The Skilled Facilitator: Practical Wisdom for Developing Effective Groups

Abstract

Today more than ever, groups play a critical role in the lives of effective organizations - empowering employees, generating needed change, and producing innovative solutions to complex problems. Skilled group facilitation is a resource such organizations cannot do without. In this book, Roger Schwarz draws on his own extensive facilitation experience and insight to bring together theory and practice, creating a comprehensive reference for consultants, peer facilitators, managers, leaders - anyone whose role is to guide groups toward realizing their creative and problem-solving potential. The book provides essential materials for facilitators, including simple but effective ground rules for governing group interaction; word-for-word examples, drawn from the author's own cases, of what to say to a group - and when to say it - to keep it on track and moving toward its goal; proven techniques for starting meetings on the right foot - and ending them positively and decisively; practical methods for handling emotions - particularly negative emotions - when they arise in a group context; and a diagnostic approach for helping both facilitators and group members identify and solve problems that can undermine the group process. The Skilled Facilitator provides a clearly defined set of basic principles to help facilitators develop sound, value-based responses to a wide range of unpredictable situations. It also includes advice on how to work with outside consultants and facilitate within one's own organization, along with a groundbreaking section on facilitative leadership.