Spring Event Education Session:
Facilitating Teams & Project
March 14, 2013
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© 2012 Patina Solutions, Inc.
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Facilitating Teams & Project Teams
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Session Objectives
 You’ll have a better understanding of facilitation theory, techniques and possible
applications.
 You will know the appropriate role of a facilitator and what is expected of
successful group members.
 You will understand the difference between a facilitator and a leader.
 You will gain insights into managing challenging behaviors in meetings.
 You will learn some ways to effectively deal with resistance.
 You will enter your next facilitation opportunity with more confidence and less
anxiety.
 You will help groups and projects teams operate more effectively.
Why It Matters…:
More inclusion through effective facilitation
is thought of as a practice of ensuring that
people in organizations feel they belong, are
engaged, and connected through their work
to the vision, goals and objectives of the
organization.
Miller and Katz
“Inclusion is a sense of belonging – feeling respected,
valued for who you are; feeling a level of supportive
energy and commitment from others so than you can do
your best work.
Inclusion is a shift in organization culture which creates
higher performing organizations where motivation and
morale soar.”
The Inclusion Breakthrough: Frederick A. Miller & Judith H. Katz
The Engagement Pyramid
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According to
Dave Barry
If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why
the human race has not achieved, and never will
achieve, its full potential, that word would be
“meetings”.
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What Challenges Do Your Meeting Face?
Small Group Discussion:
In small groups, identify common challenges
meetings face. Select one to present to the large
group.
Large Group Round Robin:
Each small group will have an opportunity to
present 1 item.
2012 Life Path Partners
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Tip of the Week!
Use small groups for divergent thinking
and use the large group for convergent
thinking…
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Learned Helplessness
Have you
ever
experienced
this?
Causes of Meeting Ineffectiveness
Incorrect or
Inadequate
Attendance
32%
Poor
Preparation
14%
Other
5%
Lack of
Effective
Meeting
Controls
49%
Evaluating the Need for a Meeting
Consider the following:
4,000 employees @ $60/hr. x 750 hours/year in
meetings or $180,000,000.
Question: Could a portion of that cost be put
to a more productive use?
Quick Hits
In your mind, assess all the meetings you attend
and ask:
 Is my participation adding value?
 Is what I receive worth the time spent?
 Is this meeting necessary? What alternatives
would we have if we eliminated this meeting?
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Point To Ponder #1
Prior Planning
Prevents
P***
Poor
Performance
CAREFUL PLANNING AND PREPARATION
Expert
Inexperienced
Planning
Effort
Highly
Ineffective
Reasonably Good
Experienced
Highly Effective
Planning
Actual
Meeting
Meeting Result
Proactive Steps in Meeting Planning
Includes:
 Identify the meetings desired outputs
 Identify the time available & bodies
 Create and distribute an agenda designed to achieve the
desired outputs, 1 WK prior
 Send data, charts, spreadsheets with agenda
 Ensure agenda item owners are ready
 Identify potential problem people and hotspots in
advance and identify prevention strategies
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Point To Ponder #2
The Agenda
is Your
Flight Plan
A well designed
agenda is a
reflection of the
thinking needed
by a facilitator
to do a good
job
A Good Agenda Includes...
What types of
things?
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Sample Agenda
Facilitator: John Doe
WHO
WHAT
Item Output
TIME
Led by
John,
Everyone
participates
Check In
Warm up: Help
participants get to
know each other and
focus on meeting
objectives
8:15 - 8:45
Everyone
Review Ground Rules
Ensure buy-in among
whole group and
reduce conflict
8:45 – 8:50
Susan
Background of
situation
Clarify the situation,
the client’s needs, and
gain consensus on our
starting point
8:50 – 9:30
John,
Small
Groups
Activity: Brainstorm
root causes, multivote on top 3
Generate at least 10
core problems and
identify the top 3
9:30 – 10:10
Everyone
Break
10:10 – 10: 20
CASE IN POINT….
Assuming we could go out to lunch today,
what process would you recommend we use
to help 11 people reach a decision on a lunch
location in a timely manner?
It’s about process…
“A process is a series of steps, in sequential order,
to produce a specific result”
Facilitation Steps:
1. Brainstorm list of places - 2 min.
2. Decide on useful criteria to aid in the selection - 3 min.
3. Eliminate those that fail to meet all the criteria - 2 min.
4. Multi-Vote the remainder - 2 min.
5. Use a secondary Multi-Vote to select a location - 1 min.
Multi-Voting
1. Brainstorm a list
2. Clarify what each item on the list means
3. Merge similar ideas
4. All participants receive 1/3 the number of
remaining items on the list in “votes”
5. Participants must use their votes on different items rather than using
all or some of their votes on 1 item
6. Participants vote on the items with show of hands, PVI’s or
anonymously
7. Rank order the voting results to identify the #1 or top items
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I have seen too many
facilitators…
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Point To Ponder #3
Facilitation is
about making the
work of the group
easier, NOT doing
the work of the group
- WHY?
Point To Ponder #4
Spread the
Wealth!
Spread the Wealth Assigning Roles,
which include:
Leader/Project Manager
Meeting Facilitator
Timekeeper
Small Group Facilitator
Recorder/Documentarian/Note-Taker
Flip-chart Writer/Scribe
Meeting Participant (what is their role?)
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Point To Ponder #5
Groundrules
Are A
Good Thing…
What are
Groundrules?
Seven Killer Ground Rules for Effective
Meetings
1.) Share all relevant information.
2.) Everyone has a chance to speak without interruption.
3.) No idea is a bad idea. All ideas and opinions will be respected.
4.) All ideas and opinions will be encouraged to survive the
“Relevant Test”:
a.) You’ve stated the reasoning behind the idea/opinion
b.) You’ve given a specific example
c.) You’ve shared any personal intention or benefit to you
Mary Lee Gannon, author of “Grow Productivity – A Leader’s Toolbox”
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Seven Killer Ground Rules for Effective
Meetings
5.) All participants are invited to ask questions of an existing point of
view.
6.) The focus should be first on alignment on goals, not solutions or
personal intentions. The group can then create solutions to an agreed
upon mutual goal.
7.) Before the meeting ends, the group will jointly design next steps that
demonstrate the level of commitment necessary to succeed.
Mary Lee Gannon, author of “Grow Productivity – A Leader’s Toolbox”
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Point To Ponder #6
Think of a
facilitator as
a traffic cop
or air traffic
controller
As a traffic cop or air traffic controller
Use specific words and phrases to direct traffic:

Observing – “My observation is…”

Clarifying – “What’s the difference between….”

Focusing – “Let’s revisit why we’re discussing…”

Stimulating – “What are all the ways we can…”

Balancing – “Are there other points of view….”

Summarizing – “What were the key ideas presented… ”
Point To Ponder #7
Great facilitators
have very active
listening skills
Six Skills for Active Listening
1. Pay attention Maintain direct eye contact.
2. Withhold judgment Active listening requires an open mind.
3. Reflect Learn to mirror the other person's information and
emotions by paraphrasing key points.
4. Clarify Don't be shy to ask questions about any issue that is
ambiguous or unclear. Open-ended, clarifying and probing
questions are important tools.
5. Summarize Restating key themes as the conversation proceeds
confirms and solidifies your grasp of the other person's point of
view and builds trust.
6. Share As you gain a clearer understanding of the other person's
perspective, you can then introduce your ideas, feelings and
suggestions.
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Point To Ponder #8
Great facilitators
possess a good sense
of timing and know
when to intervene
Suggestion: Let people “wrestle”
with the ideas or issues…
Avoid
rescuing
participants
too early
Why?
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Point To Ponder #9
Great facilitators are
sensitive to and
understand group
dynamics
Group Dynamics
1.Forming – Unclear roles, goals and
expectations
2.Storming – Different ideas collide
3.Norming – People take responsibility
4.Performing – Able to function as a unit
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Point To Ponder #10
Great facilitators
understand the
advice –
Just Don’t
Do Something,
Stand There!
The Power of Silence
One of the most vital aspects of facilitation is
when and how to use silence.
Sometimes taking a deep breath and keeping
you mouth shut is the most inventive way to
get others to take responsibility, generate new
ideas and get meaningful discussions moving.
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Point To Ponder #11
Can you be the
group or project leader
and facilitate your
team as well?
Thoughts?
Facilitator – Leader/PM Roles
1. Objective & impartial
1. Active team member
2. No vested interest
2. A vested interest
3. Remains neutral
3. Voice opinions/ideas
4. No input on content
4. Provides input
5. Not in decision making
5. Part of decision making
6. Monitors team process
6. Represents the team
7. Gets resources
Tips when they are one…
 Discuss with the group the differences: be authentic
 Tell people when you are in one role or another
 Temporarily hand the facilitation to another person
 Be clear which role you are in when decisions or choices
are being made
 Make conscious choices about which role you need to
play and when to play it
 Other ideas?
Point To Ponder #12
Icebreakers can be helpful for the first
couple meetings…
Using Icebreakers
What are the disadvantages and advantages
of icebreakers?
Icebreaker
Example
Connect all 9
dots using 4
straight lines
without lifting
your pen/pencil
off the paper
once you start
. . .
. . .
. . .
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Other Points To Ponder
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The Parking Lot…
What?
Why?
How?
When working in small groups…
Watch out for…
The Power of
the Pen
De-brief Every Meeting
What Worked?
Do Different?
Effective Meeting Checklist
 Start on time
 Open with a Check-in – (any distractions?)
 Review the agenda and process.
 Assign meeting tasks, i.e. timekeeper, recorder
 Establish or review ground rules.
 Help the group work through the agenda.
 Provide and solicit feedback along the way.
 Close the meeting with a meeting evaluation.
Dealing With Difficult Behaviors
Ideas for Managing Difficult Behaviors
 Meeting Design and Planning
 Icebreakers, Building Relationships
 Ground rules
 Understanding & Flexing to Styles
 Providing Observations & Perception Checking
 5 Levels of Intervention Strategies
Intervention Strategies
(deselect from the team)
(feedback & ask for
High-Level Intervention
) Medium-Level Intervention
Low-Level Intervention (reinforce groundrules)
Non-Intervention (not worth the effort, distracting)
Prevention (groundrules, agenda, small groups)
Handling Conflict in the Group
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Guidelines for Working Through Conflict
 Maintain your neutral position.
 Help the group be mindful of its ground rules.
 Intervene immediately if members launch into personal
attacks.
 Let group members know they have been heard by
paraphrasing and summarizing the points of view being
expressed.
 Check in often with group members to make sure they feel
they have been heard correctly and feel understood.
 Work with the group to expand participants’ understanding
of one another’s viewpoints.
Advanced principles
1. Ensure everyone has the same definition of
facilitation (Technical expert/facilitator versus
neutral facilitator)
2. You don’t need to react to every comment or
thought (Hmm…will suffice)
3. Design the process and let it take its course
Advanced Principles
4. If you don’t know what to do, ask the group
5. Create an environment where people are comfortable
voicing their views without having to defend them
6. All voices should be heard during important
discussions
Advanced Principles
7. Honor the past, and assess the present before
exploring the future
8. Take care when choosing facilitation tools, as
you need to completely understand how
each tool, such as the affinity process, works
About the Speaker
Jeff Hanan is a National Practice Director in Leadership &
Organizational Development at Patina Solutions. The L&OD
practice provides consulting services and training in
organizational change, process improvement, project
management and employee and organizational assessments.
Jeff’s previous positions include Vice President of Human
Resources for a two-hospital, integrated healthcare delivery
system in Green Bay and Director of Personnel Services for a
large regional health system. Jeff holds a Bachelors degree
from UW-Whitewater and an MBA from the University of
Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Contact Jeff at jeffhanan@patinasolutions.com or
414.520.6701
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