The most common facilitation question

When offering facilitation training, one of the most common questions from facilitators is about how to deal with difficult people and tough crowds. This seems to be the single most common fear amongst facilitators, wondering how they will react to individual and group challenges, disruption, annoyance, cynicism or disruption.

So this is why I’m really excited about this one-day workshop I’m offering with mates Simo Routarinne (status and improv guru) and Johnnie Moore (all round great bloke) as a pre-conference workshop for this year’s European International Association of Facilitators (IAF) Conference in Helsinki, Finland. It’s on October 14 and is called On Your Knees – Status and Facilitation.

Here’s a little taster: Status, or power, games are inherent in meetings – whether acknowledged or not. Sometimes status can get in the way, creating tension between individuals and limiting the potential for authentic communication and engagement.

Understanding the dynamics of status is a brilliant tool for facilitators. Not only does it provide a lens in which to view the sometime baffling behaviour of participants, it is also a way of using your own status, that is raising or lowering it, to influence the group. Status is the tool we already use to create distance or close-ness between people.

On Your Knees will be seriously playful. We’ll look at the subtle – and not so subtle – ways in which we embody and play out status games in facilitation. We’ll explore multiple small and diverse interventions drawn from improvisational theatre.

Why is it called On Your Knees? You’ll have to come along to find out!

Registration details here. Early bird is until 20 September.

If you can’t make it, I’ll be writing about it here and we’ll be offering it wherever there might be demand.

Information about the Europe IAF Conference is here.

And here’s a podcast I did with Simo about status.

Adventures in facilitation (in London!)

I like this cartoon by Hugh MacLeod (you can subscribe to his daily cartoon here) because it captures how I’m feeling about a visit to London and surrounds in September and October. It will be an adventure in many ways.

You might have heard me bang on about facilitation from time-to-time. Okay, a lot then. I find facilitating endlessly fascinating. There’s a different group, a different dynamic every time. Hence my own response is different. Changing. Evolving.

So I’m excited to be able to share some of what I’ve learnt about facilitating at a Facilitating With Confidence course in London. Let me say that again, just in case you missed it: Facilitating With Confidence in London! Woot! And best of all, for me, and anyone who comes along, is that I’ll have two brilliant co-facilitators at my side: Johnnie Moore and Trish Stevenson.

And what if nobody comes says that little voice in my head? No problem, I still get to spend time with Johnnie and Trish, and who knows what else we might cook up?

It will be an adventure no matter what. And it’d be really cool to share it with you or people you know. I can guarantee some fun, some laughter and you will even learn a few things about facilitating – just as I will continue to learn from you.

Everything else you want to know can be found here (including registration details). Or if you want to skip the blurb you can go straight to registration.

Part 1: 20 – 22 September 2010

Part 2: 4 – 6 October 2010

Wallacespace Covent Garden, 2 Dryden Street, London UK

Early-bird rates till 31 August, group rates available and special rates if you ask us nicely.

Being provocative

When Andrew Rixon and I were working together recently we were talking about clients who say they want something different in facilitation, but all of their subsequent behaviour (and anxieties) point to something else altogether.

Andrew shared with me this tool he uses to engage clients in a more meaningful conversation about what they are really willing to commit to. When I first saw it, it didn’t look this pretty and was missing a third question. Together we nutted out the final question about failure. Andrew calls this provocative facilitation, and I call it disruptive facilitation. Whatever you call it, it’s about shaking things up rather than making things easy.

I think this is a great way to open up the conversation. I also think the three questions are nested, with the easiest one first. By the time you get to talking about trying something quite different where outcomes may be nothing like those expected and that failure is a real possibility, you have reached quite a different client/facilitator relationship than one where you suggest you can predict and control the outcomes – which IMHO is nonsense.

What’s scriptwriting got to do with facilitation?

While some people express themselves through music, or painting, or sculpture, or dance, my preferred form has always been writing.

Way back in 2000 I was sick of facilitating. It had become a bit boring, same-same and didn’t provide the challenge I craved any more. So I decided to pursue scriptwriting as an alternative career. I did a summer school and then a comprehensive on-line program at the Australian Film & Television School. The fact that I’m still a facilitator indicates how successful that choice was! But it’s the very fact that I’m a failure as a scriptwriter that intrigues me.

Learning about scriptwriting had many unexpected consequences. It re-ignited a passion for story, I learnt how to learn with others on the internet (pre skype even!) and some of the things I wrote then are just as relevant now.

What fascinates me the most is how people relate to each other and the environment they find themselves in, either through design, luck (good or bad) or serendipity. The way people shift and grow according to circumstance, and how they develop into complex human beings with multiple pasts. Confidence and self-esteem are also of great interest: normal people who discover the exceptional person within.

Through scriptwriting, I wanted to explore taking risks, doing things out of character, and going against the common paradigm.

And here’s a few things I wrote down about scriptwriting that now very much influence how I facilitate:

People are hungry for stories – they bring meaning to people’s lives.
People want to share their own stories and experiences.

What you remember from films is images – not dialogue, not plot
What people remember from workshops is also images, especially if it is associated with action. They remember the doing rather than the thinking.

We learn about characters by their actions – not by what goes on in their minds
We learn about ourselves and about others from what we do. Many improv games illuminate our actions in a safe way and shine a light on how we act and re-act in workplace situations.

You become a writer by writing
You become a facilitator by facilitating. This is my best piece of advice for anyone who wants to become a facilitator.

The premise is the motivating power behind everything that is done
This can help you decide what to do, and not do, when facilitating too. If it helps, change premise to intention.

There must be something at stake
Nothing is more demoralising (to a facilitator) or annoying to participants, to facilitate when there is no need.

We don’t know how we will act until we are in that situation
We don’t know what we need to do until we are in that situation, and have experienced whatever has happened immediately before. This can be one of the hardest concepts to explain. It requires trust – especially in yourself.

Location can be a character in the story
Or context. Or social objects. Facilitation can be built around more than just the people in the room.

Humour is a good way to change pace and gets people on your side
True on film. True in life. True when facilitating.

Subtext: people don’t talk about what they mean
Or the *real* issue. Difficult conversations are difficult. That’s why we avoid them. Time and relationships enable deeper conversations that can unearth the subtext.

Don’t describe how something looks, but how it feels (attitudes/moods)
Externalising and projecting are common in workshops, describing how something looks and feels to others. Explore how it feels to you.

Don’t be clever
Put down your clever and pick up your ordinary – because what’s ordinary to you is extraordinary to others. No need to try and be clever. You already are.

If it doesn’t support the story, or if the story can be understood without it, cut it out
If some is good, then more must be better? In facilitating, do only what is needed then get out of the way. The tendency is to want to help, rescue or fix. Don’t.

There are likes and dislikes – some will like your work and some won’t. Get used to it.
Good advice. Get used to it. If everyone likes what you’re doing maybe you’re making them a bit too comfortable. Take yourself and others to the learning edge.

Avoid predicatibility and boredom – people like to be surprised

Believe in yourself

Fast-forward to 2004. Improvisation. Then 2007. Started this blog. Now 2010. Many of the themes I explored through scriptwriting, and are now integral to my facilitation, are realised through using improv, storytelling, movement, taking risks and collaborating with others.

Who knew that scriptwriting was really a course in facilitation?

Some facilitation tips for you…

What facilitators do for a group – a work in progress

Every now and again I dabble in different forms of facilitation training – that is, someone asks to learn about facilitation. What they are often asking for are fail-safe approaches to get pre-determined outcomes from diverse groups. Oh, if only it was so easy!

I sometimes explore what facilitators CAN do for a group. And my understanding of this has changed over time. Let me share with you two lists – one I made a few years ago, and one I made last week. I think the differences indicate a significant shift in my own understanding of, and approach to, facilitation.

So here’s the old list:

Provides processes that enable groups to do their best thinking
There’s no one right process – facilitators clarify what the group needs to do and selects appropriate processes that enable everyone to contribute and to reach a conclusion in the time available.

Provides a safe environment
Sets up the space and provides an environment that encourages participation where the participants feel safe and encouraged to contribute.

Provides a focus for the group
The facilitator provides a point of focus and continuity for the group, and can sometimes be a conduit for all the information and opinions that individuals contribute.

Provides an overview of the whole workshop and summarises
Facilitators keep the big picture in mind and keep track of where the group is at, what has been achieved and what still needs to be done. They also summarise discussions, and the outcomes of other activities where appropriate.

Moves things along at an appropriate pace, changes pace or calls a break when needed, and finishes on time
Facilitators don’t allow the group to get bogged down, or to move too fast. They keep track of time on behalf of the group and adjusts the program to ensure that the workshop finishes on time.

Clarifies meaning
Asks open-ended questions to unearth more information and clarify what the speaker really means.

Uses intentional activities
Knows what type of thinking or work the group has to do and chooses activities that reflect that. Or selects activities that illuminate a learning point or need in the group. Or selects an activity that reveals something the group is not prepared to accept.

Ensures that the works is captured
Uses processes that capture the group’s thinking, and ensures this is kept, recorded and distributed.

–

Okay, I suppose there is nothing inherently wrong with that list, it’s just that, well, it now makes me cringe a bit. I suppose this is one of the challenges of sharing our thoughts on-line. It’s there for everyone to see, warts and all. This list now feels a bit naive and a bit arrogant. So here’s my new list of what facilitators can do for a group.

Challenges habitual thinking and behaviours
A facilitated workshop provides a break from normal routine and is a waste of time if the same thinking and routines used in the workplace are simply moved to a workshop setting. Facilitators can use a whole range of approaches to challenge habits and to enable groups to experience different ways of thinking and acting together.

Notices more
A facilitator can notice what’s happening on behalf of the group – not judging, not interpreting or analysing, just noticing. This can be important for a group that is usually too busy doing to ever notice itself or others.

Gets out of their way
Start, and then get out of the way and let people get on with it. People often don’t need more instructions, information, processes, details or help. They just need the time and space to get on with it.

Is flexible
Be prepared to throw away the plan, pre-conceived ideas and anything else, and improvise based on what you notice.

Is present
Your very presence changes and influences the group in ways that it’s not possible to predict – so be present to whatever the group is doing right now, not what they did before, or what they will be doing later.

–

This latest thinking comes from recognising that it is possible to shoehorn people into processes; that it is possible to keep people active, produce a product and go back to work satisfied that a good workshop was had – yet nothing changes. I’ve done it myself and I’ve seen it too often. It’s ultimately demoralising, not very fulfilling and leads to clients searching endlessly for the next magic bullet.

If I believe (and I do) that facilitators really do have a responsibility to challenge habitual thinking and behaviours then I have no choice than to continually challenge (and be challenged on) my own thinking and behaviour. This ongoing exploration of what it means to be a facilitator is a part of that challenge.

Facilitators can’t predict the outcome

Neither can anyone else. How on earth is it possible to bring together a group of people and predict how they will act, think or decide? It’s time to debunk this myth of facilitation – that the facilitator possesses some power over how people will react and can guide the group to a preferred (by whom?) position.

Johnnie Moore said this:

The more I work, the more I want to encourage people not to have a good time if they’re not having a good time and get away from the insane notion that somehow everyone should be aligned, having the same experience and (especially) having a great time. Learning is non-linear and it’s just stupid to imagine it should happen painlessly and on some predetermined schedule.

And:

I think it would be good to start more meetings with the idea that it’s actually ok to have a crappy time and achieve nothing – to provide an antidote to the tedious pressure to be positive and productive and make mostly fake commitments to action at the end. If we don’t really embrace the possibility of failure, we may actually be killing off the space for success.

Earle Mardle wades in with this comment, reproduced here in full (because it’s so spot on):

I know some people hate this but the reality is that we are ALL making ALL of this up as we go along. There are NO repeatable experiences. Not ever. We live in a chaotic universe highly sensitive to initial conditions, if one of those conditions is that we have done something like this before, it can’t possibly be repeated.

And there is no way for any system, process, model, magic wand or frigging incantation to be able to predetermine the outcome of any interaction among any arbitrary number of people from any, repeat ANY set of so-called backgrounds.

Development comes from trust, confidence and getting over our fears.

Trust in ourselves and in others, confidence that they, and we, will be able to cope with the results of our screw-ups as well as our achievements.

And we are all afraid, every last single one of us. I regularly wake up in the morning with the thought in my head that we are “so screwed”. For me that is apparently the old North American Indian version of “its a great day to die”.

It seems to me that only as long as I remind myself every day about the potential for failure, small and big, that accompanies every single thing we do, only then can I get moving and start the day in the confidence that I have accepted that I don’t know the answers; much of the time I don’t even understand the questions, even if I can hear them.

Failure isn’t where we end, its where we start. Big deal. We need to get over it so we can have a life.

So where does that leave facilitators? It leaves us being honest about what’s possible, and with opportunities to provide people with experiences that are different from their everyday work in a way that throws light on whatever challenges they are facing. It’s not up to us to determine what they will discover, or what they will do with that knowledge, if indeed they ever find what they are searching for. Facilitation is not the answer – it’s an opportunity for people to connect and have conversations about what matters to them. Inevitably, this might be quite uncomfortable. To limit those opportunities by imposing a process or by channelling people to a particular outcome is to misuse the trust placed in us as facilitators.

Disruptive facilitation #6 – Lessons from maths

I really enjoyed  this talk by Dan Meyer. I was attracted to it because I used to like maths, the problem solving and the patterns – until I got a teacher who sucked all the enthusiasm out of me. I didn’t expect this talk to reveal parallels with disruptive facilitation.

At about 2.50 minutes in Dan introduces ‘impatience with irresolution’ where we come to expect a sitcom-style 22 minute resolution to all of our problems. I really sat up and took notice then. He talks about ‘patient problem solving’ and his role of using compelling questions and student intuition to arrive at compelling answers. He argues that existing maths text books provide a smooth, or easy, route, whereas patient problem solving involves conversation. Now I’m really interested.

How does he do this? At about 6.55 in he explains. It’s all about taking away. I’m reminded of one of my major frustrations with facilitating. While issues may develop over months or years, there’s often an expectation that a single facilitated workshop will resolve everything and come up with action plans a la a sitcom resolution.

Finally, Dan recounts his five steps to better maths engagement. Could just as easily be applied to facilitation, especially disruptive facilitation.

1. Use multimedia

2. Encourage intuition

3. Ask the shortest question you can

4. Let (participants) build the problem

5. Be less helpful

Facilitation reboot

HT to Johnnie Moore, Chris Corrigan, Geoff Brown and Anne Pattillo. Inspiring mates and co-conspirators all.

After an intense period of facilitation, I always seem to come away with new insights and ideas about facilitation in general and my role in particular. Some of these are pretty clear, others are half-baked. And, as always, my motivation for blogging is to keep a record of my thoughts, and if that’s also helpful for you, then that’s a bonus.

It’s a liminal experience for the participants
When people come to a workshop – whether it’s a 10-day marathon or simply a day out of the office – they experience a time in liminal space. Or that’s what they should experience. If a workshop is just like work, but at another location, then why bother? A workshop, time away from the everyday, provides an opportunity to experience alternatives, to step back and see what’s happening, to reconsider, to discover and to experience change. The manifestation of that change may not happen immediately – it may never happen – what is important is that people are given some opportunity to have a different experience and to return to their work with something they didn’t have before. This could be anything from a new awareness of themselves or others to a different way of working.

Disruption is what it’s all about
I have now completely let go of any notion that facilitation is about making it easier. That’s a mechanistic interpretation and one that certainly doesn’t apply to my style of facilitation. Nor do I believe that it is in the best interests of participants. You can read more about my thoughts on disruptive facilitation here, here, here, here and here.

It’s adults we’re working with
That means people will debrief themselves and find the meaning that is well, meaningful, for them. Leave them alone!

Working alone sucks or why having two, or more facilitators, is NOT a luxury
Much of my work is done alone. Not any more. It’s hard to be present for a group and notice what’s happening and decide what is the smallest intervention that might be needed and silence that annoying, critical voice in my head. During these last four weeks I’ve experienced intense periods of working alone, working with one other, and working in a team. What a revelation. It’s the feeling of working with others that will stay with me – a feeling I’m happy to repeat.

Letting go doesn’t get any easier (but it helps if there’s someone else)
See above two entries. Doing nothing is much harder than doing something. There’s an expectation that we should be doing something to be effective, when sometimes the most effective thing to do is actually to do nothing. Or appear to do nothing, because while doing ‘nothing’ a facilitator is in fact aware, watching, noticing and letting go of all those interventions that would just get in the way of people getting on and doing what needs to be done. This is the type of conversation I have with myself when facilitating alone. These types of internal conversations get in the way of me noticing what’s happening, so having someone else there with whom I can verbalise these thoughts allows them to disperse more quickly so I can get back to doing my job of noticing. I still have to work on having more conversations with others rather than in my own head.

Laughter produces endorphins – and is (generally) easier to access than exercise or sex (in a workshop)
Endorphins are good. Games produce laughter. Laughter produces endorphins. Enough said.

Taking risks means some people will love what you do and others will hate it
And the challenge is not to take it personally.

Focusing on applications is a distraction
When people focus on application they’re making a judgment – will this be useful to me in the future? While this is understandable, sometimes they miss what could be happening here and now, maybe even useful information about themselves and their colleagues; insights even.

What’s on the agenda?

Whatever is on the agenda it won’t relate to what is actually happening here and now. So just throw away the agenda, start somewhere, notice what happens and do as little as is necessary. That is all.