Meetings – 1. An interaction where the unwilling, selected from the uninformed, lead by the unsuitable, to discuss the unnecessary, are required to write a report on the unimportant.

FACILITATOR’S GOOD QUESTIONS 1 minute 30 seconds

At least sixty percent of what a good facilitator does is ask questions and paraphrase. A few years ago I did an ezine on good questions. The list I am sending you now is adapted from an article by Nicholas Mann in OD Practitioner (Vol 37. No. 2, 2005) titled Modeling Basic Team Facilitation.

When a group seems stuck
1. “What are you committed to?”
2. “What is getting in your way?”
3. “What might you or someone do about those barriers?”
4. “What have you tried?”
5. “What happened?”
6. “What are some other alternatives?”
7. “Who can help?”
8. “Who cares or has a stake in the outcome?”
9. “What could I do that would feel like support?”

When people are confusing inferences with facts
10. “What observable data is that based on?”
11. “Would all the parties agree that the observable data is accurate?”
12. “Are there other ways that the data might be interpreted?”
13. “If there were another explanation, what might it be?”
14. “What conclusions have you drawn so far and how did you arrive at those conclusions?”
15. “How did you arrive at that conclusion?”
16. “How could we test that hypothesis?”

When you are trying to build commitment
17. “What would make this compelling for you?”
18. “Are there ways in which you might unintentionally contribute to the resistance?”
19. “What will progress look like to you?”
20. “How will you handle this if it ends up being more difficult, or slower than you are anticipating?”

When you are trying to build consensus
21. “What parts of this proposal might you be able to build on?”
22. “In saying you oppose this idea I am wondering what specifically you are concerned about.”
23. “So that is what will not work for you. What could work?”

c) 2005 Cheshire Mediation. All rights reserved. You are free to use material from the Great Meetings Monday eZine in whole or part as long as you include complete attribution, including live web site link and e-mail link. Please notify Cheshire Mediation when and where the material will appear.

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