Category Archives: Practice tips and techniques

40 effective facilitation strategies

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A group of keen learners

It is my belief that it is the small things that happen within a group setting that make the difference. Noticing someone, helping a person to realise something not pleasant about themself and save face during the experience, being purposeful and clear about our intentions, all lead to a much better result for the group we are working with.

Instruction giving

  1. When giving instructions to the group, do this from a standing position – it gives more authority to what you are saying.
  2. When there is a series of questions, decide which questions are the key ones to deliver, then deliver them one at a time.
  3. You can interrupt the group by saying, “pause in your discussion and move onto the next question.”
  4. The questions are specific in terms of talking about the talking (warm-up or refocusing), doing the talking questions or reflecting questions. The outcome from each question is therefore related to the purpose of the question.
  5. Do a process check by asking a group member to repeat the question, therefore allowing the group members to hear the question twice – also a good idea to write the question onto a flipchart or on the whiteboard. Also, you can circle around the sub-groups inquiring about their clarity of the task.

    Breaking group into sub-groups
  6. When breaking into sub-groups, get people to move before telling them what you want them to do.
  7. Use different sub-groups which achieves two aims. The first is to increase diversity of ideas within the group. The second is that it energises the group by creating movement.
    Dealing with complex concepts
  8. When dealing with relatively complex concepts, decide in your planning, as to the depth you want to take these ideas. Remember that early on in the session you are foundation building so your challenge is to provide a base on which to build.

    Processing and Scribing
  9. A good guideline is when processing what group members have generated, do this from a sitting position on the front edge of the group.
  10. Remember to lean forward in your chair to show attentive listening and engage with the group members.
  11. If your co-facilitator is scribing then sit on the opposite side of the room to the board. This gives you the best view of what is occurring in the group.

    Managing performance anxiety
  12.  At the beginning of sessions we can all be anxious so use the anxious energy to your advantage.
  13. Stand up and greet members as they enter the group.
  14. Feel free to move around in the initial phase.
  15. Remember the tips on breathing exercises prior to the group coming into the working space and during the first five minutes of the session remember to breathe deeply rather than shallow breathing.
  16. Be well prepared with your materials and ready to manaaki group members.
  17. Have undertaken your co-facilitation check-in prior to the session so you know where each person is at.

    Joining group members’ experiences
  18. An effective techniques to manaaki and awhi group members is to ask, “Who share the views that … has expressed?” or “Who can add to what ‘… has said?”
  19. Also try, “What can you add to what … has said?”

    Joining a group member after an absence
  20. Welcome the member back into the group.
  21. Ask the group members who were present in the last session to catch the person up with what they covered – this acts as revision as well as sharing of information
  22. If the absence is a planned one then it is best to deal with the issue in a low-key manner.
  23. If the issue is a more deliberate absence, then some explanation to the large group may be required – this can assist in the development of accountability.

    Supporting a group member to have their voice in the room
  24. When having group members respond by putting their material on the board, you can support them by standing on the opposite side, or sitting in close proximity. This can feel supportive for the person presenting and can give you some degree of control during the process.
  25. Provide affirmation for input.
  26. Ask the group what they make of the person’s effort.
  27. Coaching around clarifying the meaning of what the person has said.

    Doing the work while saving face
  28. Try to always be tolerant and understanding.
  29. Encouragement and praise are among the cheapest and best of all facilitation tools they are also among the least used.
  30. Imagination can play an important role in learning.  ”Suppose you had to say what you would do?” or “What suggestion would you give someone else in this situation?”
  31. Try to make every member feel ‘involved’ – to feel they can share experiences freely, without fear of ‘losing face’.
  32. Real experiences are the most effective. Remember in the room is real.
  33. Words are the least effective teaching aid.

    General tips
  34. Be prepared to adjust each step, not only to the group as a whole but also to any individual in the group.
  35. Determine their readiness to learn through simple scaling questions, “How interested/ready are you to be in the room today?”
  36. What do you already know about … – find out their familiarity with what has to be learned
  37. How do you learn best (visual, auditory, kinesthetic (active), reader/writer).
  38. Assess how much repetition the group needs to take in new information, practice a new skill, or understand a new concept – this impacts upon their speed of learning.
  39. Try to put yourself in the other person’s shoes and to imagine how you would feel, react, and behave if you were that person.

    And the last tip
  40. Really enjoy what you are doing, the group members and your co-worker. At this moment we are truly alive.

5 ways to build emotional literacy through using Feeling Face Cards

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Example of Feeling Face Cards

For many years we have been using these very cool Feeling Face Cards in our group work. We have also been finding ways to integrate their use within the design of programmes, particularly those targeting men. We have found over the years that one of the challenges many men find themselves struggling with is around recognition of the wide range of feelings that they have. By default this limits their ability to recognise the feelings in others and respond accordingly. Building empathy skills concurrently builds safety and connection in relationships. The four stages of empathy are: firstly recognition of a emotion; secondly, recognition of a emotion in others; thirdly, being able to put yourself in another position and approximate the emotional experience; and fourthly, using the information available adjusting behaviour accordingly.

This is where we had found the Feeling Faces of huge benefit. At a simple level it helps to build an emotional repertoire while at a more complex level allows a person to have a deep sense of connection with others. We all know that feelings can be frightening things, particularly when they are very intense. Normalising feelings and the expression of the appropriate ways contributes to safety so that we don’t have to be a slave to them.

Below are five ideas about how to use the Feeling Faces Cards within a group programme.

  1. Learning the language of feelings. Having the Feeling Face Cards on the whiteboard (they are magnetized) allows for asking questions at certain moments within sessions what the feeling might be at any particular moment in time.
  2. Learning to meet needs appropriately. One of the challenges in group work is how to provide enough opportunity to rehearse and practice skills. We know that repetition and over learning are key ingredients in consolidating change. If a group member has identified a feeling such as sadness, then I am interested to know what the person might need by way of support from others. Many men in our experience isolate themselves with their feelings and expect others to guess what they are feeling. Ultimately they are asking other to be more mindful of their feelings than they are. Therefore practising the skill of negotiating to meet needs appropriately within the group becomes a great opportunity.
  3. Spot the emotion. This is a fun warm-up exercise for group members whereby the Feeling Face Cards are sorted with each group member taking a turn to come up to the front of the group and model the feeling. The task for the other group members is to guess with some accuracy the feeling being expressed. This does two things, firstly it helps the person miming the feeling to be more consistent, and secondly it allows group members to check on the accuracy of what they are seeing.
  4. Building a cultural language for emotion.You will notice that we have translated

    Bi-cultural Feeling Face Cards

    where possible emotions into a Maori bicultural set for the indigenous culture of New Zealand. This helps to build language competency alongside feelings competency, with a language that is at some risk. This also helps facilitators to be more responsive to indigenous participants in programmes.

  5. Distinguishing between thoughts and feelings. It will not be a surprise to any person working with others that clarifying the distinction between what is a thought and what is a feeling, is often a theme in change work. Social competency is based upon the ability to communicate clearly, ensure meanings are clear, and respond accordingly. The Feeling Face Cards provide an opportunity to work back and forth between these two positions allowing for greater clarity. “What is the feeling that goes with that thought?”, is one of my favourite questions to help make the distinction.

These are some of the ideas of how we use the Feeling Face Cards in our practice. I am aware that we have sold significant numbers of these to facilitators involved in programme delivery around the world. I am really interested to know some of the creative ways that you have found to incorporate these on your practice. Love to hear from you.

For more information about where you can source these Feeling Face Cards go here.

 

6 ways to get greater group involvement

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Keeping a training group engaged for 5 days

Have you ever had a passive group of learners who have been told to turn up rather than self-selecting into the learning opportunity? Or the energy in the group of very low. Or the group are used to being lectured to, rather than participating and being responsible for their own learning. This is every trainers nightmare. The risk in these situations is that we often end up trying harder than the group does itself. When this occurs we are doing the work for the group which isn’t good for them or for us. We are left tired and often doubting our abilities. Below are six methods for getting group involvement quickly in the session and maintaining that involvement throughout.

  1.  Learning buddies. This involves simply pairing group participants and giving them an overall challenge for the session. For example in a group of 10 participants that works out five tasks for the session. These tasks are generally set around the content of the session with the learning buddies having to report back either throughout or at the end about what they have discovered during the session.
  2. Set expectations early. If a participatory culture is not established early in the session, then the group itself will make the decision about the level of involvement it is willing to make. While being mindful of different levels of comfort and sharing within a group, creating an opportunity for appropriate self-disclosure within the first 10 minutes is critical. This can be as simple as two things that you want to get out of the session today.
  3. Expect responses. Unless I hear from the group what they are thinking about a particular issue, then I have no idea of the relevance of the material we are working with, to the group participants. I am not in favour of doing the group round as this can be quite tiresome. Have group members share when they are ready but set the expectation that they will. I do expect to hear one or two ideas from each group member.
  4. Let the group come to us. This is linked to the above point so rather than asking each person by name to feedback, I will make this much more invitational. For example I might say, ”Who’s are we going to hear back from first?”, then, “Whose next?” And so forth.
  5. Create competency. One mistake many facilitators often make is that they ask far too generalised questions to group members who often don’t know where to start. I have found it particularly useful to frame questions that allow participants to respond within their competency. For example I might ask, “What is one way you have found helpful to deal with this issue?
  6. Question cards. Scatter small cards and pens around the group. If a question comes up as the session progresses and is not appropriate to ask at the particular time, then the participant writes the question on a card to ask at a later point in session.

Of course there are many other strategies on developing engagement within the session, for example, panel discussions, subgroup activity, large group discussion, et cetera. I’m sure that you have your own way to really get to group moving. Love to hear them.

10 ideas to stretch a group

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Stretching techniques

Asking a group to take ownership over their learning is the key to managing growth, developing cohesion and dealing with challenging behaviour. I have always been interested in finding creative ways to stretch the group in terms of giving different experiences that create movement. The challenge in stretching is not to stretch too far. The danger here is that the group turns off from the facilitator as members may perceive the work being too difficult. Like any good exercise program start with gentle stretching before getting into more serious stretching down the track. Here are 10 of my favourite ideas for stretching the group. These ideas can be scattered amongst delivery of sessions or maintained as on-going themes throughout the life of the group.

  1. Graffiti wall – this is a place for ideas, reflections, and upsets to be rendered visible in the room. For this you need post-it and marker pens sitting on a table. When people feel the need they can fill in a post-it and put it on the wall. Without disrupting the process of the group the person can be invited to talk to the issue at some point during the session.
  2. Being in the moment – mindfulness practices are now seen as core to many group programs. Mindfulness allows us to slow down and be more present to what is occurring around us. For a great range of mindfulness exercises see the Living Well site.
  3. Predicting the future – this is a good exercise at the beginning of a group who are likely to have a long life together. Many of the programs I have been involved in designing are in excess of 100 hours of group time. Asking group members to predict where the group will be at some point in the future and what will be the challenges along the way, is a very useful way to normalise the stages in the life of a group. For example, you might wonder with a new group where it might be in four session’s time and what might be the challenges before we arrive at that point.
  4. Take on new roles – we often find ourselves slotting into roles that are comfortable for us rather than stretching ourselves into new areas. You have a new group member who is quiet, has trouble finding their own voice in the group, but is attentive to the process. I would be encouraging this group member to be the person to feedback from a small group exercise. This will help the person to build confidence in having a voice in social situations. It is valuable to ask the group as a whole what roles they feel comfortable as well as uncomfortable in at the beginning and then invite them to take on new roles.
  5. Becoming a media hound – this is a great exercise for inviting a shift in perspective. I commonly use this exercise in family violence intervention programs when developing understanding around the impact of behaviour on others. I assign different groups a media strategy around understanding the impact of violence on others. One group would do an interview in the field with members of a family, another will be part of a panel discussion, and another will develop the content for a short  documentary. Being playful will create a depth of understanding that generally doesn’t occur when people are talking from their own perspective.
  6. Dream the dream – in this exercise I want group members to dream about what might be possible. There are three steps in this process. The first is about identifying what the dream is, the second is identifying steps to realise the dream, and the third is identifying things that will get them the way. This allows realistic problem-solving.
  7. Mentors and pioneers – we all need people who have gone before us; who trail blaze areas that are undiscovered. All of us know people who have taken on the challenge to change. These people provide a rich source of knowledge, experience and wisdom about what might be effective. Engaging in conversation with this group and sharing stories provides a foundation of hope. I will often ask group members who they know who has treaded this path before them. In thinking about these people what is it that allows them to remain committed to change, despite the challenges that were posed.
  8. Break the habit – as human beings we are hardwired for habitual behaviour. We like habit, we like certainty, we like routine. In groups we bring with us our habits into the room which is where the life of the group gets interesting. Our role as group facilitators is to work with people around breaking habits that create social conflict and allow more meaningful connection. Ask the group members upfront what habits they want to break while they are in the group program. You’ll be surprised at the comments that will come back. Try it.
  9. Challenge our bias - one of the areas that consistently challenges group facilitators is in the area of helping people understand the basis for the decision-making. We make judgements quickly, often with limited information, and with huge amounts of bias involved. Pausing and wondering about our reactions and assumptions is a core aspect of effective group practice.
  10. New ideas – invite each group member to find out something new and bring this to the group each session. At various points throughout the group asked a group member to share their new idea. This exercise invites are wondering about the world outside and brings into the group the richness and diversity of life.

These are my 10 ideas around stretching the group. Love to hear your ideas.

20 strategies for successful facilitation

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Groups need to be alive

The art of facilitation is complex. Have you ever found yourself running late, not having things properly prepared, or you don’t have a good feel for the content. I think we have all had that experience. We struggle through the session and at the end dissatisfied with our performance. We are often relieved it is finally over. Over the past 30 years I have found the following ideas most helpful in keeping myself in the room and enjoying the experience:

  1. Appear but more importantly, be prepared – know what topics come next without having to look at your notes. Know where your resources are. One way to manage this is to draw on a flipchart a map of the session. Be creative – in one training we used a journey metaphor so each day it was modes of transport from trains to air balloons.
  2. Have a clear flow for the session which helps to appear organised – Tell them what you’re going to tell them and then tell them what you’ve told them! Remind participants regularly about where you are in the session, what you have covered so far and what you still have to cover.
  3. Speak confidently – use positive rather than hesitant language, e.g. “You will find” rather than “you should find.”
  4. Start on time – whether everyone is there or not, start on time. Otherwise we penalise those who made the effort to be on time and reward those who are late. Everyone’s time is valuable. Set the expectation that you will keep to start times and break times. Time slippage often occurs around break time so keep this sharp.
  5. Finish on time – people may have arranged activities after the session so don’t have them sitting anxiously wondering when the session will finish.
  6. Give time at the end for a solid wrap-up – reflecting upon the session bridges to out of session consolidation tasks. Reflection is an important part of any learning/understanding and we are
  7. Schedule breaks – Everybody may not be as fascinated in the topic as we are. Even the most interested participant can only concentrate for so long. We need to let people stretch and move around.
  8. Make breaks count – send participants to the break with a question to ponder. While they might not consciously attend to the questions, their sub-conscious will continue to work away in the background.
  9. Avoid distracting habits – getting rid of distracting habits and mannerisms (fidgeting, jingling change, saying “um” and “ah” etc.) can enhance the effectiveness of your facilitation.
  10. Admit mistakes – as facilitators, we’re not perfect; we make mistakes and we don’t have all the answers. When we make a mistake just admit it. This is about integrity. Group members are very forgiving of our humanness.
  11. Always be positive – being in group is an opportunity to deepen understanding, learn new skills and often discover things about ourselves that are really interesting. By having a positive attitude (not over the top) we bring an energy for discovery into the room.
  12. Believe in what you are doing – we are easily found out. When we don’t believe in what we are doing our body language will tell others loud and clear. Find something in the content that you do believe in, even if there are issues with some aspects.
  13. Find out what drives the person and adapt to this – a key question I often ask is, “What interests you in this issue?” This generates wondering and front-end buy-in to the issue.
  14. Always follow the process – the minute you go ‘off-road’ you run the risk of going into territory that might be uncharted or where you haven’t thought through answers to questions that might emerge. You also haven’t delivered the content so this then impacts upon the integrity of what you are delivering.
  15. Don’t give incorrect information – you don’t have to be the expert, so it’s ok not to know – and say so. Tell the group you will find out and get back to them.
  16. If the participant asks something you don’t know either refer to the manual or ring someone else. There might be someone else in the room that has the information – give them the opportunity to talk to it.
  17. Keep your sessions moving – don’t let it drag. Like driving a car, the skill of facilitation is to know when to slow down, when to speed up and when to overtake (safely of course!).
  18. Control discussion – I find this is best by using a number of clear process questions that can ensure discussion remains focussed upon the topic at hand. Rather than, “What do you make of this?” I would ask, “What two things you like and two things you dislike about this? Note starting with a positive frame first.
  19. Look for better ways to get the message across, but – if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. There is always better ways to get our ideas across to our group participants.
  20. Prepare everything and check it before you start – sounds obvious but you would be surprised what can go wrong. On one trip I flew into a small town in Queensland, Australia to run a session and when I turned on my datashow, it blew up. Did I have a back-up datashow? No. Did I do a great session? Yes. I had thought of many ways to present the information that did not rely upon one medium.

These are my ideas. I am sure you have plenty. Love to hear your ideas.

9 ways to keep group members engaged

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Keeping the group engaged

Ever had the feeling that the group is not with you? They are physical present but their heads seem somewhere else? I imagine that if you have been running groups or programs that this is not an uncommon experience. Moving group members from visitors to engaged participants takes skill and thoughtfulness. Below are a range of techniques that I have used that allow me to better connect with those coming into groups I run. That way I can make the most of the opportunity.

  1. Connect with each member as they walk in the door –this shows interest, respect and a willingness to connect with the person
  2. Remember important things about the person – a task they had to achieve through the week, a tough situation to get through, something they were looking forward to – this says loud and clear, “I listen to you and am interested in you as a person grappling with the challenges of life.”
  3. Find out how participants connect to the issue.  If group members cannot find a connection to the issue then they are not likely to put value on spending time exploring it. Remember we are asking people to give up time to work with us. I don’t know about you but my time is really valuable and I don’t like having it wasted.
  4. Work the group, not the individual. I have often witnessed group facilitators and trainers working with one person at a time in a group. I call this individual work with an audience. Widening the issue gets everyone’s engagement and makes for more engagement and solution development for all involved. I will talk more about this a later blog around session design.
  5. Engage at multiple levels for the participant.  As adults we learn in many ways through many mediums: emotionally, cognitively, spiritually, and physically. Although these are important, layering learning styles using kinasethic, verbal, auditory, and reader/writer delivery styles can mean that we can increase hugely information take-up.
  6. Show your interest by responding from an inquiry mode – We all have narratives to tell around our experience of the world. It is not my role to judge but to understand. I might inquire using questions such as: “I am interested in how you came to that point?” “Tell the group more about your thinking around that issue?”
  7. Break it up – ever sat in a group where the group stays together for the whole session. I don’t know about you but I tend to go to sleep, turn-off or start thinking about what I might cook for tea. In addition to whole group processing, use sub-group activities, pair discussion, and problem solving tasks.
  8. Lots of sign-posts. When we drive down the road we have signposts aplenty. They help us to measure progress towards our destination. In a group what sign-posts are we putting up for the participants?  Do they know where we are heading, the destination, progress (are we there yet?), and what they need to be noticing along the way?
  9. Do lots of mini reviews and reflections throughout the group process. This allows for consolidation of ideas. When people they are falling behind they start to feel lost and get frustrated. Frustration leads to irritation, irritation leads to distraction, distraction annoys others in the group and conflict develops.

Actually I lied in the heading. There is a 10th technique. Well not actually a technique, but an over-arching idea that will make a huge difference to how people respond in the room.

Be well prepared – perhaps this should have gone first. I was taught by an ex-teacher the motto that ‘Failing to plan was planning to fail’.

My challenge to you is to choose one thing you will do differently in your next group session. At the end of the session reflect with your co-facilitator if you have one, what was different about the group in terms of engagement, willingness to work,

Let me know how you got on. Love to hear from you.

8 ways to learn names of group members

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What's in a name?

You are about to start a group. People start to arrive and you check them off your list. Apart from the person who came early while you are getting ready, other participants start to arrive in pairs or small groups. You know that you are going to have to remember their names but how?  You sit down and now have a group of 10 – 14 people that you are going to be working with in a group program. What do you do to remember all of those names so that you don’t appear to be rude?

I have a thing about using peoples proper names. Our names are our identity. They are the way we present ourselves to the world. Get my name wrong and I will notice.

Having worked for years with men who are abusive in their relationships, I also know the value in using proper names. In order to be abusive we need to emotionally disconnect. Did you know that? The best way to disconnect is to stop using a person’s proper name and replace this with a label (often a not very nice one). So Jane become a ‘bitch’. This allows for abuse to occur. When we model taking the time and energy to learn and use proper names, we are modelling respect and dignity for that person. The idea is that will rub off onto those we are working with and they will start a habit of respectful interaction.

There are heaps of name-games that you can use and these are written up in a lot of training books, so I will not replicate these here. These are my top techniques for learning and remembering names.

  1. Greet the person and ask them their name. Look them in the eye, repeat their name and ask them something about how they got to the group. For example, “How did you get to the group today John?” Then follow-up with a, “Thanks for coming John, where are you going to sit?”
  2. I have a piece of paper with the table set-out in the room. Wherever John is going to sit I write his name on my layout. People are generally creatures of habit so they tend to go to claim their space early and go back to it. This is about security and claiming space.
  3. When new members arrive introduce them by name to the new group members. This is good for you and for them. It gets away from those uncomfortable silences at the beginning of groups.
  4. Repetition. As you can see repetition is by far the best way to learn someone’s name. Try to use their name at least three or four times within the first 10-15 minutes of meeting them.
  5. Ask group members to say their names initially when they about to say something for the first 20 minutes. I’m Joan and I think … They won’t think this is naf as they  are likely to be more nervous that you.
  6. Don’t be afraid to ask if you have forgotten. We are human after all. A person would rather that we took the time to ask them their name than not. It is more personal. “I’m sorry but I am having a blank about your name.”
  7. Ask the person for something significant about their name. Is there a story about their name? Was the name passed down from an ancestor? Did the name come from a popular figure at the time?
  8. Continue to use the person’s name when addressing them in the group. This is similar to the repetition but on an on-going basis.

Problem solved.

These are my ideas. Love to hear your strategies about what works for you in remembering peoples name when they come into your group.

From Ken’s Desk November 2010

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Whenever I meet people, and talk about the work that I do in designing intervention programmes and training people in programme delivery for those who offend, the question is, “What makes people stop?” The sub-text is, “Can they stop?”. The question is never straight forward, but there is a growing body of knowledge that if we take account of the four key areas: programme design (evidenced based), right person (proper assessment), trained staff (people who have cognitive flexibility and can make a programme come alive), and context (the environment that supports the programme outcomes), then we can get a result.

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Celebrating turning up or helping the helpers

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Every week throughout New Zealand/Aotearoa, men and women sit in agencies working with men who have been abusive within their families. Think of all those facilitators heading out the door on cold winter nights, off to agencies to run stopping violence programmes. Of course they don’t just turn up. They bring to this endeavour a wide arrange of skills, knowledge and passion to engage with men and women who find themselves in the midst of family violence. This precious and important resource contributes significantly to community safety – if we cannot be safe at home then the world around us becomes a truly unsafe place.

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Good Training

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Mark Tisdall, one of the HMA Associates reflects upon what makes good training.

When I first read Bill Bryson’s A Short History of Nearly Everything in 2003 I thought I could relax – I had a ‘big picture’ of the world as we know it from the big bang to now – having read the ultimate ‘rough guide to science’ (John Waller, Guardian) my world now had a 6 billion year context and I was a happier man for it.

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