The Facilitator's Toolkit: Tools, Techniques and Tips For Effective Facilitation
The Facilitator's Toolkit: Tools, Techniques and Tips For Effective Facilitation
The Facilitator's Toolkit: Tools, Techniques and Tips For Effective Facilitation
and Improvement
1
Contents Page
Introduction............................................................... 3
How to use this guide . ............................................ 4
1 Session openers
1.1 Facilitator and participant introductions.................. 7
1.2 Icebreakers............................................................. 12
2 Group work............................................................... 26
2.1 Working in groups.................................................. 27
2.2 Encouraging group participation............................ 31
3 Getting attention and group energisers................. 40
4 Overcoming constraints............................................ 52
5 Closing the session.................................................... 76
5.1 Reinforcing and reviewing key themes and ideas... 77
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How to use this guide
The toolkit has been divided into a number of chapters,
each covering a different area of facilitation.
At the end of each chapter you will find a ‘top
tips’ section, identifiable by the following symbol:
1
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1. Session openers
The beginning is one of the most important parts of
any session. The session opener will help you to set
the tone of the day and put your participants at ease.
In this chapter you will find a number of useful
exercises to use when opening your session and a
range of icebreakers to be used at the start of the
day or when bringing the group back together after
a break.
We have chosen exercises that are fun to do and that
will get your session off to a great start. Remember
that every event will be different, so choose the
exercise you feel most comfortable with and is most
appropriate for the session you are facilitating.
Don’t forget to look at the top tips from facilitators in
the know. These are tried and tested techniques that
are proven to work.
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Exercise: Getting acquainted
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As an alternative, you could ask each group member to
select a personal characteristic that will help others to
identify them. If the group is particularly poetic, you could
do this using rhyme and/or alliteration.
For example: ‘I’m Sue with eyes of blue’
‘People call me Jovial Joe’
How long will the exercise take?
The exercise will take about ten minutes, depending on
the size of the group.
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1.2 Icebreakers
Exercise: Handful of icebreakers
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Exercise: Chinese whispers game
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Exercise: The bingo game
Speaks a
Plays Drives a Has Likes
foreign
football sports car children camping
language
Is a
Can tap Is wearing Hates
committee Plays tennis
dance pink sprouts
chairman
Has
Drives a Can’t Has two attended
Has a dog
van swim children a national
conference
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It is really important to the overall success of your session
that you grab the attention of your participants and
establish your credibility as a facilitator right from the start.
Remember the following mnemonic for the opening of
your session and you won’t go far wrong!
INTRO
TIP! Talk to each person in your group and find out one
non work-related thing you have in common with
them (this only works in small groups because of the
time involved).
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TIP! Two truths and a lie is a fun exercise you can run
with your group. People write down three statements
about themselves – two of which are true, the other
of which is a lie. Individuals introduce their ‘facts’ to
the group, who then have to determine which are
true and which is a lie.
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TIP! The getting to know you session commonly used on
corporate induction days is as old as the hills and very
effective. Ask your participants to pair up and spend
five minutes talking to each other. Then get the
group to reform and take it in turns to introduce their
pair by way of a short biographical summary. The
time allowed for this task can be adjusted according
to group size and time available.
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An example of the drawn introductions – people
really get to know each other well!
2
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2. Group work
Everyone is different. Some people enjoy working in
groups whereas others prefer to work on their own.
Attending an interactive group training session can
be some people’s worst nightmare so you need to
make them feel comfortable and part of the group.
This chapter covers all aspects of group work. There
are exercises to help you split the group into smaller
groups, ideas to gather feedback and techniques
to encourage people to play an active part in the
session. There are also some tops tips to help you
with your group work.
Training is a two-way process and for it to be
successful, participants need to contribute. Using the
simple techniques outlined over the following pages
will help you get the most out of each participant.
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• Get participants to gather at a table with all the
other people with the same number as them and
then explain the task.
3. Pre-assign a number or letter to each person by writing
it on their name badge. Then, when you want to break
them into smaller groups, simply ask all the ‘As’ to join
together, all the ‘Bs’ and all the ‘Cs’ and so on.
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There are countless ways of forming groups using this
method and participants often enjoy something different to
just ‘counting off by fives.’
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Do I need to provide any materials?
You will need flip charts or poster boards or something similar
for people to write on and also pens, markers or chalk.
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Additional pointers for success
If the group you are working with is quite big, you may find
it easier to split the group into pairs or smaller groups for
this exercise.
Applauding the speakers before as well as after they discuss
their hopes and fears can add energy to the session and give
confidence to the speaker.
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Additional pointers for success
When you have revealed the answer to the group, you
could continue the exercise by asking:
• What factors prevent us from arriving at the correct
answer? (For example, we stop at the first answer, we
work too fast and so on).
• How is this task like other problems we often face?
(Many parts compromise the whole).
• What can we learn from this illustration that can be
applied to other problems?
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Do I need to provide any materials?
For this exercise to work, you need to have a member of
your group with a non-digital watch.
3
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3. Getting attention and group energisers
Throughout any session you are running there will be
times when participants are doing group work and
you need to bring them back together. There will also
be times when you can see the group is looking a
little tired and needs to be re-energised.
This chapter provides some simple and effective
ways of refocusing the attention of your group and
injecting fresh energy into a group that is beginning
to flag.
There are some really fun techniques that will
instantly grab the group’s attention. The secret is not
to be afraid to do something a little unusual: using
props such as music or whistles will help to drown
out noise and get the group’s attention quickly – not
to mention saving your voice!
You don’t have to stick to the agenda, either. If you
feel the group needs a break, take one. Keeping the
group alert throughout the session is essential if you
are to maximise learning.
Exercise: Mixing it up
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Additional pointers for success
This exercise works best with music that everybody knows,
so make your music choice a popular classic (Sousa
marches and Strauss waltzes work well). The music should
be relatively fast-paced to stimulate energetic conducting
and music with varied pace and volume will elicit different
conducting styles.
You may like to tell your group that the mock-conducting
of an orchestra is believed to be an excellent emotional
release and provides a good cardiovascular workout!
You could complete the exercise by asking the group:
• How do you feel now that you have directed the
orchestra?
• How many of you are likely to go home and direct music
from your own record collection?
• What is there about conducting an orchestra that gives us
the permission to wave our arms and move our bodies in
such a refreshing way – something we might otherwise
not be inclined to do?
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Additional pointers for success
When you have finished the exercise, finish off by asking
the group:
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The Read and Do Test
12. Call out your first name when you get to this point
in the test.
14. On the reverse side of this paper, add 6950 and 9805.
18. If you are the first person to get this far, yell out,
“I am the first person to get to this spot and I am
the leader in following directions.”
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Exercise: Alternatives to ‘shut up!’
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TIP! Work in the adult ego state to engender equality in
the group, not superiority! When you need the group
to reconvene, place the advantage to the group by
saying something along the lines of, “Thank you for
your attention. It will be helpful to now move on so
that we can meet your needs for the session and
cover everything we need to.”
4
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4. Overcoming constraints
This can be a very challenging part of the facilitator’s
role. Constraints come in many forms. Some people
may feel they have ‘been there, done that, bought
the t-shirt and nothing has changed.’ Others may
be opposed to change and don’t want to learn new
things and new ways of learning.
As a facilitator, you need some really good
techniques up your sleeve to overcome these
constraints and help people get over their objections.
In this chapter, there are exercises that will really
challenge people’s mindset and will make them
confront their own resistance to new ideas and
challenges.
This is probably one of the most important elements
of facilitation to master because if people are not
open to learning, nothing you teach them will have
an impact.
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Ask the group to list all the positive reasons why people
should stop using the old ‘qwerty’ keyboard and adopt
the new Dvorak system. Then ask the group to predict all
the reasons why people will resist using the new keyboard.
Get them to categorise these reasons as ‘rational’ (e.g. too
costly, too bulky, wrong size etc.) or ‘emotional’ (e.g. having
to learn something new).
Now tell the group that you plan to introduce them to
some new ideas in the session that have the potential to
improve their personal and organisational effectiveness. Ask
them to predict why they and others will resist embracing
the new ideas and get them to draw up a list of positive
reasons why they should be open to the new ideas you will
discuss.
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Exercise: The nine dots
The solution
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Alternative solutions
1. The task can also be solved with three continuous lines.
The first starts at the top of the dot in the upper left-
hand corner and extends through the middle of the
upper central dot, down to the bottom of the upper
right-hand dot and out beyond that dot. The second
line returns through the middle row of dots, descending
gradually from right to left and out beyond the middle
left-hand dot. The third and final line comes back from
left to right through the lower row of dots.
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Exercise: New directions in learning
Old New
Directions Directions
Up Right
Down Rear
Left Down
Right Front
Front Up
Rear Left
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Exercise: Test your constraints
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Exercise: Throw your troubles away
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Exercise: But I’ve always done it that way
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TIP! It is important to remember that the session you are
facilitating belongs to your participants. You are not
there to fix problems; you are there to guide the
group to reach its own conclusions.
TIP! You may, either as you start the session or when you
raise a difficult issue (the elephant in the room), find
that you are not getting an instant response from
the group. If this occurs, you must ‘hold the space’.
Although it may feel uncomfortable, keep quiet and
resist the urge to fill the void. Someone will eventually
say something, which will then get a response and the
debate/discussion will begin.
TIP! Use the table on the next page to help you deal with
difficult dynamics:
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Problem Typical mistake Effective response
Low Low participation can Switch from large-
participation create the impression group open discussion
by the entire that a lot of work to a different format
group is getting done in a that lowers anxiety
hurry. This leads to levels. If feeling
one of the worst errors safe and secure is
a facilitator can make a major concern,
– that is, assuming small group activities
that silence means are very important.
consent and doing Ideas-listing can also
nothing to encourage work very well when
greater participation. participation is low.
Two people A lot of time can Reach out to other
locking horns be wasted trying people in the group
to resolve a conflict by asking, “Who else
between two has an opinion on this
people who have no issue?” or “Let’s step
intention of reaching back for a minute and
agreement. People see if there are other
often use each other issues that need to be
as sparring partners in discussed.” Remember
order to clarify their not to focus your
own ideas. attention on the
dominant minority but
spend your energies
encouraging the
passive majority.
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Problem Typical mistake Effective response
Minimal It would be a mistake Look for an
participation to act as though opportunity to ask
by members silence signifies the group to have a
who don’t feel agreement with what’s discussion on ‘what’s
engaged with being said. And it important to me
the topic would also be wrong about this topic?’ Get
to ignore these people people to form small
and be thankful groups and start the
they’re not making discussion. This will
trouble. give everyone the
chance to explore
their own stake in the
outcome.
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Problem Typical mistake Effective response
Someone Never talk behind such People repeat
becomes a person’s back or themselves if they
strident and confront them during feel they’re not being
repetitive a break and then act listened to. Summarise
surprised when their the person’s point of
anxiety goes through view until they feel
the roof when the understood.
session recommences. Encourage participants
to state the views
of group members
whose views are
different from their
own.
5
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5. Closing the session
This is possibly one of the hardest and most
important parts of the session. You want people to
remember what they have learnt and to go away
feeling they have achieved something.
During the course of the session, people will often
need to be reminded of what they have just learnt or
they may not think that what they are being taught is
sinking in. Quick reviews throughout the session will
really help to engage people, making them realise
they are learning and that the session is a good use
of their time.
This chapter provides you with some quick and easy
exercises to help you show the group what they have
learnt and what their next steps are. You can do
these exercises after each new topic or before and
after breaks. Do what works best for the group.
Having a good close to the session will ensure people
remember what they have learnt and will therefore
be much more likely to put it into practice.
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Do I need to provide any materials?
You will need to devise the questions for the groups to
answer and arrange any prizes.
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Exercise: The alphabet review
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TIP! Ensure people leave with an action plan. There
is no point in all this effort unless you have a plan of
action that gives people tasks to complete and holds
them accountable for these tasks.
6
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6. Top tips from expert facilitators
As we said at the beginning of this toolkit, we asked
facilitators who work with us at the NHS Institute for
Innovation and Improvement to provide us with their
top tips for facilitation.
You will already have come across a number of their
tried-and-tested tips relating to each topic covered.
In this section, we have categorised the top tips
into subjects including preparing for the event and
ensuring the venue is fit for purpose.
Every individual and every group is different. Some
tips will work for you and others will not, so choose
the ones you feel will help you the most.
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Don’t pace, use the space! To keep people’s attention,
move between points of interest in the room as you talk but
don’t pace aimlessly!
Prepare handouts or PowerPoint slides, which explain the
exercises to your participants. Keep them brief and to the
point. This helps to clearly explain what you are going to
do and why and is important because people quickly lose
interest if they cannot see the point of something. Reiterate
the benefits at the end of the exercise and rehearse
how you will introduce the exercise to make sure you
communicate the arrangements and expectations clearly.
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Outline your expectations for the day at the beginning of
the session. This should include the purpose of the session,
what you expect from them as active participants and what
they can expect from you as the facilitator. You are not there
to fix things: you are the ‘vessel’ there to guide the group to
reach their own solutions.
You will need to prepare a structure in order to get the best
out of the session but you also need to be flexible with that
structure. Your agenda is exactly that – yours – and is not
necessarily the agenda the group wants or needs to stick
to. If there is a topic that needs more in-depth discussion
and will add value to the session, invest the time and let the
group explore the issue further. You may not get to where
you planned to with the session, but the outcomes for the
group may well be just what they needed and will give them
ownership to drive things forward.
For creative events, you need to create constructive
chaos in order to help stimulate thinking, such as forming
teams, mixing the teams up and moving people around.
For creative thinking to work, you need to ensure your
participants are not stuck to their comfortable and
traditional ways of thinking.
If you find yourself being challenged by a member of the
group (in a negative way), stand your group – quite literally.
Stand still with your legs slightly apart and fix on that one
person.
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Use people’s names as much as you can early on. It is OK to
get names wrong the first time right at the start but not after
that. Referring to people by name helps to build rapport
and create a positive working environment.
For groups discussing difficult issues (such as managing
change), introduce quick ‘how are you doing?’ checks
using pictures. One facilitator we spoke to has a pack of
20+ A6 pictures with all sorts of images including the sun,
crowds of people, flowers, Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa,
rubbish bins and birds. When the facilitator asks the group
how they are feeling, they have to select a picture that best
represents how they feel. Describing why they picked the
picture they did makes sharing how they feel easier and
more relaxed.
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6.4 Managing group dynamics
Ask people to discuss a point or issue in pairs or threes for
five minutes. Then ask each group to feed back one point.
This helps to ensure everyone has their say – it helps
give a voice to those who are not comfortable speaking in
a large group and also manages the contributions of those
who are more vocal!
Don’t take things personally; the session is about
them, not you! If there is a challenge then there is also
engagement. People challenge when they feel passionate
about something. You are the ‘vessel’ for this passion, not
the target.
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6.6 Different types of questioning
Type of question Examples
Questions to support • What aspects of the
learning – these questions situation challenge you?
are used to stimulate • What excites you?
thinking and deepen
understanding. The team • What do you see as the
learns from answering the critical elements?
question. • How does this fit in with
the priorities?
• What is the aim of this
discussion?
Questions to invite • What would that give
exploration – these are you?
open-ended questions • What stands out?
that require more depth
and reflection. They • How would you frame
prompt the group to the underlying problem?
discover new and creative • How would you define
ideas. the task?
• How else could you look
at this situation?
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Type of question Examples
Questions that engage • What is it about this that
team members – these concerns/motivates you?
questions are used to • What makes this
motivate or connect on a important to you right
personal level. They help now?
the team to understand
emotional responses. • How do you feel about
this?
• How much control
do you have over the
situation?
• At your best, what
do you bring to this
situation?
• If things are not going
well, what happens to
you and others involved?
• What is holding you
back from a way
forward?
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6.7 Interactive checklist
You may have wondered how interactive the design of your
session needs to be. Using the following model, you can work
out how interactive your meeting or workshop needs to be.
Essentially, the higher you score on any event element to
the right-hand side of the model, the more likely you are to
need to inject some interactivity into the session rather than
assuming it will take place naturally and unaided.
The group…
Meets regularly Meets rarely
1 3 5
The participants…
Have shared priorities Have conflicting priorities
1 3 5
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Useful books and websites
This section provides you with a list of books and websites
that we have used to put this guide together and also
includes other resources that we haven’t used but we
think you may find useful. Browse these resources to find
additional tips and exercises to help make your sessions
more productive.
Books
• Bee, F. and Bee, R. (1999) Facilitation skills, London,
Institute of Personnel and Development
• Bion, W.R. (1968) Experiences in groups and other
papers, London, Routledge
• Chambers, R. (2002) Participatory workshops: a
sourcebook of 21 sets of ideas and activities,
Earthscan Ltd.
• Evans, M. (2005) Leading groups: a practical guide,
Threesquare Consulting Limited
• Heron, J. (1999) The complete facilitator’s handbook,
London, Kogan Page
• Honey, P. and Mumford, A. (1986) The manual of
learning styles, Maidenhead, Homey
• Jannoff, S. and Weisboard, M. (2007) Don’t just do
something, stand there! Ten principles for leading
meetings that matter, San Francisco, Berrett-Koehler
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• Schwartz, R. (1994) The skilled facilitator: a
comprehensive resource for consultants, facilitators,
managers, trainers and coaches, Jossey-Bass
• Stone, D., Patton, B. and Heen, S. (2000) Difficult
conversations: how to discuss what matters most,
USA, Penguin
• Weaver, R.G. and Farrell, J.D. (1997) Managers as
facilitators: a practical guide to getting work done
in a changing workplace, San Francisco, Berrett-Koehler
Publishers
• Williams, D. (1998) 1,000 great quotations,
Northumberland, GNP Ltd.
Websites
• www.institute.nhs.uk/qualitytools
• www.institute.nhs.uk/building_capability/building_
improvement_capability (then click on ‘Improvement
Leaders’ Guides: Introduction)
• www.impactalliance.org (and type ‘facilitation techniques’
into the search box)
• www.thiagi.com/tips.html
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/groupthink
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/psychological_projection
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/transference
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6. Pay absolutely no attention to the room or its layout,
no matter how small, formal, dark or airless. Marvel at
the extensive array of pictures, the panelling and the
deeply textured wallpaper. Leave hundreds of chairs
lying around.
7. Start late and finish late and don’t both to seek
consent from the group to overrun.
8. Pick the most notoriously long-winded speakers you
can find. Ensure they are unclear about the theme of
the day and what they should talk about. Let them
ramble on for as long as they want to.
9. Cram in as many techniques as possible, ignoring any
of those irritating needs such as literacy, language and
access. Remember: task is king!
10. Breaks (and biscuits) are for wimps. Cut them out.
11. Stick rigidly to your design (if you have bothered to do
one) at all times – after all, you are in control.
12. Pay no attention to how your participants are doing.
Set them hugely complicated tasks that cannot possibly
be completed in the time available and leave them to
their own devices. It is always best to find out how
stupid they are after 30 minutes so that you have to
start all over again.
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Acknowledgements
A lot of people have been involved in putting this guide
together and we would like to thank the following people
and organisations for their contributions:
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To obtain further copies of A Handy Guide to Facilitation,
please contact (Quoting reference number IN063):
Contact:
New Audience Limited,
Unit 26,
Empire Industrial Estate,
Empire Close,
Aldridge,
West Midlands,
WS9 8UQ
Tel: 01922 742 555
Email: institute@newaudience.co.uk
To find out more about the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement, visit our website at
www.institute.nhs.uk.
ISBN 978-1-907045-68-4