facilitate groups Flashcards
Collaborative approaches
- Listening skills
- Defining roles and responsibilities
- Group management skills
- Group decision making
- Negotiation techniques
Define roles and responsibilites
It is essential to assign the correct roles to the correct team member, without properly defining roles and responsibilities the group will fail to complete tasks effectively and on time, may result in conflict and confusion.
Listening skills
A facilitator cannot expect to create collaboration within a group unless they establish an environment where everyone respect each other
Optimal Group Performace
Task Allocation and Mentoring
Stages of group formation
FORMING
STORMING
NORMING
PERFORMING
ADJOURNING
What happens during the forming stage
Initial stages of group formation, the facilitator plays a more dominant role. The group may discuss goals and establish ground rules for the group.
What happens during the storming stage
Where conflict arises. Participants will push to establish boundaries. Some teams will skip this stage.
What happens during the norming stage
Differences have been resolved, participants start to work together towards a common goal.
What happens during the performing stage
The team starts to perform, the group works together without friction. Participants should feel part of the group.
What happens during the adjourning stage
The group is dismantled and moves on. Evaluate how the group did, acknowledge experiences.
Performance Plans – why they’re used?
They are used so that people can be as affective as possible in their job role and get the desired outcome
Performance plans, what they include?
What are they planning to do?
How they plan on doing it?
What will they need to get the job done and achieve their desired outcomes? What knowledge and skills are needed?
What support will they need? – Physical, financial, human and logistical resources
How much time do they have to complete the project and map each stage
What will good performance look like? – How will the performance of the group be monitored, reviewed and measured?
Mentoring – definition, how to be a good mentor, benefits for all parties
Mentoring is when someone with experience or expertise acts as a role model or leader to someone who is less experienced. A good mentor should:
- provide advice and act as a role model
- encourage and guide the individual on a learning path
- encourage continual improvement
Benefits for a Mentee
- They get to work one on one with someone who is highly experienced
- They get to ask questions
- There learning is tailored to them and specific to their needs
Benefits for a mentor
- Develops coaching and leadership skills
- Strengthen their communication and active listening skills
- Opportunity to potentially learn something new from your mentee
Benefits for organisation or business
- Develops a professional development culture
- Save money on external training and professional development
- Better communication in the workplace, creates relationships
Task allocation
Task allocation requires you as the facilitator,
together with team members, to divide and
assign specific tasks that need to be completed
Task allocation steps
1) List all tasks that need to be allocated and rank them in order of importance
2) List the competencies for each task - what needs to be done to complete task
3) List competencies of group members - their skills, ability and level of experience
4) Match the competencies of the task to group members
5) Ensure tasks are clearly assigned and explained. Document allocation of tasks and ensure that this information is distributed to each team member
Barriers to facilitation
- Poorly defined roles and responsibilities
- Conflict of interest
- Conflict between individual and group goals
- Lack of group cohesion and commitment to group goals
- Personality clashes
- Poor communication skills
Strategies to overcome poorly defined roles and responsibilities
- ensure roles are clarified
- provide group members with a summary of roles and responsibilities
- chart roles and responsibilities
Strategies to overcome conflict of interest (biased)
- acknowledge conflict of interest and address issue
- if a person is unable to be unbiased they should withdraw from decision making
- stay open and honest
Strategies to overcome conflict between individual and group goals
- identify conflict openly and honestly
- discuss how these differences will impact the group and group dynamics
- trying, where possible to implement individual goals into group goals
Strategies to overcome lack of group cohesion and commitment to group goals
- speaking openly and honestly
- find a way to get people involved
- encourage open communication
Strategies to overcome personality clashes
- accept that everyone is different
- be professional, keep interactions to a minimal, be respectful
- discuss issue with management so they can seperate you
Strategies to overcome poor communication skills
- concentrate during all communications, be clear and concise, don’t overload with information
- be an active listener
- always think before you speak
Communication mediums – best suited for types of situations
When working in groups it is essential to communicate using appropriate mediums to ensure that everyone understands and receives a message. e.g
- Face to face conversations
- Phone (spoken or text)
- Email
- Form or template
- Written note, letter or memo
- Social media
Facilitation techniques
Icebreakers
Energisers
Brainstorming
Ground rules
Group dynamics include…
Communication
Conflict resolution
Decision making
Respect
Safety
Trust
Communication
Verbal and non verbal communication mediums can affect a groups ability to work cohesively
Respect
Respect amongst members of the group is essential for solid group dynamics
Safety
All members of the group should feel safe mentally, physically and emotionally
Trust
For a group to function successfully, individuals need to trust each other. Trust is all about being someone who other can count on
Steps of conflict resolution
1) Confront the conflict, acknowledge that there is a problem and address it.
2) Understand each others positions, be open to differences and don’t assume your right
3) Involve those affected by the decision.
4) Define the problem, write down exactly what the problem is/
5) Search for and evaluate alternative solutions.
6) Agree upon and implement the best solution.
5 Conflict resolution strategies (including if they are win-win etc.)
- withdrawal/ avoiding - both parties abandon issue (lose-lose)
- forcing or controlling - one party overpowers other (win-lose)
- compromise - each person gives a little to gain a little (win-win)
- accomodation or smoothing - one party concedes to the other to prevent further conflict (win-lose)
- collaboration - coming up with a new way to do something (win-win)
Measuring facilitation performance
Customer feedback, monitoring attendance rates, opinion survey, informal questioning
Leadership styles
Lassez-faire (casual)
Participative (democratic)
Authoritarian/ Disciplinarian (autocratic)
Lassez-faire
This leader delegates decisions to the group, provides the group with some general guidance and then lets the group go about their responsibilities
Participative
In this leadership members of the group participate in decision making. They share ideas and opinions and discussion is encouraged
Authoritarian/ Disciplinarian
Has complete control and makes all the decisions with minimal involvement from group
