{"id":5271,"date":"2019-07-19T07:33:42","date_gmt":"2019-07-19T12:33:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/?p=5271"},"modified":"2020-12-20T21:54:23","modified_gmt":"2020-12-21T02:54:23","slug":"taking-your-facilitation-to-the-next-level-master-the-12-workshop-facilitation-techniques","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/taking-your-facilitation-to-the-next-level-master-the-12-workshop-facilitation-techniques\/","title":{"rendered":"Taking Your Facilitation to the Next Level: Master the 12 Workshop Facilitation Techniques"},"content":{"rendered":"<blockquote><p>Dynamics of every workshop is unique \u2013 a unique set of techniques is needed for workshop leaders to achieve expected <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-5274\" src=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Workshop-Technique-Facilitation-Volume-1-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Workshop-Technique-Facilitation-Volume-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Workshop-Technique-Facilitation-Volume-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Workshop-Technique-Facilitation-Volume-1-1024x683.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>results.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Facilitation is going to be a key component of work in the future as employers and society face bigger and more complex problems and ideas. However, facilitation is never an easy task. It requires a certain level of facilitation skills which can be enhanced by mastering the use of <a href=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/browse\/flevypro\/workshop-facilitation-techniques-volume-1-3848\">Workshop Facilitation Techniques<\/a>.\u00a0 Note that Workshop Facilitation requires different techniques and skills than normal (smaller) <a href=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/business-toolkit\/meeting-facilitation\">Meeting Facilitation<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Using a variety of techniques will help people engage fully in <a href=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/business-toolkit\/workshops\">workshops<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/business-toolkit\/meeting-facilitation\">meetings<\/a>. In organizations, workshops and meetings are normally undertaken to discuss and address problems and issues while, at the same time, intended to come up with the best ideas and solutions. This can only be achieved when we get to involve more people. But when people vary in things like how we take in information most easily, whether we prefer to speak in large groups or small ones, how much reflection time is needed to make up our minds, this calls for a range of different activities that will engage people to be active generators of ideas, information, and solutions.<\/p>\n<h2>The Dynamics of Workshop Facilitation Techniques<\/h2>\n<p>Workshop Facilitation Techniques are practical applications of the principles and concepts of group dynamics, behavioral psychology, and communication science essential to facilitate progress and success.<\/p>\n<p>These are essential tools for workshop leaders to facilitate workshops such as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/running-design-workshops\/\">Design Planning Sessions<\/a>, Joint Requirements Planning Workshop or Strategic Planning Workshops. Workshop leaders must employ various techniques to accelerate the capture of planning, analysis, and design information, as well as ensure that participants work effectively together.<\/p>\n<p>Failure to effectively harness the knowledge of participants and manage participant behavior can lead to the inability to accomplish a set of pre-defined objectives that can hamper organizational effectiveness.<\/p>\n<h2>Discovering the 12 Techniques in Workshop Facilitation<\/h2>\n<p>There are <a href=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/browse\/flevypro\/workshop-facilitation-techniques-volume-2-3849\">12 Techniques in Workshop Facilitation<\/a>. Learning to identify and use the proper technique will maximize workshop facilitators\u2019 capability to engage participation, harness and integrate ideas, and effectively promote in-depth thinking to achieve the workshop objectives and purpose.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/browse\/flevypro\/workshop-facilitation-techniques-volume-1-3848\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-5275\" src=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Workshop-Facilitation-Technique-1024x768.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" srcset=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Workshop-Facilitation-Technique.png 1024w, https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Workshop-Facilitation-Technique-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Workshop-Facilitation-Technique-768x576.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>1-2-4-All.<\/strong>\u00a0 A technique that facilitates rich conversation in small groups and integrates small groups ideas around an important issue or question.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ol start=\"2\">\n<li><strong>25-to-10 (Crowdsourcing).<\/strong>\u00a0A technique for quickly generating and rating ideas.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ol start=\"3\">\n<li><strong>Card Sorting.<\/strong> A technique of gathering and organizing ideas that draw on the knowledge of the whole group.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ol start=\"4\">\n<li><strong>Field Trip around the Room.<\/strong>\u00a0 A technique used to organize how members of the group discuss several topics and integrate ideas on how to address them.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ol start=\"5\">\n<li><strong>Gallery Walk.<\/strong>\u00a0 A technique that gets the whole room on its feet to take a walking tour of posters for flip chart pages that reflect each group\u2019s answers to questions.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ol start=\"6\">\n<li><strong>Knowledge Caf\u00e9.<\/strong>\u00a0A method that fosters discussion about topics important to participants.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ol start=\"7\">\n<li><strong>Popcorn Report.<\/strong>\u00a0A technique for eliciting comments from those who feel moved to share.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ol start=\"8\">\n<li><strong>Speed Consulting.<\/strong>\u00a0A technique that draws on experiences of participants to advise another participant on how to address specific problems.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ol start=\"9\">\n<li><strong>Speed Networking.<\/strong>\u00a0A technique that gets all participants to reflect on a question and share their insights.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ol start=\"10\">\n<li><strong>Storytelling.<\/strong> A technique of sharing the knowledge that incorporates the context, emotion, and tacit knowledge.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ol start=\"11\">\n<li><strong>TRIZ.<\/strong>\u00a0A technique that helps groups think creatively how to solve a problem or improve a complex process.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ol start=\"12\">\n<li><strong>Voting with Your Feed.<\/strong>\u00a0A technique for engaging participants to express their views for or against a position by moving from one side of the room or the other.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Each Workshop Facilitation Technique has its own specific objective and application. Their approaches may be different but there are also some techniques whose approach may be a bit similar. Regardless of what technique is used, what is important is that participants are completely engaged and the objectives set forth are met.<\/p>\n<p>In the end, an effective Workshop Facilitator is one who makes use of various techniques to keep the discussion moving. When tension or discussion comes to a halt, the facilitator must be prepared and know which technique to use to continue the learning and continually make it happen.<\/p>\n<p>Interested in gaining more understanding of <a href=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/browse\/flevypro\/workshop-facilitation-techniques-volume-1-3848\">Workshop Facilitation Techniques<\/a>? You can learn more and download an <a href=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/browse\/flevypro\/workshop-facilitation-techniques-volume-1-3848\">editable PowerPoint about <strong>Workshop Facilitation Techniques (Volume 1)<\/strong>\u00a0<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/browse\/flevypro\/workshop-facilitation-techniques-volume-2-3849\"><strong>Workshop Facilitation Techniques (Volume 2)<\/strong> here<\/a> on the <a href=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/browse\">Flevy documents marketplace<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>Do You Find Value in This Framework?<\/h2>\n<p>You can download in-depth presentations on this and hundreds of similar business frameworks from the <a href=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/pro\/library\">FlevyPro Library<\/a>. <a href=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/pro\">FlevyPro<\/a> is trusted and utilized by 1000s of management consultants and corporate executives. Here&#8217;s what some have to say:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;My FlevyPro subscription provides me with the most popular frameworks and decks in demand in today\u2019s market. They not only augment my existing consulting and coaching offerings and delivery, but also keep me abreast of the latest trends, inspire new products and service offerings for my practice, and educate me in a fraction of the time and money of other solutions. I strongly recommend FlevyPro to any consultant serious about success.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\">\u2013 Bill Branson, Founder at Strategic Business Architects<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;As a niche strategic consulting firm, Flevy and FlevyPro frameworks and documents are an on-going reference to help us structure our findings and recommendations to our clients as well as improve their clarity, strength, and visual power. For us, it is an invaluable resource to increase our impact and value.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\">\u2013 David Coloma, Consulting Area Manager at Cynertia Consulting<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;As a small business owner, the resource material available from FlevyPro has proven to be invaluable. The ability to search for material on demand based our project events and client requirements was great for me and proved very beneficial to my clients. Importantly, being able to easily edit and tailor the material for specific purposes helped us to make presentations, knowledge sharing, and toolkit development, which formed part of the overall program collateral. While FlevyPro contains resource material that any consultancy, project or delivery firm must have, it is an essential part of a small firm or independent consultant&#8217;s toolbox.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\">\u2013 Michael Duff, Managing Director at Change Strategy (UK)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;FlevyPro has been a brilliant resource for me, as an independent growth consultant, to access a vast knowledge bank of presentations to support my work with clients. In terms of RoI, the value I received from the very first presentation I downloaded paid for my subscription many times over! The quality of the decks available allows me to punch way above my weight \u2013 it&#8217;s like having the resources of a Big 4 consultancy at your fingertips at a microscopic fraction of the overhead.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\">\u2013 Roderick Cameron, Founding Partner at SGFE Ltd<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;Several times a month, I browse FlevyPro for presentations relevant to the job challenge I have (I am a consultant). When the subject requires it, I explore further and buy from the Flevy Marketplace. On all occasions, I read them, analyze them. I take the most relevant and applicable ideas for my work; and, of course, all this translates to my and my clients&#8217; benefits.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\">\u2013 Omar Hern\u00e1n Montes Parra, CEO at Quantum SFE<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dynamics of every workshop is unique \u2013 a unique set of techniques is needed for workshop leaders to achieve expected results. Facilitation is going to be a key component of work in the future as employers and society face bigger and more complex problems and ideas. However, facilitation is never an easy task. It requires&hellip;&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/taking-your-facilitation-to-the-next-level-master-the-12-workshop-facilitation-techniques\/\" rel=\"bookmark\"><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Taking Your Facilitation to the Next Level: Master the 12 Workshop Facilitation Techniques<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":111,"featured_media":5274,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[82,85],"tags":[1695,1694,1696,1693],"class_list":["post-5271","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-operations","category-organization","tag-1-2-4-all","tag-12-techniques-in-workshop-facilitation","tag-popcorn-report","tag-workshop-facilitation-techniques"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5271","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/111"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5271"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5271\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8111,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5271\/revisions\/8111"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5274"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}