Facilitation Steps

Six key steps in facilitation when you’re trying to heard a group through a problem:

Opening: State why you’ve called the meeting, where we’ve come from before, what’s the goal of today’s discussion, and where you hope to go to next.

Objective Questions: Ask about the facts and get them on the table. Everybody is entitled to their own opinions, but not their own facts.

Reflective Questions: Ask what people are experiencing. Questions like: What ____________ are you experiencing when that happens? Everybody is entitled to feel how they want to feel.

Interpretive Questions: The analytical portion of the discussion. Is X >Y? If so why, if not, why not?

Decisions Questions: Which ones are high priority? Which are not high priority? So, what’s the decision here?

Closing: Great. Thanks. Next steps.