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Group Facilitation and Consultation Adult & Organizational Development (AOD) 5534

Summer II 2023 Professor ShaVon Y. Savage, Esq.

Monday, July 10, 2023

Course Description

This course focuses on the skills needed to assist groups and teams in decision-making processes. Students learn both voting and consensus processes and develop the skills needed to facilitate either approach to decision-making. The course also covers a range of specialized formats for assisting group decision making, such as brainstorming, nominal group technique, problem solving, incrementalism, and mixed scanning.

Course Goals and Learning Outcomes

➢ Students will understand the foundational concepts and principles of facilitation.

➢ Students will identify and effectively implement multiple approaches to facilitating group decision making.

➢ Students will be able to diagnose and intervene in group decision making as part of their facilitative role.

➢ Students will understand, dissect, and analyze special cases in facilitating the group decision making process.

Course Logistics

Online Learning ● We will continue to utilize Canvas ● All assignments will be posted,

handed in and graded via Canvas ● We will have Zoom links available for

each in-person session ● The syllabus, with assignments, are

available in Canvas

In-Person Instruction ● TUCC Room 406 ● 8:30 am - 12:30 pm ● Monday, July 10th through Saturday,

July 15th ● Office Hours: 12:30 pm - 1:30 pm

during in-person sessions, via Zoom by appointment

● Course Materials: The Skilled Facilitator, Schwarz

Assignments

● Readings ○ Chapters of the text are assigned by

module ○ Additional readings will be

completed in class and included in the Module Overviews

● Discussion Posts ○ Introductions (beginning of class) ○ Reflections (end of class)

● Facilitation Self-Assessment ● Written Narratives

○ Reflections on Self-Assessment (due tomorrow, Tuesday, 7/11)

○ Reflections on Facilitation Mindsets and Behaviors (due Thursday, 7/13)

● Group Project: details will be provided today

● Final Presentation or Project ○ Presentation: Introducing your

facilitative process to a group you will be facilitating

○ Project: ■ Action Research Project OR ■ Sample Contract Proposal

● Rubrics are available and attached to every assignment in Canvas

Learning Objectives for the Day

● Understand the structure of the course and the assignments due

● Understand your own facilitative style and how your personal identity and experiences affect your style

● Learn the various facilitative roles and two distinct mindsets

● Develop an understanding of how to choose a facilitative role

● Begin to practice some of your learning

Agenda for Today’s Session

Timing Topic Type of Activity

8:30 am - 9:00 am Reflecting on Previous Learning

Lecture/Discussion

9:00 am - 10:00 am How do you facilitate? Lecture/Discussion

10:00 am-10:15 am Break

10:15 am - 11:00 am Roles, Mindsets and Design Lecture/Discussion

11:00 am-11:30 am Tying it all Together Practice Activity

11:30 am - 12:15 pm Group Project Assignment Review

12:15 pm - 12:30 pm Wrap Up Exit Slip

Reflecting on Previous

Your Introductory Discussion Posts: Takeaways

● We are all facilitators. ● It’s hard to be “neutral”, especially when facilitating learning. Is

neutrality always necessary? ● What happens in situations where we seek to be “neutral” but the

perspective of the group differs from our own? ● Some of us haven’t seen good models in our personal/daily lives…

○ …even though there’s a lot of talk about “collaboration.” ○ How can collaboration be truly productive?

● How do our personal identities, values, goals and preferences play into how we facilitate? What does this mean for authenticity?

Your Introductory Discussion Posts: Takeaways

● When do we make the decision vs. including others in the decision? How do we move forward from discussion?

● How do we manage intergroup conflict, dissension and disengagement in a group? ○ What causes disengagement and dissension? Timing? Processing time? Questioning?

Goals? Norms? ○ How do organizational dynamics come into play?

● What types of sessions and meetings do we currently or intend to facilitate?

● What tools do we need? ○ Norms, listening skills, reading body language, strategies to use with groups,

questioning techniques, tools to overcome barriers, content selection, communication strategies, timing strategies, Emotional Constancy, use of technology, learning to be purposeful

Your Introductory Discussion Posts: Takeaways

“I often have to remind myself to just guide people and not direct them.” -Monet A. Barmore, June 28th Discussion Post Reply

“[I] struggled with desiring to tell clients what to do but as I gained experience I realized that I wouldn’t be serving them well by doing that.” -Jordan Stanley Cagle, June 28th Discussion Post Reply

The Sports Analogy: “[Y]our role [as a coach] is to facilitate a culture that allows for that to happen through effective communication and trust.” -Luke Hostetter, June 30th Discussion Post Reply

“The president of our faculty senate is awesome. Embers that could turn into aggressive forest fires are often put out by his leadership and facilitating style. He allows all parties to be heard and confirms their right to feel the way they do.” -Bernard L. Dillard, July 1st Discussion Post

Reflecting on Previous Learning

● Facilitation Self-Assessment ○ What do you value as a facilitator? What

personal stance do you try to uphold? ○ What do you think you’re good at? What

would you like to improve? ● Turn and Talk, then Share Out

○ You’ll share your partner’s reflection ■ One thing they ALWAYS do ■ One thing they NEVER do

SO….

● How will this class support your learning? We will examine: ○ Facilitative Roles and their Approaches ○ Mindsets (Unilateral Control and Mutual Learning) ○ Behaviors and Norms ○ Group Design and Development ○ Diagnosing and Intervening in Groups ○ Virtual Meetings ○ Contracting and Agreements

● We will also examine strategies to help develop your “Facilitator’s Toolkit”

How do you facilitate?

What is facilitation?

● The idea of facilitation has been around since at least the 1960s ● Groups as the basic work unit of organizations ● Why Schwarz?

○ His work is well-known and heavily relied upon in many contexts ○ “The facilitator’s main task is to help the group increase effectiveness by

improving its process and structure.” (Schwarz 2002: 5) ■ The issue in our context: neutrality ■ In most of our working contexts, we are always a third party, but instead, we

operate as group members ○ How can we reconcile this? This is the work of the class.

Other Definitions

● Facilitation in an experiential group model (Heron) ○ Learning takes place “through an

active and aware involvement of the whole person”

○ Learning is the responsibility of the participant

○ “Facilitation…is a holistic intervention.”

● The “Core Conditions” model (Rogers) ○ A facilitative practice requires three

“core conditions” that allow the facilitator “to be experienced [by the participants] as genuine” ■ Realness in the facilitator ■ Acceptance of the learner ■ Empathetic understanding of

the participants’ reactions without evaluations or judgement

○ “People will increasingly trust others when they feel at a deep level that their experiences are respected and understood.” (Thorne 1992: 26)

The Facilitator’s Role

● Schwarz names a number of roles, requirements and responsibilities that we will examine this week

● We will frame Schwarz’s analysis within Smith’s three broader collected tenets ○ Think Group ○ Attending to Purpose ○ Staying in touch with Yourself

Smith’s Collected Tenets

● Think Group ○ Focus on the group as a whole ○ Consider the context in which the group

is embedded ○ Strengthen the group

● Attending to Purpose ○ Pay attention to the individual and

collective goals ○ Intervene to clarify and achieve those

goals ● Staying in touch with Yourself

○ Facilitation flows from your identity and integrity

○ Understand what is being asked of you ○ Determine whether you can match the

ask

Core Values

● Smith poses a question: “On what basis do we make choices about our practice [as a Facilitator]?” ○ Core Values that are shared and debated amongst a community of facilitators

■ Note: there are a number of organizations that focus on facilitation and certifying facilitators

■ Many of those named by researchers and groups align with Schwarz’s core values for Participants: ● Participants Share Valid Information ● Free and Informed Choice by Participants ● Internal Commitment of Participants ● Participants show Compassion

Schwarz’s stance: As a Facilitator, we must norm and expect participants to uphold these values

○ Personal Commitments and Values

Revisit your Model Facilitator In the Discussion Post, you were asked to name a “model facilitator.” Does that model uphold Smith’s collected tenets? ● Stand up and find a triad ● Discuss your model facilitator and how they exhibit (or don’t

exhibit) the tenets and Core Values: ○ Tenets:

■ Think Group ■ Attending to Purpose ■ Staying in touch with Yourself

○ Core Values: ■ Valid Information, Free and Informed

Choice, Internal Commitment, and Compassion

■ Personal Commitments & Values

● Be prepared to share your collective thoughts: ○ Did your model facilitators match the tenets? Which ones? ○ Which tenets did they fail to display?

Module 3 Assignment

● Pull up Module 3 in Canvas ● Review the Assignment ● Journal some notes that will inform your Written Narrative based

upon the activities so far today. ○ Do you utilize Smith’s collected tenets? ○ What are your strengths and weaknesses?

● Use these notes and your Facilitation Self-Assessment to complete your Written Narrative (due tomorrow, Tuesday, 7/11 at 11:59 PM)

Facilitative Roles (Schwarz, Chapter 2)

Schwarz’s Definition

● A group facilitator is a person who ○ Is not a member of the group (this speaks to neutrality), ○ Is content neutral (you don’t share your views), ○ Has no content decision-making authority or input, ○ Is acceptable to all members of the group, and ○ Diagnoses and intervenes in a group, to ○ Help it improve the processes by which it identifies and solves problems and

makes decisions, in order to increase the group’s effectiveness.

● This definition is destined to ensure the group sees the facilitator as trustworthy and credible.

-(p. 14)

Six Facilitative Roles

● Facilitator

● Facilitative Consultant

● Facilitative Coach

● Facilitative Trainer

● Facilitative Mediator

● Facilitative Leader

● “Most People who need to use facilitative skills don’t need to be facilitators.”

● “I use the term facilitative to refer to any role in which you apply the mutual learning approach as a nongroup member.”

● How often do you facilitate as a nongroup member?

Choosing A Role

The Differences between Roles

Facilitator Facilitative Consultant

Facilitative Coach

Facilitative Trainer

Facilitative Mediator

Facilitative Leader

Purpose Help group use effective process to make decisions and increase its effectiveness

Provide expert advice on client’s issues

Help an individual, group, or team achieve goals and increase effectiveness

Help people develop knowledge and skills

Help two or more people resolve a dispute

Influence a group to achieve goals and increase its effectiveness

Group Member No No Can be Can be No Yes

Involvement in Content

Content neutral Content expert May be involved Content expert Content neutral Involved in content

Involvement in Content Decision Making

Not involved May be involved Not involved May be involved Not involved Involved

-(Exhibit 2. 1, p. 15)

Basic vs. Development Types of Facilitative Roles

Basic Role Developmental Role

Client Objective Solve a substantive problem or address an opportunity.

Solve a substantive problem or address an opportunity while developing the mutual learning mindset and skill set to apply to other situations.

Facilitative Role Help group improve its process; take primary responsibility for managing the group’s process.

Help group develop its process skills and mutual learning mindset and skill set; share responsibility for managing the group’s process.

Process Outcome for Client Same dependence on facilitative role for addressing future situations.

Reduced dependent on facilitative role for addressing future situations.

-(Exhibit 2. 2, p. 23)

Important Notes

● You can serve in multiple facilitative roles, but you should: ○ Identify the new and more appropriate role you want to switch to ○ Be explicit with the group: explain to the group what you are doing and why ○ Seek agreement from the group ○ Fill the role according to the agreement with the group (written or otherwise) ○ Use this process each time you switch roles

● Do not evaluate the group as the facilitator; evaluate your performance as the facilitator of the group.

● Remember, the group is your client. ● Understand your responsibility for the group’s results. ● Do not collude. We will examine and address this in further detail

later in the week.

Which One?

● Which of these roles are you most likely to facilitate in our education settings?

● Which of these roles have you acted in? ● Stand up, find a partner, and take 3 minutes:

○ Each share the answer to one of these two questions for one minute each. ○ In the third minute, discuss which role you find most problematic.

● In Canvas, go into the Module 4 Overview and complete the Poll ● Let’s review the Poll! Which one is most problematic and why?

Approaches to Facilitation: Managing Mindset (Schwarz, Chapter 3 & 4)

Mindsets

● Noun: a mental inclination, tendency or habit. - “Mindset.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mindset.

Accessed 9 Jul. 2023.

● Why start with a definition? ○ “Your mindset is the core set of values and assumptions that drives your

behavior.” (Schwarz, p. 36) ○ There have been a myriad of “mindsets” elevated and discussed in education and

academia ○ Mindsets can be overlapping and utilized simultaneously. We may transition

between mindsets regularly in our professional and personal lives. ○ Awareness of your mindset is key.

The Unilateral Control Mindset

“If your team deals with important issues and team members have strong views on those issues, you can end up in a deadlock. When that happens, people dig into their own preferred solutions, operating from a unilateral control mindset where everyone believes that he or she understands the situation and is right, and that those who disagree just don’t understand the situation and are wrong. When all team members are thinking and acting this way, it creates a vicious reinforcing cycle. The more people try to prevail, the more people stand their ground, and the less likely it is that the team will ultimately resolve anything.”

- Schwarz, R. (2015, July 7). “How to Break Through Deadlock on Your Team.” Harvard Business Review, https://hbr.org/2015/07/how-to-break-through-deadlock-on-your-team. Accessed 9 Jul. 2023. (emphasis added)

The Mutual Learning Mindset: Core Values

● Transparency: Sharing all relevant information, including thoughts, feelings and strategies, with the appropriate people at the appropriate time in a form that’s useful to share

● Curiosity: asking questions to learn about others’ information ● Informed Choice: giving the group the opportunity to choose so that you can

increase the chances of a high-quality decision for the group to commit to ● Accountability: when people make informed choices with others, they’re

accountable to others for those choices ○ What does accountability mean in this context? Accepting responsibility to serve the well-being

of the organization, being publicly linked to your actions, words and reactions, and being able to explain the why. (pp. 69-70)

● Compassion: there is suffering, you connect with it, and you respond ○ Withholding information is cruel. ○ There are blocks to compassion: questioning seriousness, victim-blaming

The Mutual Learning Mindset: Assumptions

● We all have information ● Each of us sees things others don’t ● Differences are opportunities for

learning ● People may disagree with me and

still have pure motives ● I may be contributing to the problem

The Mutual Learning Behaviors

● State views and ask genuine questions ○ Express your point of view ○ Explain the reasoning being this view ○ Ask others a question(s) about your view

● Share all relevant information ○ Share information that might affect the

decisions, including information that doesn’t support your view

○ Don’t share others’ information for them (don’t carry others’ water)

○ Appropriately share your feelings ● Use specific examples and agree on

what important words mean ○ Say what you mean ○ Name Names ○ Use specific examples

● Explain reasoning and intent ○ Be transparent ○ Using sentence stems (p. 99)

● Focus on interests, not positions ○ Identify the interest ○ Agree on which interests to consider ○ Craft solutions that meet the interest ○ Select and implement the solution

● Test assumptions and inferences ○ Assumptions: belief without proof ○ vs. Inferences: drawing a conclusion about

something you don’t know based on something you do know

○ vs. Attribution: inferring someone’s motives ○ Everyone does all three, but the problem

arises with lack of awareness ● Jointly design next steps

○ Establish purpose and process ○ When to move onto the next topic ○ Getting off track ○ Disagreements about Facts

● Discuss undiscussable issues

The Mutual Learning Behaviors

● There are three result from mutual learning: ○ Solid performance: better decisions, greater innovation, shorter implementation

time and reduced costs ○ Stronger working relationships: greater commitment, increased trust, appropriate

dependence on others, and increase learning through reduced defensive and more productive conflict

○ Individual well-being ● The Behaviors have three purposes:

○ Guide your behavior in the your facilitative role ○ Support your diagnosis of and intervention on group behaviors ○ Serving as ground rules for the groups you work with

● Schwarz suggests you model these 8 behaviors and be prepared to pivot between them or use multiple behaviors at the same time

Tying it all together

● Shifting from Unilateral Control to Mutual Learning is difficult.

● The most challenging part is “to rigorously think about how you are thinking.” (Schwarz, p. 57)

● You have to identify your own core values, assumptions, and behaviors and be willing to shift ○ This requires self-reflection ○ This requires self-awareness ○ This requires practice

● Now reframe: is the facilitative role you elevated as being most problematic still problematic? Why?

Tying it all together

● We will begin to practice! ● Choose a group of three or four ● Complete the following for the Scenario provided to your group:

○ Name the Facilitative Role your group chose. ○ Clearly state which mindset you will use with the group. ○ State this design (role & mindset) will be most effective for this scenario. ○ Share the additional information would you have liked to have.

● Be ready to share a summary of your scenario and your decision with the class for discussion.

Group Projects

● Your Group Project will draw together practice over the course of the week and give you the opportunity to practice.

● Each day, I’ll give you time to work on your Group Project ● Your Group will present on Friday and Saturday, and we will utilize a

fishbowl model to provide feedback ○ The group “inside the fishbowl” will present their scenario, chosen model and

explanation ○ Those “outside the fishbowl” will actively listen ○ Note: There are multiple possibilities for each scenario; we will use a fishbowl

model to explore strengths, challenges, and thoughts around each

Group Project Fishbowl Norms

● What is a Fishbowl? Facing History & Ourselves has a short video regarding this valuable teaching strategy.

● What should our norms be? ○ Do we want to “switch” or “tap” in? You each have expertise in particular areas. ○ Do we want to provide a rubric for the audience? How would you provide

feedback on these types of presentation in real life? What would you be listening for?

○ Do we need to set guidelines for respectful conversations? ○ Should we debrief after each presentation? Audience members may also want to

evaluate their participation as listeners.

Wrapping Up

● Choose your groups. Groups should be no more than 4 people. ○ Please tell me the members of your group before you leave. ○ You will receive your scenarios tomorrow.

● Complete the Exit Slip in Module 4 in Canvas. ● For tomorrow, Read Schwarz Chapters 8 & 9 ● Your Written Narrative for Module 3 is due tomorrow at 11:59 pm.