator, or any leader seeking to facilitate productive, positive and aligning strategic planning meetings and change initiatives, register now for The Strategic Facilitator: Aligning Around Vision and Strategy, Vancouver area, June 19-21, 2013.

You will understand how to guide the entire process of strategic planning, from clarifying why you exist as a group or organization, to assessing your current situation, describing your desired future state, establishing the strategies that will propel you forward, and determining how you’ll know if you’ve succeeded.

Just starting out? These courses will enhance your facilitation confidence and empower you with solid foundational skills: The Confident Facilitator; The Skillful Facilitator.

Dysfunctional Meeting Characters

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Participants Bring Both Their Good and Bad Sides to Meetings

good and badEver meet any of these dysfunctional characters below in your meetings? And if so, are you equipped with facilitative strategies to pro-actively prevent or intervene in the moment, so the meeting is not disrupted?

Monopolizer. This character dominates the conversation with their wisdom, ideas, beliefs to the detriment of fuller participation. As facilitator, your task is to broaden the circle of contribution to others. In the moment: Intervene by inviting a go-round to hear from everyone. Pro-actively: Design the meeting process to start with individual reflection, pairs/trios sharing, then large group popcorning from small groups, so all contribute.

Naysayer. The perennial cynic is ready to slay any idea at a moment’s notice with a negative phrase, “we tried it once and it didn’t work”. In the moment: As facilitator, invite a ‘devil’s advocate’ exploration of why it might work. Pro-actively: Design a pros/cons or force field analysis to ensure both sides of the issue are thoughtfully considered.

Electronic Intruder. Smart phones, laptops, and tablets distract proceedings. It has now been well documented that singular focus is fundamental to productivity and multi-tasking detrimental to that end. Pro-actively: Have the group set clear norms on use of electronic gadgets and PDA’s. In the moment: Make sure the norms are enforced.

The list of disruptive characters goes on… Overbearing Authority; Reluctant Member; Unquestioned Acceptance; Rush to Finish; Motive Attributor; Idea Discounter; Tangent Digresser; Feuding Members.

The good news is that pro-active meeting design ‘before the meeting’ can go a long way to prevent meeting disruptions.   

Call to Action:

Learn how to manage group dynamics in our upcoming course, The Skillful Facilitator: Strategies for Managing Group Dynamics, Dysfunction and Conflict.

Just starting out? This foundational course will enhance your overall facilitation skill and confidence: The Confident Facilitator.

Looking for advanced design skills? Check out: The Agile Facilitator; The Strategic Facilitator; The Artful Visual Facilitator.

Compelling Focus Question

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You’ve got a complex workshop or longer group session coming up that you’ve been asked to facilitate. Compared to short, straightforward meetings, your success as a facilitator requires that you devote much more time scoping and design before participants ever walk into the room.

A compelling Focus Question as part of the meeting invitation will bring the attention of the group to the topic, subject or work, and invite creative responses. You may find it helpful to think through the Focus Question with ANSWER:

A – What is the aim of the work, or overall purpose?
N – What is the name or subject, to be discussed?
S – Who cares about this purpose and subject, i.e., who has a stake in this?
W – Who will be participating, and are they the right people for the work?
E – What experience do you want participants to have during/after the session?
R – What relevant factors and constraints are important?

Call to Action:

Commit to becoming a more agile and professional masterful facilitator in 2013! Register today for one or more of our upcoming classes in advanced facilitation: The Agile Facilitator  and The Strategic Facilitator.

Just starting out? These courses will enhance your facilitation confidence and empower you with solid foundational skills: The Confident Facilitator; The Skillful Facilitator.

Bring These Courses In-House!