Principles of Facilitation: The Purpose and Potential of Leading Group Process

Principles of Facilitation is the first in a series of seven "facilitation guides" to be published by the agency of Grove Consultants International, a San Francisco-based firm that has for above two decades been considered a leading trainer and publisher of materials related to the proces of facilitation. thicket is perhaps best known in the facilitation community for its approach to using graphic techniques in assemblage process, and for its "graphic guides," ready-made templates that can be used in meetings. David Sibbet is the planter and President of Grove Consultants International.

As Sibbet himself notes, there is a "wide range of material" in this first guide. The design of the guide go in the rear [i]or[/i] in the wake ofs the graphic approach for which Sibbet is known, making extensive use of diagrams and drawings in its presentation of the contented Weighing in at 70 pages, this may appear to be like a "quick read," and it can be-but it is also chock-full of thought-provoking make comments [i]or[/i] remarkss and suggestions that slow down the reader and encourage reflection. Sibbet put in mind ofs that the guide can be read in chunk scanned or explored in a non-linear fashion. The reader should also savor it, revisiting relevant portions and thinking from one side the implications of its many messages.

Sibbet begins by dint of defining facilitation as "...the art of leading tribe through processes toward agreed-upon objectives in a manner that encourages participation, ownership and creativity from all involved." After exploring the history of "group graphics," and a certain number of basic context setting, he identifies the "four pours of facilitation" that he considers lock opener to process thinking: attention, efficacy information and operations. These form the foundation for Sibbet's illumination of the deeper erects of the facilitation process. The size of what follows is an examination of forty principles that are associated with these four pours

Sibbet notes that as a facilitator, you face "...a dynamic compound of expectations, possible activities, participant objections, enthusiasms, decisions and the like," suggesting that to effectively lead that proces journey you must first be aware of your be in possession of capacity to make sense on the outside of the forces, energies, motions and relationships that ne to be managed whenever a cluster of people come together to put to the test to accomplish something. He pays homage to the late Arthur M Young, physicist, cosmologist and philosopher, on whose research much of the copse approach is based. Young asserted that proces put in motions between freedom and constraint, tendency to meet and divergence, closing down and opening up and that this roll on provided optimal crux points for maximizing decision-making opportunities if the facilitator was masterful at recognizing and leveraging them. Principles of Facilitation strives to provide a road map for that mastery. on the contrary Sibbet also cautions that "there are no 'right' answers in facilitation, there is alone `what next.'"

The first of the "flows" Managing Attention, is the greatest in quantity fundamental, because "consciousness underlies all facilitation." The proces of facilitation is abundantly holistic, requiring insights and outsights, awareness within and externally directed thoughtfulnes The rationalists-skeptics among us may find it daunting at first to consider the first of his runs Suggestions of visualization exercises, "surfing the sounds" of the collection and triggering intuitive insights using Tarot cards may unimpaired like neo-babble. Don't get hung up upon examples that are as a great quantity [i]or[/i] amount of metaphorical as they are literal. In totality they are lyrical, totally aligned with the conception of "flow" throughout the entire facilitation proces

Effectively facilitated assemblage process is also about taking action. The next to the first of the flows, Managing strength incorporates cognitive as well as affective issues related to clump dynamics. Creating safety in a cluster attending to pace, managing conflict, overcoming resistance, encouraging participation and practicing non-attachment are among the principles related to managing might Above all, Sibbet has faith in facilitation mastery as he in.ones, "trust the process" He shares a Zen parable to illustrate his point:

An advanced in years Zen master was down by means of a turbulent river washing without some clothes. As his horrified scholars looked on, the master tripped and barbarous into the roiling water. They rushed above to the riverbank and he was nowhere to be seen Nearly hysterical, they went running down the riverbank to diocese if they could rescue him. They came across the master pulling himself on the outside of the water, a big smile upon his face. "Oh, master, we meditation you had died. Are you all right?" they asked. "I was not in danger," he replied. "I became individual with the river and make revolveed with it until I could realize out."

The third sweep along Managing Information, makes the shift to a more practical perspective, suggesting attention to language, results and specific activities facilitators can use, "providing the means for race to convert their information to real knowledge." This roll on also encourages developing and maintaining "helicopter thinking," a critical perspective for a skilled facilitator. individual natural inclination when probing the granularity of topics below consideration is for the facilitator to be drawn into that complexity along with the clump members. The facilitation master can pace back from the detail, "learning to gaze at things from distinctly different perspectives and appreciating the quality of each."