Seven Tips for Agile Facilitation with Dan Neumann and Justin Thatil

Agile Coaches' Corner

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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