- Training courses

  Each one of our training courses can be run on dates to suit your needs

  Contact us
  for more info

# Tips for facilitating groups

Share on facebook Share on twitter Share on email Share on print More Sharing Services 57

Download as PDF

Your Name*

Valid Email*

Enter characters*
here:

Receive Updates

Privacy | PDF Terms of Use

Related Courses

- Facilitation Skills
- Chairing Meetings
- Minute Taking

Facilitating groups is an important management skill that can really help a group achieve their goals in the most effective and constructive manner, helping organisations to respond effectively to changing requirements and environments.

The role of the facilitator is therefore to help the group make progress and find their own solution in the easiest and most effective way. Our tips on group facilitation techniques and methods and our facilitators toolkit may help you.

Here are ten tips that will help you enhance your effectiveness at facilitating groups:

- Mentally and physically prepare yourself as the facilitator
  Mental and physical preparation is essential to get the best out of any group facilitation you undertake. Visualising yourself effectively facilitating the group before you start will ensure a successful outcome for both you and the group. Being in a positive state of mind and well rested will also help. Taking along your ‘Facilitator Tool Kit’ with everything you are likely need for the group will ensure you are prepared for any needed change in working methodology.
- Create the right environment
  We recommend plenty of space, informal seating, natural day light and tables at the side of the room for small group working where needed, as well as ensuring sufficient time has been arranged with the participants to achieve their goals. Our facilitators toolkit will help you identify the items you may want to take with you to achieve the most appropriate environment on the day.
- Ensure the expected outcome/s or objectives are clear
  Review these with the group at the beginning of the meeting if established in advance of the meeting; or by establishing these with the group at the time.
- Establish expectations
  Ask about the expectations the participants have of you and each other, then ask them to list their hopes and concerns of the meeting; or help them to set their own ‘ground rules’ whilst working together i.e. acceptable behaviours.
- Energise the group throughout the meeting
  Use initial introductions, ice breaker, energisers when energy levels get low, regularly changing the activity, changing participant roles, moving participants around the room where physically able and focusing their discussion with questions, statements, summaries and reflections of what you have heard or observed from the group whilst remaining neutral.

  You may find our tips on managing participant energy in meetings helpful.

- Manage participation
  Participant’s communication styles may vary along with their quantity of verbal contributions. Draw out the quieter participants through small group work, asking a ‘safe’ question or establishing their opinion once the topic has been initially debated. Allocate different roles to the high frequency or noisy contributors such as minute taker, time keeper, or writing on the flipchart. Ensure group work has a balance of participants with different communication styles.

  Back to Top

- Adjust your facilitation style
  The facilitation style needs to meet the needs of the group at different development stages. For example, a directive style of facilitation works well at the beginning of a meeting when the expectations of a new group meeting for the first time are usually for someone to take charge and take them in the right direction. However, after time when the group has settled down working effectively together, a more suggestive or consultative facilitation style would be more appropriate.
- Provide a variety of group working methods
  This helps to maintain the levels of engagement within the group, and to support different learning and communication styles, as well as helping the group achieve the best results from the meeting. Group working methods could include but not exclusive to brainstorming/mind raining or metaplanning (individual note pads on a flipchart placed into similar categories by the participants) to generate ideas, decision making techniques, and action planning, capturing information on the flipchart or white board, small group activities and holding a group review to check progress.

  See further information in our tips on group working techniques.

- Recognise and reinforce supportive behaviours and responses
  Recognition helps the group to build on each other’s ideas and suggestions through your comments, questions and reflections of the group dynamics. Challenge any repetitive negative statements or behaviours either through moving the focus away from the person, changing activities (to change their mental ‘state’), reflecting their statement back to them as a question e.g. “it always happens?” or asking the group for their view on the situation and then moving the group on.

  You may find our tips on dealing with difficult behaviour helpful.

- Evaluate the group’s success
  Either by using individual or group feedback, reviewing and drawing out responsibility for the action points. Initial evaluation is always helpful at the end of the meeting, followed up with a review of how the group has progressed after an agreed period of time.

Back to Top

To facilitate effectively, the facilitator needs to focus all of their energy and commitment to the group they are working with at the time and help the group in the most appropriate and relevant way which could involve challenging some of the group thinking or what is not being said through supportive questioning.

Above all, the most effective facilitator is one who quickly establishes and builds trust with the group through their honesty and transparency in their communications. They do not necessarily have the answer for the group they are facilitating but they hold the belief that the answer lies within the group (or their network) and uses group working methods that bring these answers and solutions out.

### Related Topics

You may find some of our other tips helpful such as:

- Chairing Meetings
- Managing Participant Energy in Meetings
- Meeting Preparation Checklist
- High Performance Teams
- Managing Project Teams
- How to Delegate Work
- Group Facilitation Techniques and Methods
- Dealing with Difficult Behaviour

At KSL Training we design tailored facilitated events and deliver a one or two days Facilitation Skills Course across the UK through a team of experienced CIPD member training consultants.

## About the Author

Written by Kim Larkins.

0
in Share
57
Share on twitter
Share on facebook
Share on linkedin
More Sharing Services
57

### A few of our clients...