How to Use Facilitation to Help People See What They Don’t See

Recently, on the Relatable Leader podcast, the warm
and engaging host Catherine Goggia asked me about how employees can put issues
on the table and confront problems in ways that maximize progress while
minimizing unproductive conflict and defensiveness
. One of the approaches I
described involves using a facilitator to shift the discussion so people can
see there’s more to the situation than the facts they’ve already accepted or the
positions they’ve already taken.

Providing New Perspective

Say a conflict arises between two colleagues: They each take
actions they believe they’ve been directed to take, which they view as right,
but unfortunately, these actions don’t work well together. By introducing
thought experiments and encouraging consideration of hypotheticals, a facilitator
can get a more open, thoughtful discussion process started. The facilitator can
also help opposing participants refocus by reinforcing the organization’s vision,
strategy, and current needs
. Often, simply emphasizing opponents’
responsibility to satisfy the organization’s purpose and goals helps adjust
perspective.

In addition, the facilitator can examine the situation from
a broader or deeper perspective, identifying historical or cultural norms that
may never have been true or are no longer relevant and point out how they still
determine the way people perceive issues. Many employees have operating
patterns or habits based on their beliefs about old instructions, so pointing them
out and offering suggestions for new responses can bring about a shift.

Using Gentle Nudges

Facilitators can ask questions about issues that
participants avoid raising like, “What are you really worried about?” or “What’s
the worst thing that might happen?” and follow up with additional probes like, “And
if that were to happen, what could we do about that? What could anybody do
about that? What if you had power in the situation that you don’t usually have?”
Repeating that sequence can be like using the “Five Whys,” letting the
facilitator open participants’ minds to new information and points of view.

Gentle nudging supports fresh thought processes much better than
demanding answers or leaving participants stuck in negative or defensive
postures. And by getting participants to express their worries, facilitators
can help them debug their thinking processes, rather than just ordering them to
think differently. Maintaining this kind of practice helps participants get
used to expanding their own thinking and incorporating others’ views.

Lowering Defenses

It’s hard to make progress when people are afraid to
speak or feel like they’re under attack.
When the facilitator’s positioning
is neutral and tone is curious, participants are more likely to bring out their
best thoughts, rather than behaving self-protectively. So, instead of starting
a discussion by asking, “Jonas, why did you let the inventory get screwed up?” the
conversation can be positioned as: “Here’s how our inventory situation looks to
me. What could we do to improve X in the short term and make sure we don’t end
up in this situation again?”

This hypothetical prompt lets people think about what would
improve the situation, rather than defending themselves or blaming others. The
facilitator can model and explain this approach until everybody in the room
learns to do it for themselves.

Moving Forward Positively and Productively

Acknowledging and praising even small contributions is
another crucial facilitative behavior.
It encourages people to continue making
useful suggestions and recommendations, rather than feeling shut down by the cold-shoulder
response that often meets new ideas or comments from people who don’t have
significant political capital. And when the facilitator keeps drawing out new
information and fostering dialog, others can chime in. Once people realize there’s
a real conversation going on, most will decide to participate.

When the facilitator helps people see additional sides of an issue, buffers criticism and defensiveness, and encourages thoughtful participation, both individuals and entire teams often become able to maintain the new behaviors by themselves. At the very least, they may recognize how helpful it is to have a facilitator present for the tricky stages of a discussion, offering a bridge to finding practical solutions.

Onward and upward —

LK

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