Ips Report

CONTENTS:

What is facilitation? 1 Benefits of team facilitation
• Introduction 18
• What is team? 1
• Develop interpersonal skills 18
• What is facilitation? 1
• Provide experience 18
• Team facilitation. 1
• Eliminate conflicts 19
• Skills. Knowledge and capabilities
• Create climate of cooperation 20
for facilitation in team. 2
• Create trust 20
Barriers of facilitation 2
• Quick decisions 21
• Causes of facilitation. 5
• Development of whole team 21
What facilitator do? • Early solution to problems 21
• What is facilitator 6 • Reduce time & cost 21
• Types of facilitator 6 • Superior results 22
• Skills of facilitator 6 • Clear sense of direction 22
• Role of facilitator 7 • Develop leadership qualities 22
• Understanding what facilitators • What the tam members get
really do 7 out of it 22
• Competencies & characteristics 8
Strategies & steps to improve team
• Be a good communicator 9
• Look for crime facilitator 9
facilitations 23
• Relationship building 24
• What is independent facilitator 11
• Improvement of
Skills for facilitator communication in a copy 24
• Introduction 12
• Role of facilitator should be
• Focusing the meeting 13 efficient 25
• Keeping the team on track 13 • Techniques for group work 25
• Types of skills 13 • Giving & receiving feedback 26
• Ground Rules 17 • Successful meetings 26
• Certain other major strategies 30
• An efficient team 30
• High performance teams 30

Preface
We use the term team when we refer to a group that has decided to work
together for the purpose of accomplishing a task, or meeting a common goal. Every
time the team members work together, there is a need for someone to help the team
work efficiently. The main task of the facilitator is to help a team / group to work as
efficiently as possible to accomplish the proposed tasks. The basic objective of team
facilitation is leadership division.

Summary:

Facilitation" is a term that means different things to different people. . The
facilitator's job is to lead the group process; to help them improve the way they
communicate, examine and solve problems, and make decisions. Facilitators may
work with small groups within an organization, or with representatives of different
organizations who are working together in a collaborative or consensus-building
process.
The facilitator, in this context, may be internal or external. (That is, either
way, he or she must be acceptable to all members of the group.Brought in from an
outside organization).
Facilitators must have a variety of skills and techniques to be effective. Strong
verbal and analytical skills are essential. Facilitators must know what questions to ask,
when to ask them, and how questions should be structured to get good answers
without defensiveness A facilitator must also develop the ability to read and analyze
group dynamics on the spot in order to guide the group They must also know how to
rephrase or "reframe" statements to enhance understanding, and to highlight areas of
agreement and disagreement as they develop. Other skills include redirecting
questions and comments, giving positive reinforcement, encouraging contrasting
views, including quieter members of the group, and dealing with domineering or
hostile participants. It is the facilitator's role to help the group design its meetings in a
way that is consistent with the core values of facilitation.
Group members are often more motivated to support the decisions made
because of their investment in the process. The best efforts of groups usually produce
better results than individual efforts. Increased participation within the group
increases productivity.
It is possible for managers and leaders to draw more on their staffs as
resources, which contributes to overall organizational success. Everyone involved has
a chance to contribute and feels they are an integral part of the team.People realize
and respect that responsibility for implementing decisions lies with everyone.
Innovation and problem-solving skills are built. People are encouraged to think and
act for the overall benefit of the group. Higher-quality decisions normally result. A
forum for constructively resolving conflicts and clarifying misunderstandings is
created. Negative attitudes, low morale, low involvement, and withholding of
information are less likely because everyone is involved in a joint process.
Facilitation is important because meetings of large groups of people can be
very hard to organize as well as to control when they are in progress. First of all, a
facilitator can help members of a group get to know each other and learn to cooperate.
Having a skilled facilitator run or lead a meeting should also help focus the energy
and thoughts of the various members on the task at hand Facilitation has become a
more and more important communication skill in recent times. Many businesses and
organizations have restructured, giving more power to a wider range of employees.
Companies and organizations are relying more heavily on the input of individual
employees in a broad variety of decisions.

What is Facilitation?
Introduction:

We use the term team when we refer to a group that has decided to work
together for the purpose of accomplishing a task, or meeting a common goal. Every
time the team members work together, there is a need for someone to help the team
work efficiently, so that it obtains the desired results as soon as possible, and that
person is called facilitator.
The main task of the facilitator is to help a team / group to work as efficiently
as possible to accomplish the proposed tasks.

What is Team?

“Cooperative effort by the members of a group or team
to achieve a common goal”. (American
Heritage Dictionary)

What is Facilitation?

Facilitation is the art of leadership in group communication. A facilitator is
one who fulfills this leadership role. These terms are often employed interchangeably
with "moderating" and "moderator."

Facilitation in both online and face to face settings aims to promote a
congenial social atmosphere and a lively exchange of views. The online facilitator
resembles his or her face-to-face equivalent in important respects. Here is how
facilitation is described in one classic account (Hiltz and Turoff: 1978, pp 23-24):

Team Facilitation:

A process in which a neutral person (who is accepted by
all group members and has no decision authority) helps
the group identifies, solve problems and identify in an
effective way.

(Roger Schwarz)

. Facilitation is generally associated with the activity of trainers and consultants,
because it relies on shared skills and abilities – that of working with people (groups),
and preparing and conducting group processes, and because it relies on a shared
common goal – that of helping people find solutions to the problems they are facing
and accomplish the tasks and goals of the group/ organization more easily and
successfully.

Although briefly stated, the task of the facilitator is a complex one, and that is
why we intend to approach the facilitation activity in relation with the group
processes it is supposed to help and conduct

Skills, knowledge, and Capabilities for Facilitation in Team:

• Being able to commit to a shared goal.
• Being able to listen and respond to others.
• Being able to take on different roles in groups in order to accomplish
shared ends.
• Being open and honest with one’s ideas, concerns and values.
• Being able to be a leader as well as a follower.
• Not carrying hidden agendas into team meetings.

Barriers to Facilitation:

Did you ever become a member of a new team and it was difficult for you to feel part
of the group?
• You didn’t know everybody, and some of the new faces didn’t make you
feel comfortable
• You feared you were not able to cope – everybody else seemed better
informed and more sure of themselves than you
• It was only with difficulty that you decided to say something
Did you ever participate in team meetings in which things didn’t go enough
smoothly?
• You were not sure what the subject was because the discussion involved
more subjects at the same time
• You were not able to comment because some spoke all the time and
wanted to show they knew it all
• Initially you were a bit confused as to the subject of the meeting and you
left having even more doubts about what you were supposed to do
When you had to find solutions to a problem working a team did you discovered that
it was a difficult process?
• There were different opinions about how the issue should be approached
which generated heated discussions.
• Each wanted to impose his/her own ideas and didn’t seem interested in
your ideas
• You were not sure what were the items in respect of which there were
differences in opinion because every one skipped from one issue to the
other and talked at the same time
• Although, personally, you did not agree with the adopted solution, you did
not have the opportunity to express your point of view and in fact it was
the majority that made the decision

We are sure you have experienced in one moment of your life at least one of the
aspects described above!

Do you think there are solutions that eliminate or improve these aspects?

Do you think someone could help us work more effectively in a group and avoid
conflicting situations?

We believe that this is possible and its solution is called facilitation and the person
who does it is called a facilitator!

But sometimes there are some barriers in facilitation which are likely to cause
problems with the team/group. Apart from the above stated barriers/problems there
are some other problems as well. These may be:

Fears, Expectations, Motivations:

The facilitator may expect the group to be silent, reserved and even display
resistance. This atmosphere may be explained by the feeling of uncertainty created by
the fears and questions that participants usually have when faced with a new situation,
new people they don’t know.
Here are some of the most frequent questions in the mind of team members during the
first meeting:
• What will happen during this meeting?
• How do I look / behave compared to the others? Do the others know more
than I do?
• What if I don’t manage? Do I risk making a fool of myself?
In conclusion, the general reaction is one saying: “I’d better say nothing until I
understand what it’s all about!”

Mission and Activities:

If the facilitator is not responsible to help the team members understand the mission
of the team, the activities that must be implemented and their calendar. There will be
unclarity of the results and acceptance of the objectives to be achieved by the team
will not be able to help everyone in the future to define his/her role and contribution
to the expected results

Work rules and Procedures:

Unclear definition of these rules and procedures creates confusion and
misunderstanding, the principal source of conflict for a team.
The areas in which we consider it is useful to help the team clarify its rules and
procedures are as follows:

• How will decisions be made within the team (all decisions must be made
by the group, or certain decisions may be delegated to sub-groups)

• How does the team work: all activities are done within the group, or each
member performs a task individually and then presents the results to the
group, or the work is performed in sub-groups?
• How do we solve the differences in opinion /disputes within the team?
(Disputes between members may be solved outside the teamwork time, by
appointing a mediator to help overcome differences, or allocating a
specific time to analyze differences during team meetings)
• How do we ensure that the team fulfills its tasks? (Some answers: establish
realistic priorities and work plans, assign responsibilities only to those who
have more time and energy to accomplish the tasks, appoint a person
responsible to remind about the tasks and the deadlines)
What do we do when we don’t manage to accomplish the plans? (Some answers:
organize evaluation meetings and analyze results, identify actions that lead to an
increase in efficiency and redo the action plans).

Adjuring:
Do not adjourn the first meeting without giving the group the opportunity to ask
questions, and express their opinions about the meeting and its results.
Verify whether there are other proposals to include issues on the agenda of the
following meeting and establish the date, time and place for the next meeting.

Know oneself and Members of the Team:
Each member of the team has his/her own teamwork experience. It is useful for each
member to evaluate his/her behavior within the group and be aware of the direction in
which he/she wishes to adjust certain behaviors. This leads to increased tolerance of
each member towards their partners in the team. Otherwise there will be many
problems in the group.

Lack of Communication:
Whenever people are working in a group or as a team they have to communicate with
each other to share their ideas and opinions and sometimes there is a lack of
communication in a group/team and this element likely to act as a barrier to
facilitation.
Ambiguous Responsibility:
There is a saying that everyone’s responsibility is no one’s responsibility. Therefore,
an ambiguity in assigning responsibilities can be highly disastrous. In such a case
there wouldn’t be any particular person answerable for the problem.

Major Causes of Barriers:

Opposing interests (or what we think are opposing interests) are at the core of most
barriers. In a modern complex society, we confront these situations many times a day.
The modern organization adds a whole new group of potential causes of barriers that
are already present:

• competition over scarce resources, time
• ambiguity over responsibility and authority:
• differences in perceptions, work styles, attitudes, communication problems,
individual differences
• increasing interdependence as boundaries between individuals and groups
become increasingly blurred
• reward systems: we work in situations with complex and often contradictory
incentive systems
• differentiation: division of labor which is the basis for any organization causes
people and groups to see situations differently and have different goals
• equity vs. equality: continuous tension exists between equity (the belief that
we should be rewarded relative to our relative contributions) and equality
(belief that everyone should receive the same or similar outcomes).

Facilitator
Facilitator is someone who skillfully helps a group of
people understand their common objectives and
assists them to plan to achieve them without taking a
particular position in the discussion.The facilitator will
try to assist the group in achieving a consensus on
any disagreements that preexist or emerge in the
meeting so that it has a strong basis for future action.

Types of facilitators:
Business facilitators:

Business facilitators work in business, and other formal organisations but facilitators
may also work with a variety of other groups and communities. It is a tenet of
facilitation that the facilitator will not lead the group towards the answer that he/she
thinks is best even if they possess an opinion on the subject matter. The facilitator's
roles is to make it easier for the group to arrive at its own answer, decision, or
deliverable.

Training facilitators:

Training facilitators are used in adult education. These facilitators are usually subject
experts, however draw on the knowledge of the participants and then fill in any gaps.
Training facilitators focus on the foundations of adult education: establish existing
knowledge, build on it and keep it relevant. The role is different to the formal trainer
who will take a more leading role and take the group through an agenda designed to
transmit a body of knowledge.

Skills:
The basic skills of a facilitator are about following good meeting practices:
timekeeping, following an agreed-upon agenda, and keeping a clear record. The
higher-order skills involve watching the group and its individuals in light of group
process and dynamics. In addition, facilitators also need a variety of listening skills
including ability to paraphrase; stack a conversation; draw people out; balance
participation; and make space for more reticent group members.It is critical to the
facilitator's role to have the knowledge and skill to be able to intervene in a way that
adds to the group's creativity rather than taking away from it.

A successful facilitator embodies respect for others and a watchful awareness of the
many layers of reality in a human group.

The role of a facilitator:
Some of the things Facilitators do to assist a Meeting:

• Helping participants show up prepared to contribute
• Codifying the purpose, scope, and deliverables of the meeting or workshop
• Coming prepared with a variety of group facilitation and dialogue tools that
the facilitator is skilled in and can employ in difficult moments
• Keeping the group on track to achieve its goals in the time allotted
• Either providing the group or helping the group decide what ground rules it
should follow and reminding them of these when they are not followed
• Reminding the group of the objectives or deliverables of the meeting or
session
• Setting up a safe environment where members feel comfortable contributing
ideas
• Guiding the group through processes designed to help them listen to each
other and create solutions together
• Asking open-ended questions that stimulate thinking
• Tentatively paraphrasing or repeating verbatim individual contributions to
confirm understanding and ensure they are heard by the whole group
• Tentatively summarizing a recent part of the discussion
• Recording agreements reached in large script on the wall so all can see and
accept the wording
• Recording the current issues within the group in large script on the wall using
phrases agreed by the group
• Offering a possible wording for an unspoken question that may currently beset
the group
• Ensuring the group doesn't settle for the first thing that they can agree on
because they find it painful to go on disagreeing with each other
• Offering opportunities for less forceful members to come forward with
contributions
• Ensuring that actions agreed by the group to carry out its decisions are written
up in a large script on the wall for all to see and are assigned to individuals
• Evaluating the performance of the meeting to assist in continuous
improvement.

Some things that Facilitators don't do:

• Back a particular opinion voiced in the group
• Offer their own opinions
• Let the group unconsciously shy away from a difficult area
• Lead the group towards what he/she thinks is the right direction

Understanding What Facilitators Really Do:
In this classic and oft referenced article, Robert Bacal offers some basic explanations
about the role of facilitators in the modern workplace, and what they actually can do
and bring to the table. In plain English, and a good primer for managers or human

resources staff considering hiring a facilitator. Most people associate the word
"facilitator” with the training environment. Often, that person at the front of the room
leading a training sessions, is referred to as the course facilitator. While it is true that
some seminar leaders do

”facilitate” the facilitation role is often important in other areas. For example, the
chairperson at a meeting often takes on the responsibility for facilitating the meeting,
rather than "running it". The government employee involved in mediation of disputes
between other parties is also a facilitator. Human resources staff members often
facilitate discussions in various contexts. And staff that work with groups of
stakeholders and members of the public may be well advised to take on a facilitating
role rather than a directing one.

Competencies & Characteristics:
If you are involved in facilitation (even if you've never called it that), or may be
involved, you might want to consider the competencies and characteristics of an
effective facilitator as outlined by the Institute of Cultural Affairs (Canada).

Competencies :
The facilitator:
• distinguishes process from content
• manages the client relationship and prepares thoroughly
• uses time and space intentionally
• is skilled in evoking participation and creativity
• practiced in honouring the group and affirming its wisdom
• capable of maintaining objectivity
• skilled in reading the underlying dynamics of the group
• releases blocks to the process
• adapts to the changing situation
• maintains personal integrity

Characteristics:

• paying personal compliments

• willing to spend time in building relationships rather than always being
• task-oriented
• initiating conversation rather than waiting for someone else to
• negotiating rather than dictating decision-making
• listening without interrupting
• talking to them
• more persuasive than sequential
• more enthusiastic than systematic
• more outgoing than serious
• more like a counsellor than a sergeant
• more like a coach than a scientist

Be a Good Communicator:
Group facilitators need to be good communicators who are comfortable with the
following basic communication techniques: active listening, empathy, “I” messages,
and ownership of feelings.

They should, instead, facilitate conversation by:
• Asking gently inquisitive, open ended questions that cannot be answered with yes
or no (“How did you react?” instead of “Were you angry?”)
• Reflecting the emotional content of what is being said; “You are sad when your
parent can’t participate in school activities.”
• Echoing: repeating a word or phrase that needs clarification; “afraid?”
• Using respectful confrontation: “I can see you are upset about this, but we do need
to move on, let’s you and I talk after the class is over.”
• Sticking to simple speech: comments that are clear, direct, timely and brief.
• Being comfortable with self-disclosure.

Look for crime facilitators:

Crime facilitators help offenders commit crimes or acts of disorder. There are three
types of facilitators:

Physical facilitators:

Physical facilitators are things that augment offenders' capabilities or help to
overcome prevention measures. Trucks extend offenders' capacity to move stolen
goods, telephones allow people to make obscene phone calls, and firearms help
overcome resistance to robberies. Some physical facilitators are tools, but others are
part of the physical environment. Felson and colleagues describe how the old layout

of the Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York facilitated a variety of crimes. Types
of crimes had specific ecological niches created by the variety of design features in
the old station.

Social facilitators:

Social facilitators stimulate crime or disorder by enhancing rewards from crime,
legitimating excuses to offend, or by encouraging offending. Groups of young men,
for example, can provide the social atmosphere that encourages rowdy behavior at
sporting events. Gangs and organized criminal networks facilitate criminal activity by
their members.
Chemical facilitators :

Increase offenders' abilities to ignore risks or moral prohibitions. Some offenders, for
example, drink heavily or use drugs before a crime in order to decrease their
nervousness.

What is an acceptable excuse often depends on what others will accept. And
acquaintances can provoke crime or disorder through encouragement. Chemical
facilitators allow offenders to ignore the risk and effort involved in committing a
crime, and to make unacceptable excuses.

If facilitators do play a role in the problem, then the next step is to find the sources of
the facilitators. Sources will, of course, vary by type of facilitator. Physical facilitators
might be readily available, as in the case of rocks for rioters or public phones for drug
dealers. Or they may be purchased legitimately, as is the case for many burglary tools.
Or they may be stolen, as is sometimes the case with vehicles used in serious crimes.
Once their source is found, it may be possible to do something about them. The boxes
show measures taken to address the use of public phones in drug dealing and
facilitating environment.

What is an Independent Facilitator? DDI Independent
Facilitation Training
An Independent Facilitator responds directly to your
dreams, desires and personal goals. The facilitator
coordinates the planning process and assures that the
plan is clear to all planning participants and is ready for
implementation.

Who can be your Independent Facilitator?
You do have a choice of who can be your Independent
Facilitator

• You can be your own Independent Facilitator
• Someone that you trust can be your Independent
Facilitator
• Someone trained as an Independent Facilitator
can be used. This can be someone other than
your existing Support Coordinator.

What does an Independent Facilitator do?
Independent Facilitators can do all of the following:

• Help you identify your dreams and goals
• Assist you in arranging your planning meeting
• Keep your meetings focused on you (person-
centered)
• Make sure you are heard and understood
• Provide information on a variety of supports (i.e.
natural, community, system)

What does an Independent Facilitator NOT
do?
Independent Facilitators DO NOT generally perform the
following duties:

• Decide what will be paid for in your plan
• Authorize your services and supports
• Benefit from the outcome of your plan

What kind of follow up can you expect?
Your Independent Facilitator will contact you to see:
• How things are going
• If you need additional meetings or assistance
• Asking someone you know and trust

Skills for appropriate Facilitation
Introduction:
The skills of the facilitator can often make or break a meeting’s or even a team’s
success. Team facilitation combines skill and art to help teams reach their objectives.
Facilitators must have a variety of skills and techniques to be effective. Strong verbal
and analytical skills are essential. Facilitators must know what questions to ask, when
to ask them, and how questions should be structured to get good answers without
defensiveness. Facilitators must know how to probe for more information when the
initial answers are not sufficient. They must also know how to rephrase or "reframe"
statements to enhance understanding, and to highlight areas of agreement and
disagreement as they develop.

The basic skills of a facilitator are about following good meeting practices:

• Focusing the meeting
• Keeping meeting on track
• Timekeeping
• Following an agreed-upon agenda, and keeping a clear record
• Higher-order skills involve watching the group and its individuals in light
of group process and dynamics.

Focusing the Meeting:
As important as it for the facilitator to properly prepare for the meeting it is equally
important that the participant be focused. This requires making sure that all attendees
are informed of the purpose of the meeting and that they come prepared to participate.

A meeting without focus will usually be unproductive, and may result in conflicts.
Since the facilitator’s role is to help ensure successful, productive meetings,
purposeful direction is necessary.

To focus the meeting effectively, the facilitator needs to be concerned with both
elements of conducting meetings mentioned previously - the content and the process.

Making sure participants understand the meeting agenda and ground rules provides
not only a basis for them to stay focused on the task and the process but also provides
a basis for facilitator intervention which helps the team stay on track.

At the beginning of the meeting, the facilitator needs tore view the meeting agenda
and ground rules to ensure everyone understands, agrees to, and will abide by them.

Specific items should be discussed:

• Review the charter with the participants, if it exists.

• If there is no charter, review the purpose and the expected outcomes of the
meeting.
• Review the ground rules to reinforce what the participants have already
decided.
• Review the items for discussion and the time line.

If the ground rules does not exists, then you must assist the participants in developing
them. A quick and easy way to develop a list of ground rules at the beginning of
meetings is to ask the participants:

 When you attend meetings?
 What lights your fires?
 What burns you up?

You will sometimes get surprising responses, but don’t try to force them into common
mold that you have to work with and respect.

Keeping the Team on Track:
Keeping the team on track starts with good preparation and includes the use of
appropriate process intervention. Process intervention is an interruption by the
facilitator of the meeting process and conversation in order to refocus the participants
and/or to rebalance group interactions

Most interventions can link back to the posted ground rules or group norms. As a
guideline always start with the lowest level of intervention, which is the least obvious
and least threatening to the individual or group. As a facilitator your goal is to support
the participants in achieving their desires outcomes by staying in track and balancing
participation with results, so intervention must be supportive. Speak the intervention
clearly using assertive language, with supportive tone of voice and body language

Types of Skills
There are three types:

 Engaging facilitation Skills
 Involving Facilitation Skills
 Inormfing facilitation skills
 Planning facilitation skills

Engaging Facilitation Skills:
These skills invite members to be a part of a group. They encourage a member to feel
included and valued within the group context. They help group members reflect on
what they already know and prepare them for interactive learning. Engaging skills are
used to create curiosity, interest and energy. They encourage the discovery of personal
meaning and interpersonal connections.

• Demonstrating Leadership :

This skill identifies you as the leader and let's group members know that you'll
provide guidance, support, and structure for the group. Example: “Hey everybody,
I'd like your attention! I'm Jordan and I'm going to be your orientation leader for
the next two days.”

• Creating an Open Environment:

There are things you can do as a leader to welcome new members to the group and
make them feel included. Example: “I'm really glad that each of you are going to
be living on the 9th floor of Aloha Tower this year. I think we're going to have a
great time together. I'd like to go around the group and have everyone share one
thing they're looking forward to at UH this year.”

• Encouraging Connections:

In order to feel connected to a group, members need to get to know one another
and see what they have in common. Example: “I'd like each of the representatives
here to introduce them and say a few things about the group they represent and
what other groups here they interact with the most.”

• Building Group Rapport :

One of the challenges of group leadership is creating camaraderie and good will
within the group. It is important to encourage positive interactions that make
members feel good about being part of the group. Example: “Thanks for coming
to this time management workshop. Since I'm sure we all procrastinate, I'd like
each of us to share one thing that we do to waste time when we're avoiding
something more important.”

• Defining Group Identity :

Every group has an identity and an atmosphere. As a leader, you will set the tone
for defining what the group is all about and what it will feel like to be a member.
Example: “Let me tell you about what the kayak club has been like and what
we've done in the past and then we can talk about whether we want to do the same
things this year.”

Informing Facilitation Skills:
These are used to provide a group with information from outside the group and to
help the group learn about itself.

• Providing Information :

Leadership often involves providing the group with pertinent information that they
don't already have. This information might include facts, resources, knowledge,
theories, or data. A lecture is one of many ways to provide information. Example:
“There are several resources on campus that can help support our group activities.
Let me tell you about some of them...”

• Soliciting Information :

A leader often needs to collect information from the group members. This can be
done by asking open ended questions, surveying ideas, or gathering data.
Example: “What kinds of things have you done to effectively manage your stress
in the past? Can I have two or three people share what has worked for them?”

• Clarifying Ideas or Concepts:

This skill involves making sure everyone understands what is being said or
agreed upon. One way to clarify is to summarize the concept or idea and see if
there are any misunderstandings. Example: “Let me make sure that I am clear on
this. We would like to have quiet hours from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. and then from
10:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m. Is that what we're all agreeing on?”

• Conceptualizing :

Being a leader sometimes involves using new or outside knowledge to help the
group better understands itself. Looking at the group using a particular theory,
model, or concept is one example of conceptualizing. Example: “In my leadership
class, I just learned about three styles of leadership. In our group, I think there is a
conflict between those who favor an authoritarian style and those who prefer
laissez-faire leadership.”

• Learning from Within the Group :

In addition to providing information from outside the group, you can survey
group members or gather information about the group itself. You might also use
your observation skills to identify group characteristics, themes, or process.
Example: “In addition to the examples of study skills from the book, I'd like for us
to identify our own skills. Let's go around the group and have each person identify
one good study habit and one bad study habit they need to change.”

Involving Facilitation Skills:
These encourage positive interaction and learning between group members. These
skills create an opportunity for active experimentation and encourage learning by
practice and allow group members to put new knowledge to practical use. Because
involvement occurs when group members themselves practice and gain hands-on
experience, these facilitation skills require a shift in focus away from the leader and
toward the group and the members within the group.

• Inviting Participation and Interaction :

Leadership often involves prompting group members to take action or to interact
with one another. This interaction can occur within the present group or in the
future. Example: “Let's break down into small groups so that everyone can share
their ideas about how to better promote spiritual growth on campus.”

• Bouncing Back to the Group:

The group's attention may naturally gravitate toward you as the leader. However,
it is often helpful for you to deflect this attention and “bounce” the focus or
energy back to the group itself to keep interaction and involvement high.
Example: “That's a really good question. What have other people's experiences
been in this situation?”

Planning Facilitation Skills:
These focus on planning for the future and applying learning from the group to other
contexts. These skills encourage members to work together to make specific plans to
accomplish group or individual goals. Planning skills prepare group members to move
from active experimentation within the group to concrete experience beyond the
group.

• Brainstorming:

One of the best ways for a group to start the planning process is by generating
lots of ideas in a no evaluative manner. Brainstorming allows a group to think of a
diverse and large number of ideas in a short period of time without rejecting ideas
too quickly. Example: “We need to think of some possible fund-raisers for the
spring semester. Let's shout out as many different ideas as possible without
criticizing the ideas. We can go back and evaluate how realistic each idea is later.”

• Generalizing :

This skill involves taking a successful behavior from one area and trying it in a
new area. Example: “Now that we've all identified strategies that we used to
achieve important goals in the past, let's see which of these strategies will help
you achieve academic success here at UH.”

• Brainstorming:

After analyzing a problem and brainstorming possible solutions, it is important to
make a decision about the best way to solve a problem or approach a challenge.
Example: “It seems like there is too much underage drinking in our halls because
there aren't any fun alternatives to alcohol on the weekend. Let's think about other
things students like to do and see what we can plan.”

• Applying:

Once knowledge has been shared in a group, it should be put into action in a way
that directly relates to the experience of the group.

Ground rules:
Ground rules help meeting participants establish appropriate ways to interact with
each other during the meeting. If the meeting involves a team, they will probably
already have established ground rules. If the participants have never met only meet
occasionally, they may not have developed ground rules. If this is the case, be
prepared to develop them at the beginning of the meeting. The rules do not have to be
extensive. They may be as simple as” treat each other with respect “or “everyone has
an equal voice. Another important aspect of the ground rules is making sure that
participants understand how decisions are to be made. It may be necessary to discuss
the options with team if they do not already have a decision making norm. Options
may include multi voting, majority rule, consensus or a combination of two different
methods

Benefits of Team Facilitation
Introduction:
Facilitation is a means of increasing the awareness of a group to make public what is
private, to make conscious what is unconscious, to increase group and individual
choice and to create potential for individual and group development.

Facilitation is an on-going activity; you will need to keep yourself up to date with
current thinking and techniques.

There are many benefits of team facilitation and these are discussed as under.

Develop Interpersonal Skills:
The most important benefit of team facilitation is that it develops interpersonal skills.
Because in a team when a person facilitates he develops interpersonal skills and
societal relationships which occurs in all team and must develop in the team members.
A facilitator identifies the dynamic elements of team work and guide team members
how to work.

A team member needs some special skills to succeed in a team environment.
Facilitation provides this chance to him. Because facilitation develops interpersonal
skills in a team member for effective communication. These skills provide:

• Ability to listen well
• Ability to participate and contribution
• Ability to present their own area of expertise
• Flexibility, competitiveness, security and inclusiveness
• Meeting facilitation

Provide Experience:
Another benefit of facilitation is that it provides experience. Because it is well said

“Learning follows actions and actions follows learning.”

Facilitation provides experience to the team members. Because team members, when
facilitates, learns from their actions and from their actions they get experience. If you
did not start some thing you can’t learn from that. Facilitation provides you an
experience to handle team members.

If we take the example of learning to swim or ride a bicycle. It is not until you take
some action, such as getting into the water and splashing around, or trying to balance
on a bicycle for the first time, that you have the opportunity to learn how to
accomplish either of these tasks. In learning to swim or ride a bicycle your experience
provides feedback which enables you to modify your subsequent performance until

you achieve the desired outcome. Learning occurs when experience is transformed
through reflection into action strategies.

As described in the above example, facilitation does the same for a team. It provides
experience on the basis of facilitation. It can also be described with the help of
experiential learning cycle.

The process of gaining experience from actions and gaining learning from experience
is called experiential learning cycle as shown in above diagram. It begins by focusing
on experience and asks the question, what did I just do?This is followed by, what did
the experience mean for me? The final question is, what must I do next in order to
extend my learning into action? Create the conditions for learning by setting regular
time aside for reflection.

Eliminate Conflicts:
The most important benefit of facilitation is that through facilitation conflicts in a
team can be eliminated. Because when conflicts are reduced the whole team gets
number of benefits like:

• Save resources in a longer term
• Make team positive, clear and skillful
• Defuse conflicts and move them forward
• Protect the team from risk
• Eliminate demotivation
• Improve communication and understanding
• Improved individual performance

Create a Climate of Cooperation:

Co-operation is a cultural value in effective teams. Facilitation creates a climate of
cooperation among the team members. It is the realisation that the success of the team
begins with the acknowledgement that everyone in the team has a part to play in its
success and is entitled to a stake in this success. Inappropriate competition between
team members is challenged.

A good example of this can be found in the world of Formula One Motor Racing.
Most teams have two drivers who aspire to be world champions; they are therefore in
competition with one another. However, the team also aspires to be the world
champion constructors. They expect both drivers and every other member of the team
to aim for this objective too. They will not tolerate inappropriate competition between
drivers for very long and usually issue instructions along the lines of, "Go out to win,
but if you facilitate each other 'off the road' in the process, your job will be on the
line"! They recognize that inappropriate competition can cost them the world
championship.

Facilitation increases the spirit of cooperation. When conflicts are eliminated the
environment of cooperation among the team members will automatically prevails.

Create Trust:
When facilitator facilitates the team in a good way it creates trust among team
members. Effective, empowered teams have a very high trust factor, but this is
earned, cannot be imposed, and should not be taken for granted. Facilitator needs to
facilitate the team in such a way which creates trust; the most important of these is to
be trustworthy yourself. Trust is the natural outcome of a culture. Teams which

develop trust develop very high levels of commitment and are able to achieve great
things. The literal meaning of trust is a reliance on truth. Begin to create trust by being
truthful with your team.

Quick Decisions:
Decisions can be reached more quickly with much less negative dissension. All team
members have the opportunity to say their piece in an environment. When team
members will work with the spirit of cooperation and without any conflict the
decisions will be made more quickly and accurately as well. And it will also ensure
the high quality team processing.

Development of the whole Team:
Through facilitation the whole team is benefited because facilitator takes decisions for
the interest of whole team and not for the individual interest. The development of
team includes:

• identifying and optimizing the talents within a team
• setting clear and exciting responsibilities
• clarifying ways of working together
• building constructive interpersonal relationships
• developing recognition systems
• creating constructive external team relationships

Easy Solution to Problems:
Facilitation also provides easy solution to problems. Because two or three heads
are better than one. Facilitator always works with the team cooperation and takes
decisions for the interest of the team. So when whole team will work together
they can easily solve any kind of problem with the facilities provided by the
facilitators.

The higher the level of participant, the greater the productivity. A group that
works well together can produce results that surpass even the best efforts of an
individual. Participants recognize that they are all responsible for supporting and
implementing the group's decisions.

Reduce Time & Cost:
Facilitators help the team to improve the overall quality of interactions, which flows
directly to the bottom line. Facilitator work with team to ensure that team meetings
aren’t considered non-productive due to lack of clarity and lack of action. Team will
have more time to work on high priority issues.

Superior Results:
Extraordinary teams produce superior results. Facilitator work to ensure the principles
of great teamwork. And he provides best facilities to his team. With this best
facilitation the working of team get super to superior. And superior team will
automatically brings superior results.

Clear Sense of Direction:
Facilitation also provides clear sense of direction. It makes team clear about their
visions and missions through creating:

• clarification and setting of personal, team goals
• coaching the team through the “how” of achieving goals and overcoming
potential barriers
• taking more effective and focused actions immediately - making things happen
• a safe and highly confidential environment to explore and support learning and
address development needs

Develop Leadership Qualities:
Facilitation also creates leadership qualities in facilitation. When facilitator manage
teams, takes decisions for the team, the team members follow that decisions. And as u
know

“Leaders always need followers”

Facilitator also has followers so they have also leadership qualities. Because he:
• Manage team
• Reduce conflicts
• Take decisions

What the team members Get out of it:
The organization isn’t the sole beneficiary of teaming environment. Team members
who participate in successful, effective teams may actually get more in the long run.
Among the many things people find they get in teams are:

• Trust
• Creativity
• Strategic thinking
• Broader perspective
• The process of intervention

Strategies and Steps to Improve
Team Facilitation
Today’s complex business environments, employees who build successful work
relationships and interact with people in a positive way achieve organizational goals.
Building positive relationships is something we all want. Unfortunately many of us
have just gone about it the wrong way. But the good news is that we can change our
behavior and break our bad relationship habits. By improving your self esteem and
learning good interpersonal communication skills, you can change your relationship
situation almost instantly. This workshop is designed to develop workshop
participants in becoming excellent relationship builders using appreciation.

Appreciative Intelligence:
Use the power of appreciation to deal with team members. It is not only the team
leader who has to be encouraging but colleagues have to handle each other with
positively and care.

Expectations:
By knowing what your colleague expects from you, one can really enhance the
performance. What does your boss expect from you and what does a subordinate
expect from a boss?

Relationship Building:
Realize the negatives which exist in teams and learn how to handle them. Developing
and showing a positive attitude.

Communication:
Identifying personal communication style, Sharpening verbal and nonverbal behaviors
and skills, Applying direct and indirect messages for more flexible communication,
using feedback and questioning skills to better understand others.

Improvement of Communication in a Group:

We’ve seen before how a team is formed and developed and what the characteristics
of an efficient team are. But teamwork efficiency and the use of potential resources of
each team member are influenced by the way in which the team members
communicate among themselves.

Group Communication Facilitation:
Let’s see what could be the objectives of the facilitator in supporting the

communication process!
The team efficient communication model has 3 characteristics:
1-It is interactive and balanced.
2-It is respectful.
3-It focuses on the issue / subject discussed.
4-It is relevant.

Role Of Facilitator Should be Efficient:
a.Appeal to the rules established by the group.
b.Ask questions.
c.Rephrase.
d.Stop digressions .
e.Group Decision making process should b efficient.
f.Building consensus: steps and techniques.

Techniques For Group work:
In order to help the team work together, communicate and make decisions in a
structured manner, the facilitator has available techniques and tools for group work.

The most used are BRAINSTORMING and THE NOMINAL GROUP
TECHNIQUE, described below.

• Brainstorming:

It is a method to stimulate creative thinking based on chThe Nominal Group
Technique: Teamwork technique that allows participants work together in a structured
manner, without inhibitions or temptations to issue premature judgments anneling the
energies of a group toward the generation of ideas.

• The Nominal Group Technique:

Teamwork technique that allows participants work together in a structured manner,
without inhibitions or temptations to issue premature judgments

Separating Personality Differences from Group:
Identifying This part of the program asks facilitators to reflect on the quality of their
own practices before learning skills and techniques that help them address the
behaviors of others. This analysis is essential if the new strategies and concepts
recommended by the facilitator are to make the transition from workshop to
workplace. Throughout this session participants will explore the differences between
themselves and individuals within groups, with the purpose of distinguishing group
performance problems from personality differences. The ability to separate the two is
a key responsibility of the facilitator.

Being an Effective Process Observer:
The facilitator must develop skills in observing teams in order to interview
effectively. The workshop participant will learn to be a neutral observer and focus on
team performance, instead of his or her own personal biases. The workshop will give
participants a “checklist” of issues that directly affect group performance:
Does the group share a clearly defined goal(s)?
Do issues of power and leadership need to be addressed?
Is the appropriate decision making process in place?
Is team participation balanced?

Giving And Receiving Feedback:
Participants should develop their ability to provide behaviourally specific feedback, a
core skill in work team facilitation. Once the facilitator has identified the source of the
group struggle, he or she must be able to comment on the problem effectively. The
style of presentation is crucial to the acceptance of feedback. Delivered incorrectly,
feedback is ineffectual to team functioning and can exacerbate existing problems.
“Facilitation Skills for the Workplace ” distinguishes between descriptive and
judgmental language, so facilitators can deliver feedback to a group in the most
effective manner. The use of judgmental language impairs the feedback process, and
makes collaborative problem solving impossible. Behaviourally descriptive language
is a better vehicle for feedback because group members find it non-threatening.

Conflict Resolution:
Conflict can have a positive impact on work team interaction, and on human
relationships in general. Most people find conflict uncomfortable and view it as
negative. In this session workshop participants will examine the role of conflict in
group interactions and will learn to see conflict as an opportunity for team growth.
The Workshop prepares facilitators to deal with conflict by learning to recognize
common defense responses to conflict situations and develop strategies for dealing
with these defensive styles. Participants are encouraged to examine and develop their
own strategies for those parts of confrontation which they personally find difficult to
address.

Conduction meetings:
The objectives of meetings should be:

• Introduction of participants
• Fears, expectations, motivations
• Mission and activities
• Work rules and procedures
• Adjourning.
• Getting to know oneself and the other members of the team.

Team Leadership Training:
A team leader has tremendous responsibility in balancing people issues with task
issues, managing differences, overcoming misalignment, and many others. With so
many issues, it takes a confident and skilled leader to see that a team stays productive
and focused on the task at hand.

Corporate Team Building Training:
Effective team building can create teams that are adaptable, innovative, and
committed to a shared vision of growth and success for a company.

Coaching Management:
Coaching management teams is an essential part in developing leaders and employees
for the rapidly shifting marketplace. We can develop training programs around your
organization and tailor it to your specific objectives. Each manager brings with them
certain strengths and areas for improvement.

Customized Strategic Thinking:
Too often in today’s demanding and ever-changing business and corporate
environment, immediate results in the here and now are sought after at the expense of
meaningful and profitable future growth.

Executive Leadership Development Programs:
Executives today must be able to empower others in the company to create solid,
lasting relationships, and build the organization for the future. We have developed an
Executive Leadership Development Program based on research and experience that
can help enhance the values, principles, and characteristics of effective and successful
leaders.

Management Development Program:

Are your leaders instilling ownership for your managements' goals at every level of
the organization? If not, these goals will be hard to realize.

Corporate Team Building Program:
Do your employees utilize a team environment to improve their level of success? If
not, you may be missing out on organizational efficiencies.

Coaching Workshop:
A manager that can coach employees in a way that inspires, motivates, and improves
performance is a valuable asset to any organization. Leadership skills set the tone for

success. It affects attitude, morale, productivity, and unity of everyone involved in the
organization.

Facilitation Training:

Many factors are required to encourage your employees to get on board with
organizational goals. Organizations can do a better job of maximizing the
involvement of all participants to discover, develop, and implement solutions that
provide results and build partnerships in the workplace.Facilitation is one of the most
important functions of management. You can teach your managers how to inspire and
create unity among your employees with a management leadership training program.

Performance Coaching:

Even above-average employees, on occasion, create problems; and they do want
developmental and performance coaching. You need to approach these employees a
bit differently than other employees. In all likelihood, they are knowledgeable,
skillful, and self-motivated; and their own personality style probably fits the
organization. These high-achieving employees are trying to tell us indirectly, by the
quality of their work, that they want to be helpful and feel responsible for doing the
best possible job.

Outdoor Team Building:
This exercise is set up as a classic business simulation where 75% of the experience is
outside of the classroom. It is an excellent way to develop intact teams, cross-
functional teams, and mixed groups of individuals who want to improve their team
skills with Outdoor Team Building.

Coaching for Success:
Coaching skills provide a valuable framework to guide leaders in all types of
discussions. These skills can be applied in discussions about successful or
unsuccessful performance, at the beginning of new projects or with a new team
member, during performance reviews, career counseling, development discussions or
whenever there are needed changes to be made in a company's direction to stay ahead
of the competition.

Seven Management Coaching Errors — And How To Avoid
Them:

The road to high-performance and win-win partnerships has plenty of falling rocks,
potholes, and detours. You can steer around many of them if you are able to read the
road signs.

How Can A Team Building Seminar Improve Employee Performance?

Since the ability to function and maximize effective performance is crucial for a
winning team, it is important for the group to align and focus on how to become a
more effective unit.

What Is A Team Building Consultant?

Every person can produce results as individual contributors, but more can be
accomplished through synergistic partnerships when more than one person is
involved.

Organizational Development and Change:

Successful organizational development and change depends on understanding the
strengths and weaknesses in each area.

Corporate Coaching:
It's important to give people an opportunity to "buy-in" to the team's plans, and
identify what contributions they can commit to making.

Learn practical Facilitation Skills:

Our Facilitation Skills program is an in-depth and interactive workshop experience
that helps managers and leaders define and gain consensus for group objectives,
evaluate their teams, and channel their best energy and thinking, delivering business
results while building relationships.

Group Facilitation:
goes beyond traditional tools and techniques of group facilitation and meeting
management. It is not primarily about presentation skills, instruction, or public
speaking.

Coaching employees:
is the key to influencing, motivating, and recognizing people and employees who will
contribute and cooperate with their leaders.

Characteristics Of An Efficient Team Must Be:

• Clear mission (goal, direction, vision, objectives) – assumed by the group.
Clear responsibilities and roles – delegation and efficient allocation of human,
institutional, material and financial resources.
Orientation toward results and competition – structure, strategy – coordination
and coherence/ cooperation
Competence in subjects or issues and authority and credibility
Unity of action and coordination – team spirit and cooperation
Quality standards – quality evaluation systems
Openness and flexible.

Every Team Member Should add Strategic Value:

Strategic thinking for team members is a matter of applying strategic thinking skills to
the team environment. Just as each team member has a role in the problem solving
process, each member has a different perception of the problem and solution. Only
through team alignment and collaboration between team members will any decision
ever be implemented. By using strategic thinking skills team members learn to open
up to each other and different styles of thinking become a benefit rather than a
hindrance.

High Performance Teams Should Be Made:
High Performance Teams fit naturally into that spectrum of change strategies. As part
of a Culture Change strategy, HPTs offer breakthrough thinking and breakthrough
results. As with any change strategy, they have corresponding challenges and
opportunities. As is seen throughout this text, successful HPT implementation is
dependent upon appropriate organizational timing, placement, and support.

“O brave new world, That has such people in´t!”
Shakespeare, The Tempest

CONCLUSION
In nutshell, we can say that “There is no I in team.” Teamwork facilitation has the
abilities to serve as a leader & solve problems relating to a group. But along with some
barriers as well which can be highly disastrous. There are some skills and traits which are
of far reaching importance in improving team facilitation. In today’s world of cut throat
competition, group facilitation plays an important role in the success of the business and
other fields as well.

Suggestions
 You don’t need to complex interaction formulas. You don’t have to be easy
going, well educated, hard-nosed or or even specially intelligent to build team.
 You don’t have to be anything other than yourself. You can be effective with
people using common sense and a few fundamental principles.
 If people cannot initially commit, it does not mean they don’t care. Therefore
this process should be catalyze this process, so that the critical mass of people
can pass through this stage efficiently on their way to genuine commitment &
innovative strategies.
 There should be confidence in team leadership & vision. Because when it
prevails, team members are more willing to go through ups, downs, risks &
potential loss.
 Encouraging equal participation across team members can be a challenge. We
should all been to meeting where there is one person who seems to dominate
the conversation, and other meetings where there the silence is oppressive.
 We should focus on the process and fully engage in the content of discussion,
knowing full well that the team facilitator is carefully attuned to all aspects of
team process.
 If other participants are reacting to the material, suggest “parking the issue”
while completing the current item(s).Address these new topics after the
speaker or the agenda topic discussions end.

REFERENCES

www.google.com

www.lycos.com

www.wikipedia.com

www.ask.com

www.beyondintractability.org

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