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Secrets of Successful Facilitators

March 5, 2007 |

The Thiagi Group offers some interesting tips on facilitating a discussion in an article “Secrets of Successful Facilitators.” This is a business model, but many of the tips can be used in Christian small groups. They offer five conclusions about effective facilitators, based on 10 years of research:

* Effective facilitators are flexible. They modify their small-group activities before and during use.

* Effective facilitators are adaptive. They modify their small-group activities along six critical tensions.

* Effective facilitators are proactive. Before using a small-group activity, they modify it on the basis of the characteristics of the participants and the purpose of the activity.

* Effective facilitators are responsive. They make modifications during the small-group activity to keep the different tensions within acceptable ranges.

* Effective facilitators are resilient. They accept whatever happens during the small-group activity as valuable data and smoothly continue with the activity.

They then list “Six Tensions n Small-Group Activities,” including structure, pace, interaction, focus, concern, and control, with benchmarks for determining where on the continuum you fall.

Another helpful section is “Tactics to Overcome Tensions.” Useful when you have a challenging group member.

Worth reading.


Comments

1 Comment so far

  1. lynn on March 6, 2007 5:41 pm

    This was an interesting link, especially the explanation of the six tensions in a small group. It really quantifies why you might feel very comfortable in some small groups and not so comfortable in others. Thanks for sharing it!

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