Customer Reviews

The Skilled Facilitator: Practical Wisdom for Developing Effective Groups (Jossey Bass Public Administration Series)

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

I picked up this book because I needed to read up on how better to sell facilitation and exactly what facilitators should be doing. This book explains this and more. However, if you are looking for a simple overview of what a facilitator should, could and would do incertain situations, this is NOT your book. If you are a manager trying to be a better facilitator, do not buy this book unless you want in-depth information.

That said, if you are a facilitator looking to improve your skills, combine theory and practice or simply go back to the basics of what makes some facilitators great, this is your book.
Also, if you are a manager who really wants to become an effective facilitator/mentor, this is your book. But don't think that you can simply read the material and be more effective. The ideas and theory will take practice. Luckily, the book also gives many examples to make the ideas and theories practical and concrete.

As I said, I bought it to become better at selling professional facilitation. It gave me that and much more. I will keep it as an invaluable resource and make sure all of my facilitators utilize the practices described in detail.

As a new entry to the facilitation field, I wanted to find out what the industry thought was the BEST resource for combining theory with the practices of facilitation. I submitted my request to GRP-FACL@listserv.albany.edu, which, as far as I know, is the largest online discussion forum for active, professional facilitators. Roger Schwartz's book, "The Skilled Facilitator" was by far the favorite choice of people in the profession. I am ordering my copy now!

The subtitle of this accessible guide to facilitation, "Practical Wisdom For Developing Effective Groups", accurately describes the book's scope and utility. In four parts and thirteen chapters, Schwarz provides an overview, with countless meaningful examples, of how facilitators can most effectively help groups develop their capacity for improvement. He distinguishes between two types of facilitation: (1) Basic facilitation, which aims to help a group "solve a substantive problem"; and (2) Developmental facilitation, which accomplishes basic facilitation while helping a group learn "to improve its process". He argues that three core values underlie effective group and facilitator behavior. The first is "valid information", which means that relevant information is shared by group members and that all groups members can validate and understand the information. The second is "free and informed choice", which means that group members define their own goals and methods of achieving those goals using valid information. The third is, "internal commitment to the choice", which means that group members take responsibility for their decisions by making informed choices based on valid information. Using a basic or developmental approach, facilitators most effectively intervene by making explicit and modeling these core values. These values are maintained by a group agreeing and sticking to essential ground rules, which Schwarz lists on p. 75 and treats extensively throughout the book.

In the heart of Schwarz's book are seven chapters on intervening effectively in groups. In those chapters, he advises the reader on, among other things, how to intervene, meeting management, group problem-solving, following ground rules, and dealing with emotions. He closes with wisdom on serving as a facilitator in your own organization and on the facilitative leader. His opening sections on how facilitation helps groups achieve their goals and establishing the foundation for facilitation lay the groundwork for his later chapters.

In the opening chapters, he includes two models worth mentioning. In his "group effectiveness model" (p.23), Schwarz shows how group processes (the primary concern of the facilitator) interact with group structure and organizational context to contribute to a group effectiveness. Group effectiveness is assessed through three criteria: (1) The group's services or products meet or exceed the expectations of the clients; (2) The processes and structures used to deliver services or create products enhance the group's capacity to work together; and (3) The group's experience is satisfying, not frustrating, for the group's members. In the second noteworthy model, Schwarz presents the "diagnosis-intervention cycle" (p. 68). In this cycle, there are three diagnostic steps and three intervention steps. In the diagnostic phase, the facilitator observes behavior, infers meaning and decides whether to intervene. In the intervention phase, s/he describes observations, test her/his inferences, and helps the group decide whether and how to alter behaviors. Understanding and using these models are critical for effective facilitation.

For the would-be facilitator or group leader, this book provides exactly what the subtitle promises.

Roger's book is a unique hybrid of theory, practical exercises, examples, and personal stories. It works! The art and science of facilitation (to make easy or easier) is presented clearly, concisely, and completely. And, that is what I enjoyed about Roger's book so much. He gives it to you with "the bark on." He makes you aware of the good, the bad, and the ugly relative to the practice of facilitation.

I had used this book for several years in my work as a trainer, facilitator, and manager. Then, I had the pleasure to attend a workshop conducted by Roger. He lives what he teaches. While I was fortunate enough to have my company pay for the workshop, it is one of only three workshops I have ever attended that I feel like I would pay my own money to attend.

Keep this book nearby. It is THE best read on this subject out there.

Schwarz, Roger, M. (1994). The Skilled Facilitator, San Francisco, California: Jossey-Bass Inc.,Publishers.

C.E.Vajko (c.ernie@worldnet.att.net) March 14, 1999.

The author integrates the theory and practice of group facilitation in a simple and structured sequence. A work that could serve both the practitioner and the practical scholar. The book includes examples of how to and how not to apply the principles of practice in a mentorship program. It includes examples of effective and ineffective facilitation. The examples of actual dialogue given by the author give the reader an excellent insight to how some facilitators intervene. Step by step instructions for group facilitation, and resources that can be used effectively between facilitator and client are given. The book is strong in group facilitation principles to improve problem solving and decision making.

Managers of group and/or organizations, group consultants, facilitators, or those that want to become facilitators or organization development consultants could benefit from this book. Basically this book is for anyone that wants to improve their professional effectiveness in any field.

The book addresses an area that is important for mentors as well as facilitators working with large groups of people. Communication, conflict management, problem solving, decision making, boundary management, motivating task, clear goals, are just a few of the areas that are covered. I found this book delivers what it promises. I give it a 5 star.

The skilled facilitator introduces a facilitation approach that is based on 4 core values: Valid information, Free and informed choice, internal commitment and compassion. Most of the work on the values are based on the work of Chris Argyris and his work on Organizational Learning.

One of the key-points in the book is that most people work with a unilateral control theory-in-use. This will automatically make their facilitation in-efficient eventhough they do not realize it. The skilled facilitator approach is to try to move away from this theory-in-use and move to a "mutual learning" theory-in-use in which the facilitator tries to maximize the learning for him and his participants. The four core values provide a basis for that. Next to the core values there are 9 ground rules which are concrete enough to really act upon.

Most of the book explains the ideas behind the core values and the ground rules and shows how the ground rules influence your facilitation. This is done with scenarios in which the author shows a normal approach and a skilled facilitator alternative approach.

The book ends with a wonderful chapter on "the facilitative leader", which shows how you can combine the skilled facilitator values and ground rules and your role as a leader within the organization. This chapter alone would have been worth the book already.

I finished the book fairly quick. It's easy to read and kept me interested at all times. It also kept me thinking about the content when I was not reading it. Changing a theory-in-use is a difficult thing, but thanks to this book, I've become more aware of my own approach to facilitation and have the ability to improve it.

I have read many books about group process and group facilitation. "The Skilled Facilitator" is the best I have read. It is: (a) comprehensive, (b) rooted in actual, tested theories, and (c) practical (though often tough to implement). It advances a set of ideas that are different from those about which most people will already have read, and this sometimes makes the ideas challenging -- sometimes to understand, but certainly to implement. However, difficult as these ideas may be, they are both valid and essential to the understanding and management of healthy organizations. I have found that most books about issues in management either talk down to the reader or over-simplify complex issues for the sake of popularity. If you want an easy book with popular ideas that are immediately understandable by anyone, sound like common sense, and make you immediately feel good, then this book probably is not for you. This book *is* for you if you want a book that: (a) tells the truth, even when it might be tough to confront, (c) will challenge you to learn new ideas, and (c) will challenge you to change your organization, team, or personal style in profound ways, even when such change will be hard. If you're open to being challenged and to changing the ways in which you think and act, reading this book will, at minimum, change the way you think. If you are able to actually implement this new thinking, "The Skilled Facilitator" will also radically improve your organization, your teams, and yourself.

One of the things that struck me about this excellent guide to the art and skill of facilitation is the way in which Schwarz declares, unequivocally, who he is to his clients. He asks them to agree to work with the behaviors and values he believes form an effective group. Some facilitators do not have a strong "spine" in this way - they may be a nonjudgmental, caring or insightful presence, but they do not hold a group to a set of values and practices. If a client does not agree with Schwarz's normative model for how a group should function, fine with him - that group needs to find another facilitator. I think all facilitators could benefit from this kind of declaration and then follow-through on their principles.

This book was used as a textbook but had really great insight on the process of mediation, what works and what doesnt and how to be an effective mediator.

Thanks Roger Schwarz, it was informative and to the point.

This is the bible of facilitation. A little academic and esoteric at times, but well worth the read.