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Before you begin: How do I facilitate a community discussion?
THE PROCESS IS ABOUT PARTICIPANTS’ DISCUSSIONS, NOT A SPEECH FROM THE ORGANIZERS! The main focus should be the discussions among participants! Ideally, participants are given a variety of ways to express their views – both collectively through discussions, and individually through voting, post-it notes, postcards or flip charts.
HOW TO DEAL WITH DISAGREEMENTS There is often an underlying belief that deliberation and dialogue can prevent strong disagreements from happening, but there is a difference between consensus decision-making and everyone agreeing with each other. Consensus is about everyone giving consent to a decision rather than everyone agreeing. Even where consensus is achieved, it doesn’t mean everyone has convinced each other, but rather that everyone has agreed on what actions to take. A crucial moment in a consensus decision is when individuals are able to give consent to a decision that is not their first choice of action, in recognition of the trust they place in the deliberative process of decision-making. If citizen dialogue is going to really contribute to a healthy democracy it needs to encourage and engage in conflict and disagreement, not in order to overcome it, but for its own sake. So, search for common ground, but only if you’re using it to build trust and to make decisions on what actions to take!
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FACILITATION SKILLS
LISTENING
active listening; showing that you are interested – both in what they are saying and why they are saying it. The facilitator’s job is to not only hear what people have said but to actively acknowledge and assure participants that they have been understood.
QUESTIONING
asking the right questions, of the right people, at the right time, in the right way. If there is silence, don’t panic! Count to 10 and avoid the temptation to answer the question yourself. Rephrase the question or break into smaller groups for discussion.
REFRAMING
managing tension and negativity, focusing on shared goals. This skill is particularly important when there is a lot of conflict or tension in the room.
