virtual facilitation

How and Why Holding the Group’s Agenda is Paramount in Facilitation

As a facilitator, holding the group’s agenda is one of five guiding principles to keep the meeting moving forward.

When a group is resisting the decision they are narrowing in toward or responding with reluctance toward every attempt to move the meeting forward, you are likely encountering the tension between two unspoken but competing agendas in the room.

The principle we are looking at today, ‘holding the group’s agenda, is about continually asking “How can I best serve this group?”. It’s about wondering “ What does this group really need right now?” It’s letting your agenda take the backseat so that you can help a group tackle emergent dynamics. It’s about uncovering what’s really going on in the group so that they can move forward as a team.

The Three Group Agendas To Hold When Facilitating

The first step when it comes to holding the group’s agenda is to understand that there are three different levels of agendas that a group can have:

The Presenting Agenda
The Emergent Agenda
The Developmental Agenda

Let’s look at each of these separately

The Presenting Agenda

This agenda, the presenting agenda encompasses the meeting’s purpose, desired outcomes, and plan. It’s why this group has come together, and it includes the facilitation design anticipated to help the group achieve what it hopes to achieve.

The Emergent Agenda

The emergent agenda is what emergentes live in the room as conversations happen, new perspectives are voiced, and ideas are generated.

New thinking is often behind the emergence of this level of group agenda.

The Developmental Agenda

The developmental agenda is a deeper agenda that focuses on how the group works together. It’s about group behavior and dynamics. Facilitators working with agile teams are not just trying to help a group achieve an outcome for a meeting, they are often helping a team develop.

Hold the Group’s Agenda, Not Your Own!

When you, the group facilitator, work with a group, it’s helpful to know where they want to go. Knowing their presenting agenda enables your to hold their desired outcome – what they hope to achieve from working together – and more fully comprehend what else is happening in the room.

Because along their journey, groups can get in their own way, and it can get especially complicated as a facilitator when what the group thinks they need and what they actually need are two different things.

When you hold the group’s agenda – presenting, emergent, or developmental – you are choosing to be of service to the group over yourself, your position, and your perception of our own worth.

This is about them, not you!

The principle of holding the group’s agenda is about being aware of what the group wants and how they also might be getting in their own way. It’s about being able to really listen to what’s emerging in the team – hearing what the team needs – while remaining aware of what your own agenda might be and not letting it take over.

Go Slow To Go Fast

The slippery slope with agendas is that when your own agenda feels so right to you, you risk missing the group’s agenda. And if you are facilitating a team in which you are a member of the team, discerning your agenda from the team’s agenda becomes even more difficult.

In my book ‘The Art & Science of Facilitation’ I go deeper into these agendas and show what holding the group’s agenda looks like in practice!

“You owe it to yourself and the team to challenge the notion of certain agendas”

Holding the Group’s Agenda is Big Work!

The way to change meetings is to help teams and groups move the meeting from a surface-level conversation where they may as well be rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic to a place where it’s okay and even expected to have real conversations.

Most groups need guidance and help getting to this place, and the organization’s culture and team dynamics will have a big impact on how easy the process is.

There is work to do. Without it, you’re wasting time – yours and everyone else’s.

Don’t shy away from emergent and developmental agendas,, even when it’s tough. This work lays the track for agile teams to become agile, and each meeting is a meaningful step toward more systemic change within the team or organizational culture.

The Five Cornerstones of the Agile Team Facilitation Stance

The cornerstones of the Agile Team Facilitation Stance include:

Honoring the wisdom of the group
Maintaining Neutrality
Upholding the Agile Mindset and Practices
Standing in the Storm
Holding the Group’s Agenda

Learn more about each stance by clicking the links!

How to Lead Effective Collaboration with Agile Teams

With the recent publication of the book ‘The Art & Science of Facilitation How to Lead Effective Collaboration with Agile Teams’ TeamCatapult is proud to present the Virtual Book Tour to promote this new book and its important message.

This Virtual Book Tour consists of several online ‘Virtual Book Tour Stops’ where casual conversations about facilitation take place with guest speakers.

Each speaker invited to participate in any of these virtual events is knowledgeable about both Agile and Facilitation and an expert in their field. We invite you join us for this book tour and learn more about ‘The Art & Science of Facilitation’

The Start of a Virtual Book Tour: Stories of Facilitation

During the first stop of the tour, we met Teamcatapult faculty as they told personal stories of facilitation.

The full conversation with Marsha Acker, Antoinette Coetzee, David Levine, Jeff Hackert, Kari McLeod, Kay Harper, Larissa Caruso and William Strydom can be watched in its entirety via this link.

These stories of facilitation yielded not only a vibrant and stimulating conversation, but also several follow up questions about facilitation. As is common with webinars, virtual events or panel discussions limited on time, the speakers didn’t have an opportunity to answer all questions in the moment.

However, we believe these questions need to be answered. The team thought so too!

Thanks to TeamCatapult faculty, we now have not just questions, but amazing insightful answers as well!

Here are 7 FAQs questions about facilitation!

1. Facilitating Outside of Work, Can It be Done?

Question: I’d be curious to hear folk’s opinions on facilitating outside of work – as a parent, as a spouse, at my book club?

Answers:

Jeff: I find these skills to be useful in nearly every act of group communication.

Marsha: I agree with Jeff, I use aspects of facilitation skills in almost every aspect of my life – home, work, girl scout meetings, volunteer efforts, etc.

Kari: Yes, and being clear about your role when you do so is key. For example, facilitate a discussion as a parent, if you’re truly willing to be neutral. I have to remind myself of this one! I attended a virtual memorial service in November, and there wasn’t a facilitator. It was awkward. So, I asked if I could help guide the discussion. Once there was some process and people started speaking, I stepped back as a facilitator and the conversation was more organic.

David: Me too. Recently, at a Home Association meeting, I found myself recognizing a structural dynamics pattern and was able to steer the conversation to something more collaborative and productive (Science over Art…)

2. How is a Facilitation Book Different From a Communication Book?

Question: Why do you think this book is necessary at this time, how would you distinguish these books from countless books on communication?

Answers:

Marsha: There are hundreds of books out there on facilitation and communication techniques – and they are very helpful (I have many of them on my shelf). The intention of this book is more about what beliefs, in our own mindset, will support those endless amounts of techniques and make them more effective. In the agile movement I think we are at the place where there is a general understanding of the need for collaboration, that coaching skills and facilitation skills support this, and I see many teams that just apply the techniques without doing the mindset work that would allow them to make those techniques more impactful and meaningful. I think we are at the place to collectively deepen our work on how we collaborate together.

Antoinette: The reason why I love working with Marsha is because I resonate so much with her belief that facilitation is as much who you are and how you are being, as it is about what you do. I have a number of really great books on facilitation that have helped me in my own journey, most of them have a section of how you show up, but the majority of the book is devoted to the act of facilitation. The combination of Agile, facilitation and Structured Dynamics is where I think this book really helps facilitators grow awareness of what is happening in them, in the room, and in the group they are facilitating.

Kari: I echo both Marsha and Antoinette, and I’ll build on what they wrote to say that this book grows how we’re being as facilitators which is the foundation of what we’re doing as facilitators.

3. Can Facilitation Be Helpful for Non-Agile Teams?

Question: I know that the book is targeted to Agile Teams but do you feel it is applicable beyond Agile Teams and why?

Answers:

Larissa: I would argue that this is even more important for non Agile teams. Because Agile teams are somewhat used to concepts of collaboration, co-creation, and facilitating meetings. If you can bring a little bit of that mindset you find in the book to meetings, you will see a huge 180 in productivity and engagement.

Kari: Much of the foundation of this book lies in professional coaching and facilitation as well as Structural Dynamics–none of which have Agile as their foundation. The facilitation mindset you’ll explore in this book uses Agile teams as a lens, and I encourage you to adopt the mindset and look through other lenses.

David: Only you need to be Agile to make this stuff work. I have facilitated many many meetings using the concepts from this book without the “A” word ever coming up.

4. What is the Role of Intentional Distractions During Meetings?

Question: I am curious what folks think about intentional “distractions” – ie pipe cleaners, legos, snacks

Answers:

Antoinette: These items are really useful for people (like me) who need to be kinetically busy in order to concentrate. Completely voluntary of course!

Marsha: For me, it depends on the topic and work to be done in the meeting. If it’s detailed thinking work and I’m using tables, then I might use ‘fidget items’. If the topic is more about how the team is working and relationship based or if I think there is a certain level of ‘heat’ in the conversation I remove tables (if we are in the room) and really ask people to be present to the conversation and give their full attention to reading the room and what’s happening for them and others.

Kari: David, you probably know I love having these manipulatives in training, MeetUps, and certain meetings and events. I have had participants thank me for bringing them, saying they wished they had had things to fiddle with in school, college, and at work. I have learned to make it clear that they are on the table for them to use (i.e., we’re not saving them for an activity), and, as Antoinette pointed out, that they can use them or not. I also point out that they can take whatever they created with them (I don’t want the Play-Doh back!). And, I agree with Marsha, I don’t use them if it’s a meeting where participants need to be IN the conversation.

David: A tool in the kit, best used in service to some purpose. Useful for some meetings, not for others.

5. Facilitation Goals and KPIs: Can We Measure Performance?

Question: What are your thoughts on organisations wanting to measure the effectiveness of a facilitator, defining some sort of goals and KPIs for facilitation? How could or should we measure performance?

Answers:

Jeff: Focusing on outcomes and measures will help to improve our practice. Of course you have to be careful that the focus is on improving communication, team participation, and process vs say moving a leadership agenda. Make sense?

Marsha: I would suggest asking the group to evaluate how well they think they currently do in: hearing all voices; talking about difficult subjects; raising concerns; meeting deadlines; making decisions; etc. Ask them what they want to improve and what that would look like. Then in 6 months ask them to rate these same items again and see where they are. Getting the team to take ownership of their communication is critical, facilitation will help you (and them) achieve the outcomes they want to achieve.

Antoinette: I would also add that looking at the quality of solutions and the stickiness of decisions and whether they are improving might be useful.

6. How Can We Uphold the Agile Mindset While Facilitating?

Question: There is a chapter in the book on upholding the Agile Mindset while facilitating. I would love to hear everyone’s perspective on that.

Answers:

Antoinette: I will answer by defining the Agile mindset as consisting of three beliefs : the Complexity belief, the People belief, and the Proactivity belief:

The Complexity belief says that when we work with Complex problems we can never predict the impact of an action. As facilitators we plan, and then we dance in the moment. We are not married to our plan. We need to facilitate the group in front of us, wherever they choose to go.
The People belief helps us to make space for every voice including the unpopular ones, believe in the wisdom of the group, and value every contribution equally.
The Proactivity belief has us asking for feedback and looking for continuous improvements.

As facilitator I both plan an agenda with activities that creates the opportunity for all of the above to be possible, as well as be present to what is happening in the moment to change tack if necessary.

I would actually argue that, maybe with the exception of the last belief, facilitators have been doing this all along. Traditional facilitators just tended to be a little more heavy on the documentation! 🙂

David: It is as good a practice as there is. If you haven’t been exposed to it, please read Carol Dweck’s little book called Mindset.

7. Any Tips for Virtual Facilitation?

Question: Can you provide some tips to read the room when facilitating virtually?

Answers:

Jeff: My tips: mics on, cameras on – make it safe for folks to be present

Marsha: I agree with Jeff, these two things, when practiced by everyone in the meeting can significantly change the nature of ‘safety’ in the meeting. We have several blogs about this as well. Check these out:

How Do You Facilitate for Unexpected and Unplanned Magic?

How To Best Guide Your Team With Virtual Team Facilitation

How To Lead with Virtual Team Facilitation

Why We hold Check-in and Check-out as a Sacred Space

8 Tips to Successful Virtual Team Facilitation

Antoinette: Yes! I also contract with people explicitly to make their wishes known more openly than when they are in a physical space. And it is good to ask for DISAGREEMENT rather than agreement, eg. “who has something else” instead of “does everyone agree”. Knowing you, Naresh, I can also say trust your intuition and don’t rely on your eyes: 🙂 And that is actually for everyone – we rely too much on our eyes when our hearts tell us more about what is going on in the virtual space. It’s a muscle we need to develop more.

David: Agree. I find that scanning the gallery view is helpful. People get tired more easily when virtual. Don’t confuse fatigue with lack of interest.

The Art & Science of Facilitation

Don’t miss out on reading the book, or the tour: If you lead teams of any size, it’s time to become a true facilitator — in every sense of the word.

Learn how to lead effective collaboration with agile teams!

We will leave you with these last words about the book:

The Art and Science of Facilitation is your guide to moving your team further forward using the groundbreaking Five Guiding Principles of the Facilitation Stance. For anyone ready to lead with self-awareness and group insight, this book is designed to help you navigate group dynamics so that your team can work more efficiently and effectively in a truly collaborative environment.

A Crash Course in Translating Your Process to a Virtual Setting

Your meeting room is all prepared. Your templates, markers, and sticky notes are at hand. But you and your client are both (very properly) practicing social distancing. So you have a face-to-face process for [strategy, visioning, brainstorming, decision-making, you name it], and you suddenly need to deliver this session remotely. You don’t even know where to start. Great! Let’s do this.

This is a bare-bones crash course in how to translate your face-to-face offering to a virtual one. We’ll cover:

Your mindset
Your mental model
Converting your existing agenda
Getting help
Matching processes with tools
Common problems you may encounter

It can be a lot more complex than this, but this is a good starting point if you’ve never done it before. Throughout, I’ve named tools that I personally prefer, but you can choose others that do the same thing. Let’s go.

Your Mindset

First, stop panicking. This is do-able, and you can do it. Also, your participants really need you to hold the container for them while they work, and you can’t do that effectively while you are panicking. So leave the panic at the door.

Second, accept that something will go wrong, and when it does, embrace it. I’ve done remote sessions for years and I still open each one with the thought, “Hmm, I wonder what will go wrong today?” I phrase it a little differently, though. I think to myself, “Hmm, I wonder what I will learn today?” Everything that goes wrong is a gift, because it teaches you something you didn’t know. It’s okay. Remain calm, explain what’s happening, and work the problem. It’ll be fine.

Third, let go of the fear that your virtual session will by definition be worse than your face-to-face one would have been. That isn’t necessarily true, especially for some kinds of work which are actually easier to do online. Accept that it will be a different experience, not necessarily a worse one, and aim to provide the best experience that you can.

Your Mental Model

This part is for those who have almost no experience in virtual settings, so you can wrap your mind around how it’s set up. Skip this section if you’ve participated in a bunch of remote sessions before. Otherwise, read on.

You’ll have a meeting room, just like you do any other time. People will connect to the meeting room and remain in it for the duration of the session. The tool I use to create the meeting room is Zoom. Everyone connects to the same Zoom link and can use a phone or their computer to hear what’s going on. They can see each other (if they’re using video cameras) and anything that I’m sharing on my screen too. Only the host (me, or you in your case) needs a Zoom account.

You’ll have supporting tools, like you do in any other session. Instead of sticky notes, paper charts, and paper templates, you’ll use digital tools so your participants can engage in the hands-on activities you want them to do. They will connect to these tools using a web browser, while they are still connected to the meeting in Zoom. You give the link to the supporting tool or tools (go easy — multiple tools get confusing really fast), and everyone connects to it. I use tools like MURAL for sticky notes and visual templates, Trello for kanban boards, and Google Docs for shared editing.

Pro Tip: Usually, people are either looking at Zoom or they are looking at the shared tool, so if you are going to be working in a shared tool for a while, have people turn off their video camera in Zoom. Even when they are in Zoom breakout groups while using a shared tool, their focus will be on the tool, not on Zoom. Turning off the video camera can make the audio clearer and the tools load faster for people with limited bandwidth.

If you do graphic capture, you’ll also have a tablet (iPad or similar) that you can write on. You’ll share this screen in the Zoom session while you’re capturing. I use Concepts as my drawing app, but I recommend others for first-timers.

Converting Your Existing Agenda

The basic crash-course process for this consists of five steps:

Take out 25% of your activities (or make your session 50% longer). You can’t get as much done in the same amount of time, especially when you’re new at this. Transitions will eat up a lot more time than you expect. See this post for more details, including when to add breaks.
Identify the process you are using at each stage in your agenda, then select a tool that matches it and supports its desired outcome(s). Use as few tools as possible, even if it means using the same tool for two or more different activities. See the table below.
Create any templates or other materials you need so that they are ready in the selected tools. Include instructions right in the tool whenever possible, so that they can refer back to them if they get confused.
Visualize the transitions you will be asking participants to make between tools. How will you help them make the switch and get oriented? How will you teach them the basics of the tool so they are able to do what you ask them to do? How will you support them when they get stuck? Answer these questions for yourself, and you will be better able to support them through the session. Draw a diagram of the transitions between tools for your own reference. Make notes on your copy of the agenda to remind you what to say and when to say it.
Practice with each tool beforehand. Make mistakes, so that when participants make the same mistake, you can help them out. Do everything you are asking them to do. Find out where you need to give extra instructions to prevent mishaps.

Getting Help

Everyone is trying to learn this very fast right now. Several of the tools I use either have fantastic online tutorials (I’m looking at you, Zoom) or have staff who can help guide you through the basics, or both. Sign up for a demo webinar (thank you, MURAL) if they are on offer. Google the name of your tool plus “tutorial” or “demo” to find what’s available.

Matching Processes with Tools

Here is a list of common processes that you might need to use, and tools that support them. It’s obviously not an exhaustive list, but these are some of the most common things I do in virtual sessions. Again, I’ve listed my favorite tools; there are many others available.

Process You Want to Do (links in this column go to how-to articles)	Tools That Support It (links in this column go to the tool’s website)
Breakout groups	Zoom
Breakout groups with templates and sticky notes	Zoom, along with: MURAL, pre-loaded with your template
Check in circle	Zoom, sharing an image of the participants in a circle
Creating or editing a shared piece of writing	Google Docs or Office 365
Creating or editing a shared presentation	Google Docs or Office 365
Discussion circle	Zoom, using video if you can
Dot voting	MURAL
Fishbowl	Zoom
Flow charts, roadmaps, quad grids, other visual tools	MURAL or Google Slides or Office 365
Graphic recording	Zoom, along with: iPad or tablet and drawing program of choice
Kanban boards	Trello or MURAL
Looking at a shared resource	Zoom, using screen sharing
Polling	Zoom
Sticky notes	MURAL
Threaded conversations, text chat, sidebar conversations	Slack

Common Problems You May Encounter

Problem: People behind firewalls can’t access certain tools.

Solution: Have them do a pre-meeting tech check. Some tools have a test link (for instance, Zoom’s is here). For others, like MURAL or Google Docs, set up an open-access test document and send the link to your participants ahead of time.

Problem: People get lost switching between tools.

Solution: Visualize how this will work before you start. Give clear, explicit instructions, both verbally and written down in the tool they will use. Spend an extra minute making sure everyone is with you before you start. Have a colleague or volunteer present who can help stragglers figure out how to get where you are.

Problem: Not everyone has a video camera.

Solution: Ask the group what they prefer to do in this case: turn off all cameras, or have people use them if they are available. Keep in mind that the people who show up on video will have more perceived power and will have a different experience than those who don’t. Personally, I tend to be an all-or-nothing facilitator when it comes to video, but it’s up to you and your group.

Problem: Someone can’t connect to one of the tools.

Solution: If you have a tech helper, ask them to work with the person. If it just can’t be resolved, pair that person up with a buddy who is responsible for making sure that person’s ideas and input get added to the shared document. Share your screen through Zoom so they can watch what’s happening in the tool, even if they can’t get there themselves.

Caution: This is the only time you should screen share a tool that people are actively using. Otherwise, some folks will get lost between the real tool and your screen share, and they are likely to get confused at some point.

Problem: Someone’s audio or video suddenly stops working when it had been working before.

Solution: Ask them to leave the meeting and re-join. If that doesn’t work, ask them to leave the meeting, reboot their computer, and then re-join. Usually that fixes it.

Problem: There’s a ton of background noise from someone’s microphone that’s making it hard for others to hear.

Solution: In working sessions, I prefer to have everyone stay off mute; the conversation flows more naturally that way. However, sometimes there is a lot of noise in one location. Look on the participant list in Zoom to see whose microphone icon is filling up with green, and politely ask that person to mute themselves unless they need to say something until the noise has stopped.

Caution: It’s difficult to switch back to Zoom to mute and unmute while working in one of the web-based tools if you’re not used to it. Give people extra time to do this. They can return to Zoom by selecting its icon (blue with a white video symbol) from their task tray (PC) or dock (Mac).

I hope this crash course helps you find a starting point. As you do this more, you’ll get more comfortable with it. Remember that people are generally supportive when you invite them along on a learning journey like this. And good luck!

This article originally appeared on Rachel S. Smith’s blog, Digital Visual Facilitation, under “A Crash Course in Translating Your Process to a Virtual Setting“ on March 15, 2020.

What Successful Agile Team Facilitators Know

Successful Collaborative Leadership

In some cultures, it’s a badge of honor to be participating in three virtual calls at the same time, or be multitasking during a meeting, or even be running between meetings.

Yet, behaviors such as these are a reflection of organizational flaws in the way we meet. When you’re trying to collaborate on a project, but you don’t quite have the time to be fully present, it can disrupt the whole group process and cost the team time.

There are many ways we can prevent and correct bad meeting habits, while simultaneously making effective use in the way we come together in an organization. It starts with setting the intention to collaborate. And the good news is that collaboration doesn’t have to take all that much time – it simply requires a little forethought by the Facilitator.

So what does successful collaborative leadership look like, exactly? Here are five things that a facilitator should know before going into a meeting.

Who Does The Meeting Serve?

A meeting should have at least one sponsor (a person or group of people who will be the primary beneficiaries of the outputs of the meeting). Sometimes, this may be the person who asked for the meeting. In a retrospective, the team is often the group who will benefit the most from the output, so they become the “sponsor” of the meeting.

What Does “Success” Look Like?

Before the meeting, interview the sponsor and ask them: What will we have accomplished at the end of this meeting that would make it successful? It’s hard to be successful if there isn’t an agreed upon definition about what success will look like.

In the case of a retrospective, talk with the team or survey them prior to the meeting to find out what they would like to achieve in the meeting. It can help focus your retrospectives and give you different topics to talk about, aside from the typical “what worked” and “what do we want to keep/change.”

Who is Needed At The Meeting?

Not everyone who attends each meeting needs to be there, and not everyone who needs to be there is always there. This can be a source of great frustration for meeting participants and facilitators, and it’s often a source of dysfunctional behavior in the meeting.

Get clear on who needs to attend and confirm their commitment to attend in advance. If these critical people can’t make it, then reschedule the meeting for a time when they can. If others are showing up just to hang out, politely ask them to go because they’re not needed.

How Will We Accomplish The Outcomes?

Successful group meetings don’t just happen. They require some level of process design, depending on the desired purpose and outcomes. If the meeting is a daily standup, then little to no design may be required because it’s a quickly facilitated dialogue.

However, a retrospective to address some challenging team dynamics during the last iteration may require 4-6 hours of planning and design time, on average. It includes:

interviewing the team
crafting an agenda (a series of questions that will be asked of the group)
designing the facilitator script
deciding the group process (brainstorming, mind mapping, facilitating dialogue, etc.) that you will use to reach each desired outcome

This level of planning gives the facilitator and the participants a clear focus on the purpose of the meeting and keeps everyone on track. Without a clear plan, meetings can quickly start to spin into details or unrelated topics and never reach an outcome or decision.

How Will The Plan Adapt to Change?

As Dwight D. Eisenhower said, “Plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.”

The facilitator’s guide is an excellent tool, but oftentimes, the most valuable part is in the creation. Don’t be so tied to your plan that you can’t adapt to what’s happening real time with your team!

How do you create intentional collaborations? What are some ways you that would help you begin with an end in mind?