Facilitator's Guide to Participatory Decision-Making, The

The Facilitator's Guide to Participatory Decision-Making

by Sam Kaner with Lenny Lind, Catherine Toldi, Sarah Fisk, and Duane Berger (New Society Publishers, Philadelphia, PA, 1996)

Book Review by Lynda Lieberman Baker

MeetingSolutions, P. O. Box 4062, Austin, TX 78765, lyndabaker@meetingsolutions.com

While group members typically expect a facilitator to be substantively content neutral, that is not the expectation of those who are reading a facilitator's review of a book about group process facilitation. While the facilitator's opinions may be kept in abeyance while facilitating group process, the book reviewer is actually encouraged to bring his or her opinions forward - that is what follows.

The Facilitator's Guide to Participatory Decision-Making (by Sam Kaner with Lenny Lind, Catherine Toldi, Susan Fisk and Duane Berger) is likely to be a popular volume among both experienced and neophyte facilitators. While the experienced facilitator will find this book to be a useful review and will discover some intriguing nuggets of insight, the neophyte facilitator will learn essential tools and techniques of the facilitation process. The book offers an inviting form and some insights of substance.

The greatest value of this book is not necessarily the new knowledge it contributes to the field of facilitation, but rather the creative framing and elaboration of essential information about group dynamics and process. Kaner and company have elaborated on others' wisdom and also introduced helpful, illustrative conceptual models. Those models can help facilitators and groups understand themselves better and learn how to be more effective working with one another.

Visually Attractive. The 255-page handbook has large-type topic titles on every page; simple, conceptual graphics generously placed throughout the book, and ample white space. It's easy to see what's in it, to get a quick illustration of the concepts presented, and get an idea about how the book can be useful.

Comprehensive. Kaner and his co-authors have included a wide variety of information in a relatively small volume. Included in the 18 chapters are what they describe as grounding principles for participatory decision-making and a variety of techniques to foster their development. They also include such facilitator fundamentals as flip chart lettering, using electronic meeting tools, and agenda design planning.

Designed for Easy Reproduction. Since every individual page in this book is laid out as a stand-alone piece, readers may be tempted to copy a page and use it to explain a concept or exercise to a group with whom they are working. Go right ahead, say the authors, who invite readers to do so if they are using the material in their service as facilitators. The authors do make the distinction that if one has been retained primarily as a trainer of group process facilitators, then permission to copy must be requested.

Collaboratively Developed. The book was written by Sam Kaner in cooperation with his colleagues at Community at Work, a think tank, consulting and training firm of which Kaner is the executive director. They explain that for five years, the co-authors met in "think tank" mode to develop, test, and refine the ideas presented in the book. The material not only reflects the authors' individual experiences as facilitators, but also their collective experience studying the dynamics of group decision-making.

Basic Assumptions. The premise of the book is that many problems require participatory decision-making and the result of effective work is sustainable agreements. Successful participatory decision-making groups are characterized in the following ways: members are encouraged to fully participate, members feel a sense of mutual understanding, inclusive decisions integrate everyone's perspectives and needs, and members feel a strong sense of shared responsibility for creating and developing agreements.

They describe these characteristics as values which are typically absent from 'business as usual' meetings and nurtured and developed in participatory decision-making processes. The authors review basic, useful techniques and a sampling of structured activities which encourage participation, promote mutual understanding, cultivate shared responsibility and support participants to "do their best thinking," enabling them to search for inclusive solutions and build sustainable agreements.

Elaboration on the Diamond of Participation. Kaner and his co-authors characterize the beginning of a group's discussion as the time when an increasing number of diverse but familiar ideas are offered. Once a substantial number of ideas are on the table, groups will 'converge' on a decision or close down the conversation. The left portion of the diamond illustrates the introduction of divergent ideas, while the right side illustrates converging on a decision point.

While the use of a horizontal diamond shape to illustrate the opening up and closing down stages of a group's chronological dynamics is not original, Kaner and his colleagues have developed this graphic and concept to distinguish between 'business-as-usual discussions' and 'participatory decision-making processes.' This is a helpful graphic and theory used throughout the book, and serves as an excellent unifying concept.

Introduction of the Groan Zone. The authors also describe a period in group process which they cleverly and aptly refer to as the 'groan zone.' Typically, Kaner and his colleagues explain, many problems discussed in groups do not necessarily have easy solutions. They do not result in business-as-usual discussions, but rather they require a wide variety of participatory decision-making processes.

When a group wrestles with difficult problems, it must "break out of the narrow range of familiar opinions and venture into the groan zone," a natural period of confusion. It is in this period when group members struggle "to integrate new and different ways of thinking with their own ideas." Acknowledging and understanding the groan zone is key to leveraging the phenomenal potential in participatory decision-making.

Techniques for Different Types of Discussions. While facultative listening can be like an autonomic response for experienced facilitators, for the neophyte developing these skills it is quite a different matter. This book provides some suggested techniques to help participants clarify their thinking, to balance their participation, and to create opportunities for them to reflect on their statements and express their thoughts on a deeper level.

For example, they explain how to paraphrase by using one's own words to say what one thinks the speaker is saying; they suggest that to draw people out, you can ask for more information; and that intentional silence with eye contact and body language can help participants discover what they want to say. The text is simple and lends itself well for replication and practice.

Alternatives to open discussion, such as individual writing, small group work and idea listing are also clearly explained and their recommended uses are provided. While a read and review of this material does not substitute for facilitator training and experience, it does provide a good introduction to some key building blocks of group process facilitation.

Tools for specific phases and purposes. The authors follow up their descriptions of the divergent, groan and convergent zones with specific activities which are appropriate for each stage. These examples illustrate the phases and can serve as agenda design elements. There are activities, for example, which promote the generation of ideas in the divergent zone, support groups struggling to integrate ideas in the groan zone, and take everyone's interests into account during the convergent zone.

Fun Facts. For those practicing the art and science of group process facilitation without the benefit of much formal training (which is likely to describe many practicing facilitators), the book introduces a bit of valuable facilitation 'trivia.' Although they are only tidbits of data, these 'fun facts to know and tell about' introduce larger concepts and facilitation fundamentals.

Intriguing information includes: Alex Osborne, author of Applied Imagination, invented brainstorming as a technique for stimulating creativity; the term 'group memory' was coined by Geoff Bell, a specialist in multi-party conflict resolutions, to describe the written record kept visible throughout the meeting; Michael Doyle, in the book's forward, traces the roots of facilitation to Alaskan natives who report the practice during ancient times.

The Facilitator's Guide has been endorsed by Doyle, the co-author of the seminal best-seller How to Make Meetings Work and co-founder of the meeting consulting firm Interaction Associates. Kaner's book is also dedicated to Doyle and his co-author David Straus, both of whom have obviously influenced this volume.

Has Limitations. Although this book is a tool kit which is rich in resources and tips, there are some sources of frustration and concern in reading it. Its organization and layout as well as some of its content present problems for consideration.

Somewhat Disjointed. The 'stand-alone' pages, while easy to digest and reproduce, have the unfortunate consequence of making reading the book feel disjointed. The information in the chapters on "Facilitating Open Discussions" repeated descriptions from the previous chapter on "Facultative Listening Skills" with no apparent justification nor sufficient elaboration.

Finding information is not as easy as it could be. The page titles do not always directly correspond to the content lists which precede each chapter and the book lacks an index, making it difficult to search for specific information and use as a resource volume.

Possible Biases. A final concern is that the personal preferences of the authors appear to have unduly influenced their coverage of at least one topic. In the chapter on "Alternatives to Open Discussion" where they describe computer assisted meetings, we read that One of the most effective groupware systems is' the product co-developed by one of the book's authors.

While the book does mention other products, we don't get an overview of those products-just a pitch for one. Although they do openly acknowledge their association with a particular product, it appears from this reviewer's experience with other products that the authors analysis lacked additional relevant information about other products and their capabilities.

Still Worthwhile. The ideas contained within these pages can serve neophyte facilitators with tools to become more effective in working through a variety of group decision-making challenges. Facilitator skills cannot be developed by simply reading. Putting the material contained in The Facilitator's Guide to Participatory Decision-Making into action would undoubtedly be the best way to integrate it into one's practice. The book left me with a curiosity about how Community at Work uses the material in their training sessions.

I wish to thank J. W. Ballard, Victoria Baugh, Patricia Wilkinson, and Gail Work who replied to an internet request for reactions to this book during the research for this review, and to my colleagues who reviewed early drafts. (LLB)

Copyright International Association of Facilitators Winter 1999
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved