Discussion Post 3: Facilitation Technique

Bad Example:

• Length of time that it went on for was too long, there should have been some level of interjection maybe before that point as it bought the vibe of the group down a lot.
• Let the silence sit for long, there was an attempt to ask one of the members of the group that was not participating to share her thoughts, but after she gave little engagement, there wasn’t much of an attempt to pick up the vibe of the room.
• With the “women can be so manipulative” part there probably should have been an attempt to rephrase or clarify what he said to be less general as there is a possibility that that might cause a level of offense.
• When swaying at the end it would have been better to do it a lot more smoothly to take some emphasis off of how awkward the last part was.
• ‘[name], we haven’t heard from you yet’ could be more engaging like asking her what she thinks instead of putting her on the spot.

Good Example:

• The situation was reframed really well in a short and concise manner, with a lot of the edge or sting taken out of the words.
• Using relational emotions like “infuriating” to watch helps to make sure no one feels like an outlier as the facilitator also covers the side of someone who might have a boyfriend they really care about in that class.
• There is then a quick segway into deeper and safer talking points that will build more repour and develop the group dynamic more.
• Quickly avoided conversations of depressing/inflammatory subjects and re-engaged all of the group afterwards.
• To wrap up, the facilitator did a really good job of introducing and explaining why they are about to do the next task.
• Explaining why it is anonymous was also good as some people might be apprehensive about the task.

I think both talkative and quiet groups have their challenges, but with quiet groups, I might struggle feeling as comfortable due to silence being not something I enjoy very much, especially if I don’t know the people well. I think that it will be important to identify people in the group that I can get to speak up more often as a start and use my dynamic with my co to get the ball rolling. At the same time, a loud group would also come with problems like keeping the group under control or staying on task. This will be a good test of practicing authority in a gentle way, and I hope that I am able to find a balance with my co where it we are close with the group but also maintain our control of the situation.