Schuman S. - The IAF Handbook of Group Facilitation (2005)(en)

Developing perspective involves a systematic process of gathering and assessing relevant information. It entails exploring your client’s Web site, reviewing annual reports and other written material, meeting face-to-face with the client and asking open-ended questions, and paying attention to the themes, patterns, and nuances that emerge.

The Organizational Profile within the Baldrige National Quality Program’s Criteria for Performance Excellence (U.S. Department of Commerce, 2004) is the most useful framework I have found for developing an in-depth perspective about a client organization. I have used these criteria for several years as an examiner for both the Texas Award for Performance Excellence and the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award processes. There are separate criteria for business, education, and health care industry sectors that are researched and updated every two years. The criteria for each sector contain industry-specific terminology, but the content is quite similar across industry sectors. I developed the following series of questions based on the organizational profile in the business criteria.

Begin by developing a picture of your client’s organization, operating environment, and key relationships:

•What are their primary products and services?

•What are their stated values, purpose, vision, and mission?

•How would you describe their workforce?

•What is the employee turnover rate?

•What are their technologies, equipment, and facilities?

•Where are their major locations?

•What government regulations do they need to comply with?

•What is their public reputation?

•What legal or adverse publicity issues are they dealing with?

•What is their organizational structure?

•What management changes have taken place?

•When did those changes occur, and what influenced them?

•How would you describe their major customers and markets?

•Who are their major suppliers, partners, and distributors, and what roles do they play?

Next, consider the important challenges that your client is facing:

•What is their competitive position in the marketplace?

•What is the size of their overall market or industry?

•Is it growing, stable, or declining?

•Who are their major competitors?

•What are the key factors that have determined your client’s success?

•What changes are taking place in their marketplace?

•How would you describe their performance in key areas such as customer satisfaction, product and service performance, financial and market results, human resource results, organizational effectiveness, and governance and social responsibility?

•How does their performance compare to industry averages and leading organizations in their industry?

•What are their most important strategic challenges?

•What are their major goals for the future?

•How do they evaluate and improve their processes and performance?

•How do they learn and share knowledge throughout the organization to improve performance?

You will want to scale back the level and amount of information you gather for smaller, short-term projects or one-time events. However, this information can be an invaluable resource in meeting the challenges of larger, more complex projects and in building long-term relationships with clients.

PURPOSE

It is essential to understand what your client views as a successful project, meeting, or event before determining the detailed requirements, specific deliverables, and how to measure results.

In The Performance Challenge (1999), Gilley, Boughton, and Maycunich offer practical definitions of needs and expectations: “Needs are the problems or issues that must be resolved before an organization can reach its business goals and objectives. They are the gaps that must be filled in order for an organization to

function effectively and provide value to all stakeholders.” They add, “Expectations are outcomes desired by stakeholders, while needs are requirements that stakeholders must have to maintain satisfactory performance” (pp. 27–28).

These definitions highlight the importance of considering both the needs and expectations of the entire organization and all major stakeholder groups. The Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence define stakeholders as “all groups that are or might be affected by an organization’s actions and success. Examples of key stakeholders include customers, employees, partners, investors and local/ professional communities” (U.S. Department of Commerce, 2004, p. 35).

There are several questions you can ask to determine your client’s needs and expectations:

•What are their current results or outcomes?

•What are their ideal desired results or outcomes?

•When do they hope to achieve them?

•What is happening now? What should be happening?

•How can this project, meeting, or event help fill the gap between what is happening and what should be happening?

•What do we need to achieve in this meeting or event in order to meet their needs?

•What is a realistic expectation of what they hope to accomplish through this event?

•What kind of atmosphere do we need to create in order to accomplish the results they want?

•What kind of tone do we want to set for this event?

The Institute of Cultural Affairs (ICA) Technology of Participation Group Facilitation Methods provides a particularly effective way to develop a practical purpose for a facilitated event. Resources for learning this approach include Laura J. Spencer’s book, Winning Through Participation (1989), and the course participant manuals for ICA’s Group Facilitation Methods (2000) and Participatory Strategic Planning (1996). ICA methodology guides you to work with clients to identify a focus question and then develop a supporting rationale and experiential aims. This approach can be useful in a variety of situations and applications.

A focus question is an open-ended question that draws the group’s attention and creativity to a specific subject or issue. It is helpful to think of this as an overarching

question that must be answered through the course of the facilitated event or process. It should include all stakeholders who will be affected by the results. When you are developing a plan, it is important to include a specific time frame. Two examples of focus questions are, “How can we build effective teamwork among all departments throughout our business unit?” and “How can we reduce our division operating costs by 20 percent over the next three years?”

A rational aim refers to the results or outcomes the client is seeking—for example, “a prioritized list of specific strengths and opportunities for improvement with actionable feedback for each department” or “a documented action plan for the entire organization.”

An experiential aim speaks to the experience the group will have during the event and how they will be different at the end of the session. Think in terms of the atmosphere you need to create. For one type of application, you might want to set a tone of thoughtful reflection and constructive problem solving. In another situation, you may need to create a sense of camaraderie and teamwork to build consensus.

During the meeting or event, be sure to keep the focus question visible to the group at all times. If the group gets stuck or off track you can ask them, “How does that help answer our focus question?” That usually refocuses their attention and energy.

PEOPLE

You need to determine who your client’s key stakeholders are and clarify their needs and expectations in order to develop a practical purpose for the meeting or event. It is equally important to understand the unique demographics and dynamics of the groups you will be facilitating. Resist the temptation to gloss over this step and rely too much on your professional experience and personal charisma. Sometimes you can get lucky through guesswork. However, it is important to recognize that you are risking failure if you do not understand what you are getting yourself into.

A common mistake is failing to identify and include the important stakeholders who need to participate in the event. Another is assuming that the people at the top of an organization understand the depth and breadth of issues at the level of detail needed to represent the interests of their respective business units, functions, or departments effectively. In many cases, a better approach is to include a

diagonal slice of the organization’s participant population in the process, ensuring that all levels of stakeholder communities throughout the organization are represented. If you want to understand a complex issue, get information from a variety of vantage points, including the people who are directly dealing with it.

With all stakeholder groups defined, you are ready to consider demographics: the factual data that describe the population characteristics of the organization or group that you are working with. It is helpful to develop a profile of the types of positions, levels of experience, age ranges, educational levels, professional designations or certifications, years of experience with the organization, gender and racial diversity, nationalities, languages spoken, and related characteristics that are important to the client. Having a sense of the demographics can help you design a process that is appropriate to their organizational culture.

Asking candid questions about group dynamics can pay rich dividends when you are facilitating. Every group has a history together. You need to know what that history is and take it into consideration:

•What are the conflicts?

•Where are the sensitivities?

•Given the issues being addressed and past experiences, how does the client expect certain people or groups of people to react?

•What are the biases, preconceived ideas, and other potential barriers to success?

•What are the group’s emotionally charged issues?

•What have been their experiences with other facilitators or consultants?

•What are their clear likes and dislikes?

•What advice does your client have for you regarding what to do or what not to do, and why?

PRODUCT

It is essential to clarify and define the desired work product and the practical content and format that meet your client’s requirements. After the project or event is completed, there must be sufficient documentation so that the client knows what the next steps are and how to take action. In Flawless Consulting (1981), Peter Block emphasizes the importance of being very specific in determining what will be delivered. A lack of specificity can create misunderstandings with clients.

As you are defining the work product, consider the client’s viewpoint. Your clients are looking for results. They want to be able to take action, not just explore interesting theories or discuss vague generalities. You need to be up to the task of determining and documenting a clear, concrete, specific, descriptive work product that is relevant and important to their needs. Otherwise, you may end up producing meeting documentation that is a boring recitation of buzzwords, boilerplate, catchy phrases, and slogans. When participants walk out of the room, they need to be saying, “I understand the issue, and I know what to do,” not, “Why did we waste our time on that again? I don’t know any more now than when I walked in!”

There are several practical questions that can help you clarify and define your client’s specific work product requirements:

•What is the most important thing they need to accomplish?

•What documentation do they want to walk out of the room with?

•What specific information do they need and in how much detail?

•Who will use the information, and how will it be used?

•Who else will see the information?

•When will the information be needed?

•What format do they want it in?

•What specific day, date, and time do they want it?

•How do they want it delivered?

Answer these questions, and you will know what your client’s real requirements are.

PLACE

An often overlooked step is taking the time to see the planned physical meeting space firsthand. (See Chapter Five.) This is your opportunity to discover its strengths and limitations and whether you will be able to create the atmosphere you need. You may find that it does not meet your requirements and need to suggest alternative meeting space. That is not something you want to find out on the day of the event.

Determine your requirements before you begin the process of finding meeting space:

•How many participants will be attending?

•What kind of seating, tables, physical work space, and room setup will be needed?

•What exercises and materials will be used?

•What special equipment is needed, such as flip charts, markers, wall mountings, overhead projectors, personal computers, screens, microphones, VCRs, DVDs, or Internet access?

•Will all the work be done in one room, or will you also need breakout rooms?

•What are your requirements for water, coffee, tea, soft drinks, meals, and snacks?

•What travel and lodging accommodations are needed?

Have all of your requirements well documented before you begin looking for appropriate meeting space.

When you visit the meeting room, first visualize yourself facilitating in the space. Then visualize your participants working in the space. Physically walk around and sit in participant chairs at several different locations around the room. Then consider these questions:

•How is the visibility from their perspective?

•How is this area going to work for you and for the participants?

•Are you being energized or deenergized in this space?

•What is causing your reaction?

•What are the problems or obstacles you are encountering?

•What changes need to be made in order to make the space work?

•What are the strengths of the space?

•What are some creative ways to use the space that might add value to the meeting experience of the participants?

There are several more factors to consider:

•Is the size of the room appropriate for what you are planning?

•How do you rate the overall lighting, acoustics, ventilation, and cleanliness?

•Is the condition of the furniture and audiovisual equipment acceptable?

•Are there enough rest room facilities?

•Is there enough parking?

•Can participants effectively use telephones and get messages during breaks?

•Is the wall space what you need, and can you mount things on the walls as you require?

•Can you serve meals and refreshments in a way that will not be a distraction to the participants?

•How are you going to handle getting more water when you run out in the middle of the meeting?

•Can you control the temperature and lighting?

•Can you control room access and privacy as needed?

•What is the noise level from adjacent rooms?

•Can you create the overall atmosphere you desire in this physical space?

Often, it is the ability to anticipate and manage the details and logistics of the physical meeting space that can make or break an event.

PROCESS

Armed with knowledge of your client’s perspective, purpose, people, product, and place, you are in a solid position to design a process that is custom-tailored to their unique situation and requirements. You can now make informed decisions about choosing or creating methods, developing supporting process documentation and materials, and evaluating the process.

Process design is extremely important. The more complex the situation is, the more emphasis you need to place on process. The Baldrige National Quality Program Criteria for Performance Excellence define process as “linked activities with the purpose of producing a product or service for a customer (user) within or outside the organization.” The criteria add, “Generally, processes involve combinations of people, machines, tools, techniques and materials in a defined series of steps or actions” (U.S. Department of Commerce, 2004, p. 34).

Documenting the facilitation process is a way to integrate and synchronize everything you have learned about the perspective, purpose, people, product, and place into a cohesive, focused approach. The act of writing it down creates clarity of thought. It allows you to visualize the entire process and all its parts, and get a sense of the transition of each part into the next.

An effective technique is to reduce an entire day’s agenda to a single sheet of paper, breaking it down into blocks of time for each key part of the agenda, with time increments ranging from ten minutes to two hours. In each time block, document key words or phrases you are going to say; the specific exercise or activity you will do; and the materials needed for each exercise or activity, such as flip charts, handouts, overheads, PowerPoint slides, participant manuals, or images to post on a wall. Indicate the title of each flip chart, exercise, or handout. It is particularly helpful to have the openings, key points, transitions, and closings for each time block at your fingertips.

The payoff comes when you are in the middle of delivering your facilitation, and an unpredictable group dynamic throws the group off course. After you handle the situation, you can refer to your one-page detailed agenda and quickly identify where you are in the process without fumbling around. This is especially helpful when you are working as part of a team of facilitators, in which case everyone must be on the same page. You will also find that using process documentation as a reference point throughout the day will improve your time management.

A word of caution is appropriate: a planned process and agenda should not be viewed with a straitjacket mentality. Facilitation is a dynamic process, and situations vary. Professional judgment is required to strike an appropriate balance between the degree of structure needed to achieve the result with adaptability and responsiveness to what emerges through the course of facilitating a group process. We need to be open to the possibility that changing or even abandoning a planned approach may be exactly what is needed to help a group achieve an important breakthrough.

At this point, you will have enough information to develop an approach for measuring and evaluating the effectiveness of the facilitation project. It is good practice to provide the opportunity for participants to complete a brief evaluation form at the end of your session. (See Chapter Twenty-Five.) You will want to measure their immediate reaction to the content, process, materials, facilitator, facilities, and the usefulness, or “take-away” value. It is best to limit this form to a single page. Include items or questions for participants to rate on a standard five-point scale and adequate space for written comments. In this manner, you will capture both the quantitative data and qualitative information needed to assess the effectiveness of your project or event.

PRACTICE

This step can mean the difference between success and failure. By practice, I mean doing a dry run of the process, reviewing the documentation and materials that you will use at each stage, visualizing and rehearsing the event, anticipating potential problems, and preparing appropriate contingency plans.

Review the agenda, process documentation, and materials, and make sure that everything is ready in finished format. Rehearse by standing up, speaking out loud, and experimenting with gestures that you plan to use. Hearing yourself say something aloud can help you better connect with your meaning and intentions.