As a facilitator, you probably know the moment when a group seems to be heading off the rails and you sense it might be the moment to step in… But how do you judge the right time? What is the most useful way to offer assistance? When might be the wrong time?

Here are a few suggestions that might help make your interventions more effective:

• Remember who you serve: Your primary job is to help the group as a whole become more effective, rather than serve the interests of any particular individual.
• It’s not all on your shoulders: You are only responsible for the group’s ineffectiveness to then extent that their performance stems from your ineffective facilitation. Beware taking over responsibility from the group, which can create dependency.
• Check that you are seeing it right: Be sure that what you are seeing is ineffectiveness rather than, for example, a frank disagreement. Effective groups learn to accommodate differences in views and develop skills to express them honestly, deal with them creatively, and are comfortable with paradox.
• Consider timing: If it is at the end of the day or in the midst of a complex discussion, consider deferring your intervention to another moment.
• Pause to see if they will solve it themselves: Basic facilitation is analogous to a mechanic who comes in to repair a vehicle. In the more advanced developmental form of facilitation (analogous to an engineering tutor), the job of the facilitator includes assisting the group to reflect on their own performance and develop the skills necessary to address their own ineffectiveness without your involvement.
• Look to the ground rules: One of the simplest ways to help groups learn to manage themselves is to reinforce their agreed ground rules so that constructive norms of behaviour are set early and maintained throughout.

If you do intervene, remember to be constructive and respectful.  Identify the ineffective behaviour you are seeking to address and offer a concrete suggestion for how to get back on track.

For more information on group facilitation, consider registering for the Art and Craft of Effective Facilitation Level 1 or Level 2, which takes place on May 23-27 and June 25-29 on Cortes Island. Register now as space is limited.