Services > Group Process Facilitation Engagements

Group Process Facilitation Engagements

What do group process facilitation engagements look like? While each engagement is designed to meet the needs of the particular group and organization, a picture of some of the common elements are as follows:

  1. client and facilitator meet initially to understand the context of the group work;
  2. the facilitator draws upon insights from these meetings to develop a preliminary plan for working with the group;
  3. client and facilitator meet again to reach agreement on how the engagement will proceed;
  4. attention to the particulars of room set up and meeting technology may take additional time;
  5. the facilitator will begin work with the group typically by generating an agenda with the group and discussing any ground rules if deemed important;
  6. as the group begins work, the facilitator works in tandem with a person serving as recorder to ensure the thoughts of the group are captured in a meaningful form;
  7. where the group gets "stuck" or communication is blocked or hampered, the facilitator offers tools in the form of techniques to get at a topic from a different angle, or encourages reflection using various approaches, or models feedback in the form of observations about what has been said or observed in the way of behaviors;
  8. the facilitator utilizes metaphor, visual graphics or other visual representations to enable the group to see, hear and understand the unfolding work of the group;
  9. between work sessions, the facilitator creates a record of the progress of the group, sometimes in the form of a photograph of what was recorded on white boards or large sheets;
  10. at the conclusion of the engagement, the facilitator may provide additional reflection and follow up tools to assist the group with the continuation of work beyond the engagement.

Much of what the group process facilitator offers works in tandem with process consultation, a close cousin.  N.J. Hess Associates provides both group process facilitation and process consultation.