Every group has dominators as well quiet voices, and as a facilitator, it is important for you to find ways to pull out quiet voices. This isn’t always easy! There may be power dynamics (position, gender, race, education and more), new members who aren’t yet comfortable sharing their perspective, introverted members who would rather not […]
Facilitation: Pulling out quiet voices Read More »
If you have been meeting with one of your teams, workgroups or committees for a while, there is a good chance the group has become weary and may also be experiencing burnout. This can be true even if you have had some great successes as a group! If you are having lower attendance than usual,
Facilitation: Group that is weary and experiencing burnout Read More »
Facilitating groups can be extremely rewarding but they can also be extremely exhausting. One of the situations that makes facilitation particularly exhausting is when there is a lack of trust among group members. This may be trust among just a couple of group members between one another or it may be a lack of trust
Facilitation: Lack of trust Read More »
It’s amazing how much competition is possible even among groups and organizations that have very similar helping-oriented missions. When I first started working in public health, I was surprised to find many organizations “competing” with one another providing similar health-related interventions to similar populations. Sometimes organizations didn’t realize or think they were competing with others
Facilitation: Group that has competition among members Read More »
Most of us do not enjoy conflict. Some of us try to avoid it entirely and others try to pretend it doesn’t exist. Some will address it aggressively while others attempt to figure out a way to address it without causing more conflict. If we facilitate groups long enough, there will be conflict and it’s
Facilitation: Group that has underlying conflict Read More »
You may have a newly formed group or a group that has been meeting for a while that includes a mix of participants who know each other well and other members that are brand new and don’t yet know anyone. As a facilitator, it can be particularly challenging to meet the needs of everyone in
Facilitation: Group with both new and experienced members Read More »
If you are facilitating a group that has been meeting for a while, you may have some group members who are continuing to be engaged and enthusiastic about the work while other group members have lost interest and moved on to other priorities. You may have achieved some tremendous successes and are trying to figure
Facilitation: Group that has been meeting for a while Read More »
Facilitating a newly formed group has unique challenges and opportunities that need to be considered. In a newly formed group, you need to consider that the group members may not know one another and may have very different perspectives on the topic or purpose of the group. It’s really important to assess and build relationships
Facilitation: A newly formed group Read More »
How many of you have been in a meeting where you made lots of plans and action items but no one ever followed up? Or perhaps you are part of an ongoing meeting where each week you keep bringing up new items and never really follow-up on what happened in the last meeting? As you
Facilitator: The importance of follow-up Read More »
We have all been part of meetings where everyone is looking at their phone or computer or they are zoning out seeming completely disinterested in what is happening. As a facilitator, this can be completely discouraging! One of the most important tasks for facilitators is increasing engagement during a meeting; however, our meeting participants can
Facilitator: Increasing Engagement Read More »