{"id":1604,"date":"2013-10-10T04:02:07","date_gmt":"2013-10-10T08:02:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/facilitativeleadership.wordpress.com\/?p=1604"},"modified":"2026-04-21T13:58:44","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T17:58:44","slug":"facilitation-tools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/facilitation-tools\/","title":{"rendered":"Guidelines for Selecting Appropriate Structured Facilitation Tools"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Facilitators rely on hundreds of tools to gather information, support decision-making, encourage innovation, build camaraderie, strive for higher quality, or guide a facilitator through an unplanned pathway. Therefore, your selection of the \u201cbest\u201d structured facilitation tools depends on many factors.<\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">A note of caution\u2014Beginning facilitators often have a difficult time feeling comfortable because of the newness of the tools. Some experienced facilitators overuse a tool. They may forget that when you are comfortable using a hammer, not everything is a nail. Some guidelines to follow when using tools:<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Overview of Helpful Structured Facilitation Tools<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">There is more than one appropriate option. For example, we can capture initial input or meaning from participants through <i>Brainstorming<\/i> (i.e., narrative), <i>Creativity<\/i> (i.e., drawing), <i>PowerBalls<\/i> (i.e., iconic), or <i>TO-WS (SWOT)<\/i> (i.e., numeric).<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Only use a tool if it is correcting a problem or situation. The tool must add value or it distract from the method. For example, do not lead a team-building exercise if the team is highly functional.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Do not ask the group permission to use a tool.<\/span> You are the leader and need to set the method\u2014so do it.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Never present the tool as a game or a gimmick. This often leads to resistance. Discipline your rhetoric when explaining the <i>Purpose <\/i>tool. For example, do not ask about \u2018today\u2019s purpose\u2019 since you are expected to know the purpose of the meeting.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Except for team-building tools, explain the deliverable from each tool used and how it supports completing the deliverable.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Do not be afraid to use a new tool\u2014they have all been field-tested and work well when used properly.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Build tool contingencies into your agenda\u2014ie, plan to use a specific tool. However, if a problem arises, do not be afraid to substitute for something more appropriate.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">For tools designed to correct situations such as team dysfunction and lack of creativity, remember that most groups did not become dysfunctional in ten minutes and the situation will not be corrected through a ten-minute exercise. It often takes numerous exercises and a great deal of time to see a real difference. Do not give up and you will earn their respect for perseverance.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>The \u201cRight\u201d Structured Facilitation Tool<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Selecting the best tool to use by understanding the desired outcome. Avoid becoming so comfortable with one or two that those are the only tools you use. To select an appropriate tool:<\/span><\/p>\n<ol start=\"1\">\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Identify the problem.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Define the desired outcome.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Review the tool selection chart below to help determine which tool helps achieve your desired outcome.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h3><b>Team-Building Tools<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Suggested steps for effective team-building exercises include:<\/span><\/p>\n<ol start=\"1\">\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Prepare your materials in advance, along with prompts and assignments (e.g., CEO and team names), and rehearse new or complicated tools.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Provide clear and explicit instructions, preferably posted or written down as handouts. Emphasize any rules.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Monitor group activity closely, especially in the beginning, and make yourself readily available for clarifying areas of fear, doubt, or uncertainty.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Compare the purpose with the output. Reinforce the learning and how it applies to accelerating the group\u2019s performance toward your meeting or workshop deliverables.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h3><b>Structured <\/b><b>Decision-Making Tools<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Use the following matrix to help guide you to the most appropriate decision-making tools based on the type of information \u2028(i.e., qualitative or quantitative) and complexity of the decision \u2028(i.e., concrete or abstract).<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1605\" style=\"width: 412px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/screen-shot-2013-09-15-at-1-44-37-pm.png\"><img wpfc-lazyload-disable=\"true\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1605\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1605\" src=\"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/screen-shot-2013-09-15-at-1-44-37-pm.png\" alt=\"Decision-Making Matrix\" width=\"402\" height=\"343\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/screen-shot-2013-09-15-at-1-44-37-pm.png 402w, https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/screen-shot-2013-09-15-at-1-44-37-pm-300x256.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 402px) 100vw, 402px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1605\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>Decision-Making Matrix to Guide Selection of\u00a0Structured Facilitation Tools<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<h3><\/h3>\n<h3><b>Additional Sources for\u00a0Structured Facilitation Tools<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Continue to add to your tool chest. When co-located in an enterprise with other facilitators, build a Community of Practice (i.e., CoP) that archives tools, visual prompts, and retrospective reviews. Strive to speed up selection and avoid repetition for your participants.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">For additional exercises and tools for facilitators look at <i>Games Trainers Play <\/i>and<i> More Games Trainers Play <\/i>by John Newstrom and Edward Scannell, New York, McGraw-Hill Book Company, various<b>.<\/b> You can also order the <i>IAF<\/i><b> <\/b>(<a class=\"zem_slink\" title=\"International Association of Facilitators\" href=\"http:\/\/www.iaf-world.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"homepage noopener noreferrer\">International Association of Facilitators<\/a>) <i>Handbook of Group Facilitation<\/i><b> <\/b>and other resources at Amazon.com among others. There are thousands of tools and resources for facilitators and team-building tools in English and other languages.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000; font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>______<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Don\u2019t ruin your career by hosting <a href=\"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/bad-meetings\/\">bad meetings<\/a>. Sign up for a <a href=\"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/public-facilitation-training\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">workshop<\/a> or send this to someone who should. <em><a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20260106090117\/https:\/\/mgrush.com\/\">MGR<span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">USH<\/span><\/a><\/em> workshops focus on meeting design and practice. Each person practices tools, methods, and activities every day during the week. Therefore, while some call this immersion, we call it the road to building high-value facilitation skills.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Facilitators rely on hundreds of tools to gather information, support decision-making, encourage innovation, build camaraderie, strive for higher quality, or guide a facilitator through an unplanned pathway. Therefore, your selection of the \u201cbest\u201d structured facilitation tools depends on many factors. A note of caution\u2014Beginning facilitators often have a difficult time feeling comfortable because of the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1605,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_wp_convertkit_post_meta":{"form":"-1","landing_page":"","tag":"0","restrict_content":"0"},"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11161,453185955],"tags":[453190810,453190811,208811033],"class_list":["post-1604","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-meeting-structure","category-meeting-tools","tag-facilitation-tools","tag-facilitator-tools","tag-structured-facilitation"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.7 (Yoast SEO v27.7) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Guidelines for Selecting Appropriate Structured Facilitation 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