Facilitating

Citation

Woodd, M. (1998), "Facilitating", Journal of Management Development, Vol. 17 No. 2, pp. 155-156. https://doi.org/10.1108/jmd.1998.17.2.155.3

This book is a welcome addition to the library of hands‐on manuals for practitioners. It is a practical book which defines facilitation and considers the role of facilitator, before progressing to skills in use. Unfortunately, it does not discuss these aspects; rather, it tells the reader. So some practising facilitators may find the material superficial and aimed at a different understanding of the word. Given the definition “facilitators are agents of change who, depending on their level of skill, and on the way they are deployed, work on individuals, groups and organisations as a whole to develop and improve performance” (p. vii), it does not relate to the role and skill defined by John Heron in his popular book published in 1989, where learning is the key ingredient. This said, Facilitating is easy to read and, at 192 pages, it provides a cursory glance for managers, consultants and others involved in working with groups, as a reminder of some of the issues to be considered.

The text does refer to key theories, such as Belbin’s team roles (1981) or Maslow’s hierarchy of need (1942), but fails to show their limitations and, in the latter case, to guide the reader to further reading. Some useful models are alluded to, such as transactional analysis (TA) and near linguistic programming (NLP), but these are not developed nor used in the descriptive case histories. The main skills described are empathy, listening, eliciting, positive confrontation and a new creation ‐ “facipulation”, which recognises a last resort technique for those who do not see the need for their own learning. The latter is a clear recognition that not everyone falls into the category of successful “facilitation” and some further task‐related guidance or persuasion is needed to ensure action.

The book is full of anecdotal evidence which may help the reader to identify the appropriateness of the facilitation style adopted, and where it fits in terms of Hersey’s situational leadership model (Hersey and Blanchard, 1977) which the authors state is the best model on styles. For the novice or occasional practitioner, the book is a starting point to discover the rudiments of facilitation skills and practices.