Principles of Facilitation: The Purpose and Potential of Leading Group Process

Principles of Facilitation is the first in a series of seven "facilitation guides" to be published by Grove Consultants International, a San Francisco-based firm that has for over two decades been considered a leading trainer and publisher of materials related to the process of facilitation. Grove is perhaps best known in the facilitation community for its approach to using graphic techniques in group process, and for its "graphic guides," ready-made templates that can be used in meetings. David Sibbet is the Founder and President of Grove Consultants International.

As Sibbet himself notes, there is a "wide range of material" in this first guide. The design of the guide follows the graphic approach for which Sibbet is known, making extensive use of diagrams and drawings in its presentation of the content. Weighing in at 70 pages, this may seem like a "quick read," and it can be-but it is also chock-full of thought-provoking comments and suggestions that slow down the reader and encourage reflection. Sibbet suggests that the guide can be read in chunks, scanned or explored in a non-linear fashion. The reader should also savor it, revisiting relevant portions and thinking through the implications of its many messages.

Sibbet begins by defining facilitation as "...the art of leading people through processes toward agreed-upon objectives in a manner that encourages participation, ownership and creativity from all involved." After exploring the history of "group graphics," and some basic context setting, he identifies the "four flows of facilitation" that he considers key to process thinking: attention, energy, information and operations. These form the foundation for Sibbet's illumination of the deeper constructs of the facilitation process. The bulk of what follows is an examination of forty principles that are associated with these four flows.

Sibbet notes that as a facilitator, you face "...a dynamic complex of expectations, possible activities, participant objections, enthusiasms, decisions and the like," suggesting that to effectively lead that process journey you must first be aware of your own capacity to make sense out of the forces, energies, motions and relationships that need to be managed whenever a group of people come together to try to accomplish something. He pays homage to the late Arthur M. Young, physicist, cosmologist and philosopher, upon whose research much of the Grove approach is based. Young asserted that process moves between freedom and constraint, convergence and divergence, closing down and opening up, and that this flow provided optimal crux points for maximizing decision-making opportunities if the facilitator was masterful at recognizing and leveraging them. Principles of Facilitation strives to provide a road map for that mastery. But Sibbet also cautions that "there are no 'right' answers in facilitation, there is only `what next.'"

The first of the "flows," Managing Attention, is the most fundamental, because "consciousness underlies all facilitation." The process of facilitation is abundantly holistic, requiring insights and outsights, awareness within and externally directed thoughtfulness. The rationalists-skeptics among us may find it daunting at first to consider the first of his flows. Suggestions of visualization exercises, "surfing the sounds" of the group and triggering intuitive insights using Tarot cards may sound like neo-babble. Don't get hung up on examples that are as much metaphorical as they are literal. In sum, they are lyrical, totally aligned with the concept of "flow" throughout the entire facilitation process.

Effectively facilitated group process is also about taking action. The second of the flows, Managing Energy, incorporates cognitive as well as affective issues related to group dynamics. Creating safety in a group, attending to pace, managing conflict, overcoming resistance, encouraging participation and practicing non-attachment are among the principles related to managing energy. Above all, Sibbet has faith in facilitation mastery as he in.ones, "trust the process." He shares a Zen parable to illustrate his point:

An old Zen master was down by a turbulent river washing out some clothes. As his horrified students looked on, the master tripped and fell into the roiling water. They rushed over to the riverbank and he was nowhere to be seen. Nearly hysterical, they went running down the riverbank to see if they could rescue him. They came across the master pulling himself out of the water, a big smile on his face. "Oh, master, we thought you had died. Are you all right?" they asked. "I was not in danger," he replied. "I became one with the river and rolled with it until I could get out."

The third flow, Managing Information, makes the shift to a more practical perspective, suggesting attention to language, outcomes and specific activities facilitators can use, "providing the means for people to convert their information to real knowledge." This flow also encourages developing and maintaining "helicopter thinking," a critical perspective for a skilled facilitator. One natural inclination when probing the granularity of topics under consideration is for the facilitator to be drawn into that complexity along with the group members. The facilitation master can step back from the detail, "learning to look at things from distinctly different perspectives and appreciating the quality of each."