Facilitation Tools and Techniques to Understand Issues

An opening exercise to clarify expectations in any workshop or training situation

Evaluate the factors that will either support or hinder a change in an organisation or entity. 

A SWOT Analysis is used in project planning, strategic planning and other processes where agreement is needed about the current situation of a project, team, department or organization. It stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.

Any breakout group activity to capture ideas and generate dialogue around them.

A learning and presentation technique for sharing ideas

Open Space is a methodology for large groups to create their agenda discerning important topics for discussion, suitable for conferences, community gatherings and whole system facilitation

A process for understanding a complex problem situation

A questioning method for generating, explaining, investigating ideas.

A Focused Conversation to begin to process traumatic situations for use with colleagues, friends and family, and how to respond to them productively. Often traumatic events become undiscussable and this enables persons to talk about them

It has been used as a part of training of facilitators and as part of team building.

Using the Social Process Triangles created by the Institute of Cultural Affairs to identify a broad range of issues faced by a community, followed by the Consensus Workshop Method to see larger patterns of issues.

Applying a linear scale to gather a diversity of perspectives, opinions and responses.