A moderator or facilitator needs to help others determine:
– a broad enough Entity,
– and invite valuable participants WHO want to share required information and criticism,
– a safe environment by setting the room and mixing participants,
– the organizational context (‘force field analysis’),
– a mutual understanding WHY a change is required; what real existing problems block progress,
– WHAT the project can realistically achieve (Results) and what not (Assumptions for monitoring),
– WHAT this will actually mean; the indicators,
– WHAT the project can do and what not (Assumptions for monitoring),
– by WHOM. Which organisation(s) will be responsible for the implementation and
– the required organizational capacity by assessing internal organizational obstacles and design the organizational capacity plan (the ‘HOW will it happen’ matrix).
The facilitator needs to make the above steps happen in a smooth natural way involving each and everybody equally by only have them talk about the content.
After having gone through several ‘crises’ all participants managed finally to raise out of the ‘field with land mines’ and help the group as a real confident moderator!
Erik Kijne Okay guys, thanks for all the praise! We will do it again after the holidays in the week of 27th November – 1st December 2017 and I would like to ask you to look around to see who among your friends and colleagues you think would like to have this exciting experience as well.
Reach out, tell them your story and direct them to the site for information and registration.
And thinking of the next upcoming course I think it can be nice to share a little our concerns on teaching this course.
One of the interesting challenges for us trainers is to change a ‘consultant’ into a ‘moderator’. Most participants have been trained as ‘experts’ in a specific topic and all their life they have been trying to demonstrate that they are successful products of their education. The consultant role is a clear proponent of that process. So they are supposed to know and to give advice….
In the facilitation role we teach you actually the opposite! Even though you may think to know you are not supposed to show! Actually, you have to create a second nature to ask and show interest in an honest way. For some this is a very difficult and fundamental change in their relating to people and situations. Suddenly it is not you that is important and is to shine but the individual participants in the group! And all of them equally, even though you may not even feel close to some …
Some of you may have experienced that the consultant role may trigger e.g. arrogance, tension, resistance and defensive attitude, while the facilitation role does trigger mutual interest, affection, bonding, collaboration and commitment.
Can you share your experience in applying this facilitation role and how tricky is the ‘consultant trap’?
And would this skill also be useful as management style in projects or even commercial companies? Please do share your reflections and thoughts!
Jette Jensen
The LFA moderation course demonstrated the interplay between the 3 aspects of communication: CONTENT-STRUCTURE-PROCESS. This helped me appreciate the role of the moderator as the guardian of the structure and how to let the stakeholders clarify their content and define their project. Trusting the structure and the power of moderation allowed me to disassociate myself from the content.
The course used the LFA definitions used by the EC which differ from the UN definitions with which I am very familiar. This was very useful. It would have been good to have a little more time to discuss these differences -and how they ultimately serve the same objective of achieving a clear and shared understanding of the project.
The handling of what the project can do and not do (assumptions) was particularly effective.
The trainers were excellent and you will both remain my models.
And now to practice! Let me know if you are aware of an oppourtunity.
Thank you for a very constructive week.
Jette
Peter Kors Once again thanks to Erik and Frank but also my fellow participants.
I have learned a lot and feel inspired by the course.
Of course will I go through all the pictures and notes because when you do at least once a rehearsal you will remember a lot more. It is the way our memory works.
Stick to the method, rephrase positive, no absence solutions, ask the group by playing tennis, heels to the wall.
“What is the problem” has helped me already during a discussion with my daughter. After a few “what is the problems” she was able to tell me her point clearly.
Tips for the course:
1) Participants will appreciate a mail/letter with welcome, names and background of the participants and some logistical information in advance of the course.
Also the headline of the programme.
2) Make clear to the participants that the purpose of the training is to get used to the method and how to facilitate the workshop. (Learning the right questions to use in the right phase of the workshop)
Also that the case is not more than a tool to practise. Participants must be aware of this otherwise there is the danger that the case becomes too important.
The workshop may not develop into how to handle persons with strong opinions etc. Of course that is an important issue but not more important than the LFA methode.
Top:
The trainings facility was OK for the group size.
The complementarities of Erik and Frank in know-how and their way of facilitating are very useful. The change is also good for the motivation.
“We followed mostly a group built programme”. Flexibility I love it.
After the training I have much more confidence by understanding the LFA-method better. Yes I hope to practice more in the near future in real live. Training is helpful but not enough. As Frank wrote to us, now it begins!
Jelleke de Nooy van Tol To finally share my experiences and evaluate the LFA training in Bruxelles, here I go: I have learnt the ESSENCE of an appropriate application of the logical framework, which is , I think …
The discussions amongst the stakeholders are important for their understanding of the problem and working towards solutions, and more important than me as a facilitator getting the problems on the board.
Further important experiences:
1. I learnt to better deal with the steering of the discussion and became stronger in politely cutting off unnecessary or egocentric / hidden agenda talk by participants.
2. I love Erik’s enthusiasm, but at times his loud voice reverberating in the smal room was exhausting; I love Franks impact by just standing still in front of the ‘class’ and saying what needs to be said, in this beautiful English; beautiful, and an example to us- at least it did improve my english temporarily! Thanks!
3. we had lovely food at lunchtime every day, and did need that, in order to manage working so hard until 20:30 most days.
4. The good thing is that I could immediately apply this experience in my project in Zwolle about a sustainable water policy for the municipality.
THANKS, Jelleke
Willem Jaspers I used my new skills to design and implement a company-wide brainstorm and I must say: it worked like a charm. People are enthusiastic, we have some very real & concrete outcomes and we succeeded in turning a rather dull, yearly event into something that not only appeals to people but also contributes to the improvement of our internal processes. Several ‘internal leads’ and future points for discussion & follow up were a key result.
I also learned a lot in terms of being a moderator – one of them being that the tips&tricks from the course actually work. I kept hearing Frank & Erik in the back of my head (‘trust the method’) and it all worked out very well. To be continued – i’ve done the internal company thing I planned now, time to start applying LFA in my assignments for clients.
Jette Jensen About a year went by before I got my first ‘real’ LFA workshop assignment. Had I forgotten all learned at the moderation course? How to tackle the challenges? Rather than 10 participants, there were 21. This caused challenges in setting up the room and moderating discussions: 1/3 of participants were eager to intervene, even interrupting, 1/3 OK, 1/3 overly shy. Asking them to write more cards was helpful. The original agenda allowed 1 hour for the problem analysis! I negotiated to 2.5 but we could not dig deep enough and ended up with several absent solutions. The objectives tree and LFM went well – I did remember something after all. I had no clue on the subject matter which helped trusting the method and the participants, but it also made it very difficult to define the initial ‘entity’ so that we could move quickly on the problems.
Overall, my most important lesson learned was to have better advance communication with the organizers, and not to worry, I was most likely the only one who knew what was not done correctly – participants and even organizers were happy. So, to those who are getting anxious for the first workshop just dive in – you will make it.
Mikkel Møldrup-Lakjer I went trough the moderator’s training, and what a rewarding experience it was. I had used the logical framework analysis as a tool for developing project ideas and appraisals of proposals as desk study exercises, but it was a totally different experience to face the task of going through the process as a facilitator with a group. How easy did it look when our excellent trainers, Frank and Erik, took us through the steps with elegance and charm, and how difficult was it not to facilitate with the same grace when we were standing in front of the ourselves!
Nevertheless, the extremely precise feedback and practical guidance from our trainers was exactly what I needed to develop my moderation skills. Remember: 1. Trust the group – if you have the right people in there, you should assume that they know all you need to draw up the first draft of the project. 2. Don’t do the thinking on behalf of the group – always have the discussion first and then capture the ideas expressed. The rest is procedure…
For the next couple of years, I will be using my moderation skills in “theory of change-workshops” in the public sector of Denmark. A slightly different approach, but basically about the same thing. I cannot wait to get started!
Erik Kijne Great to read your feedback and commitment to apply the tips and tricks!