Facilitate Groups

• Facilitation


  The act of helping a group of people to deal with a process, work together and/or reach an agreement or solution without becoming directly involved
• Importance of establishing individual and group goals

  • Individual goals are specific to each person and what they want to achieve
  • Group goals allow groups to work together and strive to achieve a common goal, creating collaboration and teamwork
• S.M.A.R.T.


  A technique for goal setting, ensuring goals are specific, measurable, attainable (or achievable), realistic (or relevant) and timely (or time-based)
• Stages of group development

  1. Forming

  2. Storming

  3. Norming

  4. Performing

  5. Adjourning
• Characteristics of a good leader

  • Supportive and encouraging
  • Role model
  • Inspires and motivates
• Leadership styles


  • Authoritarian/disciplinarian (autocratic)
  • Laissez-faire (delegative)
  • Participative (democratic)
• Authoritarian/disciplinarian (autocratic) leadership


  Leader has complete control and makes all the decisions with minimal involvement from the group
• Laissez-faire (delegative) leadership


  Leader delegates decisions to the group, provides general guidance and lets the group go about their responsibilities
• Participative (democratic) leadership


  Group members participate in decision making, share ideas and opinions, and discussion is encouraged
• Optimal group performance

  • Mentoring
  • Task allocation
• Mentoring


  The process of transferring knowledge and skills from one person to another
• Benefits of mentoring


  • For the mentee: opportunity to ask questions and work one-on-one with an experienced person
  • For the mentor: developing coaching, facilitation and leadership skills
  • For the organisation: developing a professional development culture and saving money on external training
• Characteristics of a good mentor

  • Provides advice and acts as a role model
  • Encourages and guides the individual on a learning path
  • Encourages continual improvement
  • Encourages commitment and action
  • Supports and responds to the individual's needs
• Best process for allocating tasks

  1. List all tasks and rank them in order of importance

  2. List the competencies required for each task

  3. List the competencies of the group members

  4. Match the task competencies to the group members

  5. Ensure tasks are clearly assigned and explained, and document the allocation
• Ensuring group members are accountable for allocated tasks

  • Document the tasks and regularly monitor progress towards achievement
• Group dynamics

  How people interact in a group situation, directly influencing the group's ability to work together cohesively and collaboratively
• Types of communication


  • Verbal
  • Non-verbal
  • Written
• Verbal communication


  What you say and how you say it
• Non-verbal communication


  Gestures and body language
• Written communication


  Written words including email, texts, social media, memos, notes and letters
• Ensuring effective decision-making

  1. Encourage group members to voice opinions and contribute to discussions

  2. Create a set structure for group decision-making
• Conflict can be both negative and positive for a group

  Positive conflict can challenge ideas and be productive, while negative conflict can be detrimental if not addressed
• Outcomes of conflict


  • Win-win
  • Win-lose
  • Lose-lose
• Win-win outcome


  Both parties feel they won the dispute and are happy with the outcome
• Win-lose outcome


  One party gets what they want, the other doesn't
• Lose-lose outcome


  Neither party gets what they wanted, often occurs when negotiations fail
• Steps for resolving conflict

  1. Confront the conflict

  2. Understand each other's position

  3. Involve those affected

  4. Define the problem

  5. Search for and evaluate alternative solutions

  6. Agree upon and implement the best solution
• Conflict resolution strategies

  • Compromise
  • Accommodation or smoothing
  • Collaboration
• Respect


  Showing admiration for someone, their knowledge, skills, abilities, qualities and achievements
• Showing respect

  • Listening, giving undivided attention through eye contact, not interrupting, maintaining positive body language
• Trust


  Being someone whom others can count on, having integrity and the intent to do the right thing
• Becoming trustworthy


  • Being consistent, doing what you said you would, keeping promises, being someone others can rely on and have confidence in
• Barrier to facilitation


  Obstacles or threats that stop a group from achieving or obtaining their desired outcome
• Conflict of interest


  A situation where a person has competing interests or loyalties. It is where a person may be involved in two competing relationships or where they have an invested interest in a particular outcome as it may benefit them or someone they know
• Nepotism


  Where a person favours relatives or friends, for example, giving an unemployed cousin a job
• Self-dealing


  Where someone acts in their own interest rather than that of the organisation or group
• Preventing conflicts of interest

  Having clear policies and procedures that do not allow them to develop. This way employees are clear on what constitutes a conflict of interest and what situations to avoid
• Preventing roles and responsibilities from being poorly defined

  Ensuring that everyone is clear on their role and that these roles are clarified on a regular basis. Providing detailed role descriptions for all group members and charting these roles and distributing them to all team members or displaying them
• Reasons why a group might struggle to work together cohesively

  • Members of the group do not get along
  • The members of the team only care about being paid and have no passion for the project, they are not committed
  • The members of the team don't agree with or care about whether the group achieves its goals
• Personality clash


  Where two or more people within the group do not get along causing conflict. These often occur because people do not like or agree with another person's approach to life, style, life choices, work ethic or behavioural traits