Cover

Contents

Preface

1 Introducing facilitation

What is a facilitated workshop?

The facilitator’s role and style

What a facilitated workshop can do (and can’t do!)

Test your attitude to facilitation

The workshop lifecycle

2 The psychology of groups

Social behaviour

Types of group

Pecking order

Group norms

Coalitions

Typical roles

Common goals

3 Planning a facilitated workshop

Getting a clear purpose

Inviting participants

Doing the right research

Designing the workshop

Workshop tools and techniques

Putting it all together

Producing an agenda

4 Running a facilitated workshop

The facilitator’s responsibility on the day

Introducing the workshop

Questioning and listening

Managing the discussion

Capturing and using workshop data

Handling difficult situations and difficult people

Body language

Extracting workshop actions

Important issues arising

Making decisions

Closing the workshop

5 The workshop environment

Location

Equipment

Seating

Safety

Food and drink

Breaks

Group-work areas

Interruptions

Mobile phones and pagers

Pens and paper

Name cards or badges

6 What to do afterwards

Informing participants

Informing the workshop sponsor

Informing other parties

Reporting back

Dealing with workshop actions

Dealing with issues arising

What next?

Example reports

7 Other issues surrounding the use of workshops

Workshops as part of the organizational change process

Using external facilitators

Improving your facilitation skills

8 Worked case studies

Help-desk review workshop

Standards and procedures workshop

IT strategy workshop for senior managers

Prototype review workshop

9 Special case workshops

What is a special case workshop?

Top team workshops

Cross-cultural workshops

10 Facilitating virtual meetings

Virtual teams – how do they work?

Pros and cons of a virtual meeting

Virtual meeting technologies and their applications

Tips for facilitating a virtual meeting

Dos and don’ts for virtual team managers and team members

11 The facilitator’s complete checklist

Checklist 1: Questions to ask upfront

Checklist 2: Questions to ask when designing the workshop

Checklist 3: Questions to ask about the actual event

Checklist 4: Questions to ask afterwards

APPENDIX Answers to questions

Introducing facilitation

The psychology of groups

Planning a facilitated workshop

Running a facilitated workshop

The workshop environment

What to do afterwards

Special case workshops

References

Index