The Art of Agile Facilitation

This week, your hosts, Dan Neumann and Justin Thatil, share seven tips for Agile Facilitation. Collaboration is necessary when solving a problem, and Agile Coaches and Masters work to enable a Team to cooperate. Every event is unique, which is why Facilitation could be considered a form of art.

Key Takeaways

• Contextual Awareness:

• Teams and events are filled with unique variables that the facilitator cannot always anticipate; as a result, reading the overall atmosphere of a room and the individuals’ body language is a fundamental skill for Facilitators.

• Every Facilitator has to remember that they are facilitating for a specific audience. Who is this meeting for? What is the value for these participants?

• Use Time boxes.

• A Facilitator must master the flow of the meeting to achieve the goal in a timely manner.

• A Facilitator should design the session with the intended activities, promote collaboration from collaborators, and be flexible enough to adapt to changes.

• Mastering the act of active listening:

• Listening is achieved when being fully present.

• Seek to understand.

• Facilitators must be able to paraphrase what they just listened to to ensure they understand what the collaborator is saying.

• Are collaborators listening to each other? A Facilitator must also promote active listening among participants.

• A Facilitator must foster an open and inclusive communication environment.

• A Facilitator must become a master observer of the room. Who is participating? Who is silent?

• Design a power start!

• Set the purpose and the intended outcome for the meeting. This will improve participant engagement.

• Specify how participants can engage.

• Visual Facilitation tools are incredibly beneficial for a better Facilitation.

• A Facilitator must handle conflict with grace.

• Conflict is inevitable, especially in a collaborative environment.

• Participants should be encouraged to learn from each other. Conflicting perspectives must both be validated.

• A Facilitator must be clear about which behaviors are acceptable. Safe boundaries are essential to hosting a psychologically safe environment.

• Facilitators must continuously improve their skills.

• Facilitators must apply learnings in a setting first to realize how they can be improved.

• Pairing with other Facilitators can be a great way to keep learning continuously.

Mentioned in this Episode:

Empowered: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Products (Silicon Valley Product Group), by Marty Cagan and Chris Jones

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