Tools

1. An introduction to community capacity mapping | 2. A primer on facilitation | 3. An introduction to community problem solving

2. A Primer On Facliltation

To be really successful at taking action on a mental health issue in your community, you will need to spend some time focusing on the skills that you’ll need to make all of the action happen.

One of the key skills that you’ll need for successful mental health promotion work is the ability to facilitate effectively. Facilitation skills are the "process" skills that you will need to guide and direct key parts of your organizing work with the community: in meetings, and planning and training sessions.

What Is Facilitation?

Whether it’s a meeting (large or small) or a training session, someone has to shape and guide the process of working together so that you meet your goals and accomplish what you’ve set out to do. While a group of people will probably be involved in setting the agenda and figuring out the goals, one person needs to concentrate on how you’re going to move through your agenda and meet those goals effectively. This is the person we call the "Facilitator".

Facilitation has three basic principles:

1. A facilitator is a guide to help people move through a process together, not the seat of wisdom and knowledge. That means the facilitator isn’t there to give opinions, but to draw out opinions and ideas of group members.
   
   
2. Facilitation focuses on how people participate in the process of learning or planning, not just what is achieved.
   
   
3. A facilitator is neutral and never takes sides.

Effective facilitators are able to balance several tasks at once. They ensure that agenda items are covered, that important issues are discussed, decisions made and actions taken, while at the same time focusing on how the meeting is structured and run, to make sure that everyone can participate.

Back to top

Why Do You Need Facilitation Skills?

If you want to plan effectively, keep members involved, and provide positive leadership for your initiative, you will need facilitation skills. The more you know about how to shape and run a good planning and learning process, the more your members will feel empowered about their own ideas and participation, take on responsibility and ownership, and stay invested in your initiative.

Meetings are a big part of organizing a mental health promotion initiative in your community. It might seem that you are going from one meeting to the next, especially in the early stages of your project, so you will want to make those meetings as fruitful and effective as possible. The key to this is developing strong facilitation skills. These skills will come in handy in many places other than just meetings: for planning, for "growing" new leaders, for resolving conflicts, and for maintaining good communication among the members of your group.

Being a good facilitator is both a skill and an art. It is a skill in that people can learn certain techniques and can improve their ability with practice. It is an art in that some people just have more of a knack for it than others. If there is no requirement that a certain person facilitate (e.g. President of the Board) then your group can draw on members who already possess a natural skill or talent.

Facilitating means:

• understanding the goals of the meeting and the organization;
  
  
• keeping the group on the agenda and moving forward;
  
  
• including everyone in the meeting, including drawing out the quieter participants and controlling the domineering ones;
  
  
• making sure that decisions are made democratically.

Back to top

How Do You Plan A Good Facilitation Process?

A good facilitator is concerned with: the outcome of the meeting or planning session; with how the people in the meeting participate and interact; and also with the process. While achieving the goals and outcomes that everyone wants is, of course, important, a facilitator also wants to make sure that the process is sound, that everyone is engaged, and that the experience is the best it can be for the participants.

In planning a good meeting, the facilitator should focus on ensuring that the following three areas are covered in advance:

1. Climate and environment

There are many factors that affect how safe and comfortable people feel about interacting with each other and about participating. The environment and general "climate" of a meeting or planning session sets an important tone for participation. Some of the things you will want to consider include the following:

• Is the location a familiar place, where people will feel comfortable?
  
  
• Is the meeting site accessible to everyone?
  
  
• Is the space the right size for the number of people you are expecting?

2. Logistics and room arrangements

Believe it or not, how people are seated, whether they are hungry and whether they can hear can make or break your planning process. As a facilitator, the logistics of the meeting should be of great concern to you, whether or not you are the person responsible for them. Some things to consider are:

• Seating arrangements: Arranging chairs in a circle or around a table encourages discussion, equality and familiarity.
  
  
• Places to hang flipcharts: you’ll need some space to display the results of brainstorming sessions and other important material.
  
  
• Refreshments: If people are hungry, they are much less likely to participate fully. If you’re planning on having refreshments, make the necessary arrangements well before the meeting begins.
  
  
• Microphones and audio-visual equipment. Will you need any equipment? Have you arranged for it and made sure that it works?

3. Ground rules

To build a safe and comfortable environment, a good facilitator has a few more points to consider. How do you protect the people who are worried their ideas will be attacked or mocked? How do you hold back the big talkers who tend to dominate, while still making them feel good about their participation?

This is an especially important concern in the area of mental health promotion. Discussions about mental health issues need to be facilitated effectively, so that people can feel safe and supported sharing personal, often painful experiences with others. Having a clear set of ground rules should help the facilitator as well as the participants to have a sense of trust and safety in the group.

Most meetings have some kind of operating rules. Some groups use a more formal procedure, while others have rules they’ve adopted over time. If you want participation to flow naturally, and people to feel invested in following the rules, the best way to go is to have the group develop them as one of the first steps in the process. This builds a sense of power among the participants, and the rules tend to be respected. Common ground rules include the following:

• One person speaks at a time;
  
  
• Listen to what other people are saying;
  
  
• Respect other people’s ideas;
  
  
• Have a system to keep track of speakers - to make sure everyone is heard, and that no one dominates to the exclusion of others.

Now that you know the basics on developing facilitation skills, you can put them into practice at your next meeting!

This section provided only a very brief summary of facilitation skills, drawn from information found in: the Community Tool Box, Part E, Chapter 16, Section 2: Developing Facilitation Skills. http://ctb.lsi.ukans.edu/tools/en/section_1154.htm. You will also find a number of other resources on facilitation in the annotated resource list at the end of this chapter.

Back to top

Tools - 3. An introduction to community problem solving >