Facilitation key to stellar discussion groups
August 1, 2000
Facilitation key to stellar discussion groups
Observers must not get sucked into content
Facilitating group discussion may seem like an easy task, but it isn’t. Whether or not the group meets its goals and the discussion time is productive and meaningful for each person depends on the skills of the leader.
"The No. 1 issue for group facilitators is to understand the group process. Without a clear understanding of group process, the facilitator gets sucked into the content of the group, which is what people are talking about, rather than what is actually going on in the group," says Patrice Rancour, MS, RN, CS, a mental health clinical nurse specialist at Arthur James Cancer Hospital and Richard Solove Research Institute in Columbus, OH.
In a support group setting, the facilitator’s function is to observe out loud what he or she is witnessing and throw it back to the group without interpreting the information. For example, in a cancer survivors support group, if someone shares the news of a cancer recurrence, the facilitator might say, "I noticed that you all became silent after Don’s news. What is that all about?" Without proper training, the facilitator won’t know how to pick up on opportunities for discussion or what to do when they occur, says Rancour.
To create a productive discussion time, it is important to establish guidelines at the very beginning of the group session, says Shirley Otis-Green, ACSW, LCSW, a clinical social worker in supportive care and palliative medicine at City of Hope National Medical Center and Beckman Research Institute in Duarte, CA. For a support group, the rules might specify that all information shared is confidential; people can choose to participate to the degree they are comfortable; and the group offers options for problems rather than giving prescriptive advice.
Otis-Green has each group member sign a written copy of the guidelines to acknowledge that he or she heard and understood them.
The ground rules often can be used to keep the discussion on track. For example, if a member is telling someone how to fix a problem, he or she can be reminded that the purpose of the group is to explore options, says Otis-Green. While ground rules help create an atmosphere for discussion, it is still the facilitator’s job to pay attention to group dynamics.
The facilitator must be aware of who talks to whom, who monopolizes the conversation, who doesn’t talk at all, how the group handles issues of power, and which topics the group considers taboo. (To learn how to draw people into the conversation and handle those who monopolize the discussion, see article on p. 95.)
Taking clues from group process
Once group process is observed, the facilitator will draw on learned techniques to overcome problems. If a group member shares something that is very personal and discussion stops, the facilitator must try to generalize the information so more people can identify with it.
For example, if someone tells the group she just had a miscarriage, the facilitator might focus on the fact that it was a major loss for this woman. While other group members may not have had a miscarriage, most would have experienced a major loss.
"A good facilitator is able to take something that is individual and see if there are lessons we can apply to the rest of us or explore more where we have common ground in sharing," says Otis-Green. To make the group meaningful for everyone, the facilitator must help people understand how fixing one person’s problem helps them.
It is important for the facilitator to keep the discussion focused. If someone goes off on a tangent, the facilitator must be able to bring the discussion back on topic, says Kate O’Malley, BTE, training/performance consultant with the department of Organizational Development and Improvement at City of Hope National Medical Center and Beckman Research Institute in Duarte, CA.
To do so, the facilitator might simply ask the participant how the information connects to the topic. If it doesn’t, he or she would summarize what the group is talking about to get it back on task. "Someone may be on what I think is a tangent, and it may in fact not be. Therefore, the facilitator must help participants focus and show how what they are saying has relevance to the topic," she explains.
It is up to the facilitator to know techniques that will help the group move forward, such as those for problem-solving, says Rancour. For example, group members might engage in role-playing. "If people are feeling stuck, you can move them into a different kind of learning. Having others watch how people handle stressful situations is a way to learn," she explains.
For more information on effective group facilitation, contact:
• Kate O’Malley, BTE, Training/Performance Consultant, Department of Organizational Development and Improvement, City of Hope National Medical Center and Beckman Research Institute, 1500 E. Duarte Road, Duarte, CA 91010-3000. Telephone: (626) 930-5473. Fax: (626) 930-5396. E-mail: [email protected].
• Shirley Otis-Green, ACSW, LCSW, Clinical Social Worker, Supportive Care and Palliative Medicine, City of Hope National Medical Center and Beckman Research Institute, 1500 E. Duarte Road, Duarte, CA 91010-3000. Telephone: (626) 359-8111, ext. 2783. Fax: (626) 256-8798. E-mail: [email protected].
• Patrice Rancour, MS, RN, CS, Mental Health Clinical Nurse Specialist, Arthur James Cancer Hospital and Richard Solove Research Institute, 300 W. 10th Ave., Room 004, Columbus, OH 43210. Telephone: (614) 293-3237. Fax: (614) 293-6037. E-mail: rancour-1 @medctr.osu.edu.
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