What is Facilitation?
Facilitation is the ticklish art of making a meeting between parties easier (Spanish: facil). It is a learned tool set that enables communications, win-win negotiations, and jointly satisfactory conclusions. It requires diplomacy and a thick skin.What is FIND Facilitation?
FIND is a coined acronym whose meaning varies based on the audience. It is a pre-planned goal-oriented meeting strategy. With the end in mind, the FIND session is organized structurally to mercilessly trim all excess fluff in order to reach the stated goal. A common question raised by the facilitator during the planning process is: "Why are you going to cover this issue in this meeting?".When building computer systems, it stands for Facilitated Interactive Development and is based on the M.G.Rush FAST model (FAST meaning: 'speedy'), which is a superior generation beyond the ground-breaking IBM JAD model (Joint Application Design).
When reaching tactical or strategic agreements at the management level, FIND stands for Facilitated Institutional Dialogue and is based on the requirements gathering portion of the M.G.Rush FAST model.
How does FIND differ from an ordinary meeting?
Many meetings do not efficiently use the expensive time of the often times too many participants. Some meetings are just flat out counter-productive and reduce to either a 'gab-fest' or a 'shark-feed'.FIND sessions are intentional, intense, interruption-free, investigations of an isolated set of topics by a limited set of selected individuals who have the authority and responsibility to make the necessary decisions.
A good session lasts from 4 hours to 2 days. A very long session can go for two weeks. Short sessions of 2 hours are usually one-topic issues. One-hour meetings are normally regular standing meetings and are self-facilitated or use the services of a Human Resources professional for team building.
The maximum number of participants is less than 12 decision makers. If more than 12 are involved, the defined problem scope is excessively loose, too much is being handled in one meeting, or the majority wind up to be observers.
What about Self-Directed Work Groups?
TQM/CQI Project Action Teams or other Self-Directed Work Groups can designate a team member to the team facilitator. Due to the on-going nature of such teams/groups with regular meetings, an outside specialist facilitator usually becomes unnecessary or an encumbrance. The FIND process can be used for such groups during the initial forming stage and requirements gathering process.What about Object Oriented Development Projects?
The M.G.Rush FAST model uses the conventional spiral rapid prototyping development cycle. With the advent of object oriented development, we have adapted the process to handle O-O Use Cases. This is still a new area for facilitation.Making Arrangements
Arrange for a FIND session by contacting any of the following Lab-wide facilitators. If unavailable, we will assist helping you locate a suitable facilitator for your timeframe. All effort is recharged. This includes the mandatory strategy pre-meeting, agenda development, room set-up/tear-down, and the actual meeting itself.What to Expect at the Strategy Planning Meeting
The strategy-planning meeting is essential to a well-run FIND session. The facilitator meets with the project leader and sometimes with the executive sponsor. The purpose is defined, an agenda is developed, and a list of participants is trimmed. The agenda is then mapped against available time and adjusted. Each aspect is questioned. Every agenda item needs a discrete deliverable, usually phrased as "A list of..." or "Agreement to..."There are always people to invite to the meeting as observers. The strategy meeting determines the rationale for inviting each participant and their unique contribution that makes their attendance mandatory. Participants are defined as those people required to attend with the proper authority to address the issues raised during the FIND session. As a result, management is more confident that the right mix of people with the right skills is assembled to make the right decisions.
Specialty: Systems Requirements and Consensus among... - Multiple divisions - Multiple departments - Multiple companies (Community Services Consortium) - Inter-agency (Navajo Govt and DOE and UC)
Served - AIS (various) - Medical Dept and Hazards Control Joint System - Hazardous Waste Reorganization (Mgmt Team level) - Stanford Linear Accelerator Budget System (Director and AD level) - Controller's Area (Budget, Finance, Project Acct'g) - Community Services Consortium - Navajo Nation (Navajo President's Office and Ways/Means Chairman)
- December 26, 2001
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