Facilitation 101

Unlock your team’s genius. @GeorgFasching www.GeorgFasching.com
Facilitation 101
Offered by Georg Fasching.
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One Deﬁnition
Facilitation is a ﬂuid process using a variety of tools, techniques,
and activities to …
empower participants, create clarity, invite collaboration, and …
increase commitment to the solutions created by the group in order …
to maximise productivity.
2

5 principles of a facilitator.
• I create the container. They create the content.
• It's their session; not mine.
• This session is real work. (Good facilitation required.)
• Success means: session purpose is fulﬁlled.
• My actions enhance their self-organisation.
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From Agile Facilitator course by Agile Coaching Institute.

What's my job?
My job as facilitator is to enable the group realise the session
purpose without inﬂuencing or steering them.
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Check yourself.
• Mind your body language.
• Mind your facial expressions.
• Mind your location.
• Mind your output.
• Limit any advice that you offer to process tips (how) that help the
group progress, rather than content tips (what).
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Time management.
• Time management is essential to good facilitation.
• Common approach:
• (1) declaring the time-box at the start,
• (2) announce when half-way through,
• (3) announce when 3/4 through,
• (4) when almost out of time,
• (5) when out of time.
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TIP: Analytical
participants
sometimes struggle
with time-boxing.
Acknowledge this
pro-actively.

What do I do/pay attention to?
• Attend to the participants' "HOW" not their "WHAT".
• How are they acting and interacting to meet the goal of the
exercise?
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Enable hive thinking.
• Distraction diminishes outcome.
• Cushion the container to comfort the content.
• Cover: biological, emotional, intellectual needs.
• Group > Individual
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TIP: Listen between
the lines for ego-
centric motivation.
When one is on an
ego roll, interject
“How would others
perceive this?”

Have every voice heard.
• Mind the different personality types and ensure
the whole group participates.
• The session design must account for introverts
but most activities will involve talking and
doing.
• Thus groups tend to naturally favour the
outspoken in most types of activities.
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TIP: When you
notice quiet ones
being quiet for long,
a simple reminder to
the group is often
enough. “Are all
voices being heard
in your group?”

Patterns
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Dysfunctions
Noticeable symptoms of disagreement with the content, process,
people, or distraction due to outside inﬂuence.
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Groups get stuck.
• Agreement.
• Disagreement.
• Proper stuck.
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100% agree, we all agree.
• Sometimes it starts to sound like repetition;
it often is.
• It feels good to agree, sometimes groups
bathe in this.
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TIP: “Is it just me or
are you all in
agreement?” OR
“Sounds like you all
agree. What holds
you back from
moving on?”

Before we proceed …
“Life starts on the edge of your comfort zone.”
14

Disagreement.
• Whether just between 2 people in a group or factions of a group,
solid continued disagreement prevents achieving the purpose.
• However, constructive disagreement often leads to better outcome.
• Give it a chance to resolve itself. If it takes too long or gets too
heated it’s time to interject.
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How? - It depends.
• Interject and help them reframe their perspective.
• “While you seem to disagree on this point. What was the last thing you
did agree on? Find a new path from there.”
• “Which small part of this do you agree on? Build on that.”
• When it's just a couple of people, up to half of the table, something like:
“Hold on guys! (then address the disengaged ones) What do you think?”
• More big picture thinking, e.g.: “What’s the purpose of the exercise? How
does this aspect you disagree on relate to that?”
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Proper stuck.
• Help them reframe.
• Backtrack.
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Groups get carried away.
• It’s a spectrum from
• Natural: How close is this to your goal?
• Derailed by personality (doubters, ego-centric, …)
• Full disassociation
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Tool Tips
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Post-its
• Real 3M Post-its
• Regular for same-day
use, or super-sticky for
longer-term
• Pull from side to side, or
pull from bottom
• Light colours only
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Index Cards
• 3x5 inch
• Depending on session design, 
an appropriate number of whites  
and coloured ones
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Pens
• Nothing ﬁner than a good old Sharpie
• Dark colours only
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Whiteboard
• Best: full wall-mounted (all the walls)
• Good: physical & mobile
• Alright: Magic Whiteboard (original)
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Whiteboard Pens
• Good brands:
• Neuland
• Sharpie
• Staedler
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Blu tack
• Real brand Blu tack.
• A little is enough.
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Facilitation 101

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