Small Group Facilitation

Winner of the R. Wayne Pace HRD Book of the Year 2011 award at the Academy of Human Resource Development (AHRD) conference in Denver

Discover a whole new process for facilitating small groups that will dramatically improve the results you get—no matter what type of group you lead.

Small Group Facilitation presents a new, research-based framework for facilitation along with plenty of how-to tools for putting into action. Unlike other resources,  it focuses on the importance of group process. If you’re a veteran facilitator, you’ll gain tools for perfecting your craft. If you’re a beginner, you’ll gain a clear road map to success.

You’ll learn about the concept of small group facilitation and how groups work. You’ll also explore the eight key elements of the author’s innovative framework for facilitation:

• Planning and organization: Learn the importance of planning and preparation.
• Communication: Master active listening, paraphrasing and summarizing, questioning and other key skills.
• Task: Improve your ability to keep the group focused, clarify purpose, establish ground rules, adhere to time frames and use technology and visual aids.
• Relationships and climate: Discover new ways to support interaction and discussion, encourage involvement, use humor effectively, provide feedback and handle disruptive people.
• Values and ethics:  Learn the values that guide facilitation, specific ethical concerns facilitators often have and how to apply values to your job as facilitator.
• Conflict: Delve into the types of conflicts that occur in small groups and the importance of focusing on interests rather than taking sides.
• Creativity: Explore the process of creative problem-solving and ways you can encourage creativity.
• Techniques: Define guiding principles for helping your group with decision-making and problem-solving.

Each chapter in this extremely readable resource begins with a bulleted list of key concepts, ends with a summary and references, and includes lessons learned from the author’s experiences facilitating groups.