Frequently, my work involves large group workshops and teams of willing volunteers acting as support facilitators. They may be drawn from the client team or from the wider consultant team. They are often technical specialists or traditional communications specialists, and sometimes – but not always – they have facilitation experience.
In a recent workshop, I was faced with quite a challenge:
- Up to 50 participants who we’d invited to help with the larger project;
- A complex set of questions which the team wanted them to address;
- A desire from the project team to start with a blank sheet of paper, rather than building on existing thinking, which is possibly flawed or at least too narrow.
- A desire for people to be challenged by the diversity of perspectives in the group – which I responded to by building in a carousel process;
- Plus the need to spend some time establishing the group formally and informally, as it is intended to have a life of three more meetings over the next year;
- A facilitation team which included technical specialists with unknown facilitation experience.
Now I’m a slightly risk-averse person who manages my anxiety by making lists. And (as anyone who has worked with me will tell you) my ‘detailed meeting plans’ can run to 20+ pages.
So my approach was to think through the break-out group processes in a lot of detail, and to provide as much pre-prepared support materials as I could for my trusty support facilitators. As well as the overall meeting plan, they got a very detailed briefing document, a briefing meeting and a stack of pre-written flip chart sheets with task instructions and blank templates to be filled in. We also had worksheets to be filled in during conversations around tables.
This reduced my anxiety.
I’m not sure what it did to their blood pressure when they received the briefing documents!
So, I felt 100% prepared for the things I could control in advance.
Once you’ve asked the question, it belongs to the group
With such detailed preparation and planning, it can be tempting to think that the design job is over once the workshop begins.
Of course, that’s not the case. In a brief conversation with one of facilitators during a switch-over between sessions, we agreed that “people interpret questions in such different ways” and “once you’ve asked the question, it belongs to the group.”
Responding to the emergent conversation
During this workshop, we discovered that the timings I’d anticipated for the carousel tasks were just too short. A scheduled 30 minute morning break meant that the first carousel session could be extended by up to 10 minutes, without throwing the rest of the programme. But the second and third sessions required co-ordinated timing among the groups.
As the second session was running, I visited each group briefly to see how they were getting on. Rich conversations, but taking much longer than I planned for!
Initially I responded by slipping each facilitator a note giving them an extra five minutes. But it was clear that some more radical process redesign was needed. Could I really do this to my inexperienced facilitators – ask them to throw away the carefully planned and prepped process and substitute something else, on the fly?
Having considered this for a few minutes (it really helps to have a quiet space and a trusted colleague to talk things through with) I decided that not only could I do this, it was absolutely the best option. So we rapidly wrote out four sets of staccato briefing notes on sticky notes, and four new ‘instructional’ flip chart sheets. We delivered these substitute materials each to carousel facilitator, and the workshop was back on track. We had facilitators who knew what was happening, and we had responded effectively (if not very gracefully) to the emerging and unfolding conversations in the carousel groups.
Some practical things which made this possible:
- A quiet space out of the way of the break-out groups
- Facilitators working in pairs in the carousel groups
- Spare flip chart paper, pens and post-its which weren’t being used in the break-out spaces
- A 60 minute scheduled lunch break, which we could steal 10 minutes from without it being too uncomfortable
- An experienced facilitator as well as the lead facilitator not allocated to a break-out group, to notice what was happening in all of the groups, talk about what we could see, make a decision and implement it fast.
And of course, it wouldn’t have been possible without the positive attitude of the facilitation team who didn’t grumble or complain but stepped up to the challenge brilliantly.
In the debrief at the end of the day, it was generally agreed that changing the process at that point was a good call, and no-one raised the change or how it was done under our traditional ‘what went less well’ heading. So I’m satisfied that, on that occasion at least, my dance between preparation and responsiveness worked well enough.
Great example of how important it is for a good facilitator to be flexible! Most of my work is with young people and conversations can rapidly turn into a digresion into the unknown!
My method is two fold…1) high energy, lots of humour puncuated with story telling to refocus…relevant examples, “so what might happen if…” etc etc!
2) I am brutally honest with my participants if I need to check in with co-trainers…I’ve usually set ground rules in a way designed to be open and honest so modelling that with the group makes for great experiential learning…cool side effect!
Of course, conflict resolution lends itself well to this method.
The last point…post it’s are, by far the most valuable thing you can have! Glad you demonstrated the need for the little things!
Thanks for a post which made me stop and think!
Nick
January 25th, 2010 at 8:43 pmHi Nick
Good to hear from you!
Judging the energy level to ‘adopt’ with a group is also important, isn’t it? Using a ‘high energy’ approach works in some groups, in some situations. Others, resistant perhaps because of preconceptions about ‘gimmicky’ facilitators, respond more effectively when the facilitator’s approach is reflective and thoughtful, or task- and time-focussed.
I imagine working with young people feels quite different to the groups I’m more often find myself working with: professional stakeholders, or community ‘leaders’ of various kinds.
Have you had much opportunity to compare these kinds of situations?
Cheers
Penny
January 26th, 2010 at 9:00 amHi Penny,
Sounds great and glad you are still making lists! We’ve been experimenting with open space technology and lo-tech ‘big conversations’. Letting go of the conversation seems to work well for LEAD Associates.
Let’s have a coffee soon?
Edward
January 27th, 2010 at 10:00 amHi Edward – great to hear from you!
Coffee always a good idea! I’ll email you.
It seems to me there’s a divide between task-focussed, decision-making situations, and exploratory learning situations.
I’m more comfortable using open space and world cafe etc in the latter than the former.
Penny
January 27th, 2010 at 10:36 amHi Penny,
great reading your experience!
It seems to me that to be properly prepared, have everything planned out actually allows for being open to an emerging process!?
Your experience seems like a good example of how trusting in the process leads to a successful outcome.
Margit
January 29th, 2010 at 10:35 amHi Margit
Thanks for your comment.
For me, certainly, the reassurance that I get from a well-thought through plan gives me the confidence to choicefully (is that a word?) depart from it in response to what emerges.
How about you?
Penny
February 1st, 2010 at 9:04 amHi Penny,
thank you for replying.
I do agree with you. I think I work in the same way. Knowing to be properly prepared gives me the freedom and sereneness (hope this is the right work)to react to “thrownness”.
Margit
February 4th, 2010 at 12:48 pm