Facilitating Meetings

The process that is outlined in this guide for arts education planning is based on a method developed by the Institute of Cultural Affairs (ICA) called “Group Facilitation Methods.”  This highly participatory method incorporates a number of tools and techniques that encourage full engagement by team members. It develops an atmosphere of mutual respect that allows the flow of creative ideas and innovation. The method has been applied to a number of different fields with demonstrated success all over the world.
For more information on ICA and their workshops, please visit http://www.ica-usa.org.

The important underlying assumptions of this approach to planning are:

• Each person who is key to implementation of the plan is represented on the planning team.
• Every voice will be heard and is honored.
• The methods are very flexible and can be combined with most other approaches to group decision making or learning.

If you anticipate that a group is going to be challenging to facilitate, it is a good idea to either have them create group norms or offer some for their adoption. The list below gives a brief introduction to the participatory values that are the foundation of the methods used in this guide. Often this introduction provides the safety a group needs, especially when they know each voice will be honored.

• Slow down
• Trust the process
• Stay with the question
• Honor and welcome each voice
• Let others talk before you speak again
• Limit cross talk
• Discuss programs and concepts, not people
• Listen with respect and assume good intent
• The outcome will be greater than the sum of the parts

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