Facilitating Groups

Michael F. Broom, Ph.D.

The Goal of group facilitation: empowering a group to shift its dynamics from the Finite perspective of power to the Infinite perspective.

The Tasks of Facilitating Groups
1. Contract for the role
2. Establish desired outcomes
3. Moderate the pace of activity (one person speaks at a time)
4. Moderate the focus of activity (one topic at a time)
5. Inquire about (surface) issues that may be hampering the groups effectiveness
6. Manage conflicts
a. Clarify the specifics of the particular goals, values, strategies, or facts in conflict
b. Reframe where necessary
c. Focus attention on what could be done to avoid the situation in the future
7. Refocus back to desired outcomes
8. Generate and explore options
9. Develop consensus-based decisions

The Skills of Group Empowerment
1. Level I skills - Focus and Conflict management
    a. Moderating the pace of activity
       (1) One person speaks at a time
       (2) Everyone has the opportunity to speak
    b. Moderate the focus of activity: one topic at a time
    c. Developing curiosity on behalf of listening
    e. Building consensus

2. Level II skills - Managing the Interpersonal Underworld
    a. Inclusion issues
    b. Control issues
    c. Openness issues
    d. Managing how feedback is received

3. Level III skills - Managing Emotions
    a. Understanding the meaning, and value of emotions
    b. Reframing emotions (Have them, don't be them)
    c. Surfacing emotions
    d. Focusing emotions toward productivity
    e. Managing your own emotions

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