Three Things In Every Great Facilitator’s Bag

A great facilitator must bring a group of people to a result that is created, understood, and accepted. Facilitation is a dynamic process that is often filled with as many personalities as issues. A great facilitator must be adaptable, flexible, and able to pivot from one approach to another quickly. The three key items in the facilitator’s tool bag that separates the great from the mere good are Engaging Exercises, Props, and Supplies.

Engaging Exercises are not prepared reports, PowerPoint presentations, or break-out session that talk about the past. Engaging Exercises are about the future, about creativity, and about bringing the team to action. Two of my key gizmos for Engaging Exercise are an Audience Response System (ARS) and an Excel-based Forced Ranking tool. Live demonstrations of analytical methods, such as a vibration meter or a Monte Carlo simulation, or educational exercises that ensure that all participants have a basic subject matter understanding are other important forms of Engaging Exercises.

Props, formally known as property, are objects used on stage or screen by actors during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a theatrical prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinct from the actors, scenery, costumes, and electrical equipment. Props.are an important component of every great facilitator’s bag because they serve as neutral objects to which debate and argument can be directed rather than at fellow participants or the facilitator. Plus there is some obvious entertainment value.

Supplies needed for facilitation should be coordinated in advance. There should be an expectation on the part of the facilitator that requested supplies will be ready and available by the host. However, great facilitators understand that this is not always the case and include some basic supplies in their tool bags. Standard supplies that should be part of every great facilitator’s tool bag include Magic Markers, Dry Board Markers, Highlighters, Sticky Dots, Sticky Notes, Note Cards, Pens, Pencils, Binder Clips, and Rubber Bands.

All great facilitators have a bag that contains Engaging Exercises, Props, and Supplies. What is in your bag?

Why Reasonable Environmental Regulations are Difficult

It sounds easy in many ways because there is a lot of research on just about everything under the sun, a well-defined risk management field of practice for the human and natural environment, and many statutory and regulatory precedents. Use the best that science has to offer and establish some reasonable environmental standards. It sounds easy

The hard part is that there is not enough science, risk is in the eye of the beholder, and the precedents are often conflicting. Staying in touch with the changing regulatory environment is essential for successful project development and delivery.

A great example is from the State of North Carolina’s Environmental Management Commission (EMC). Here we are considering permanent rules for 47 interim maximum achievable concentrations (IMACs) for compounds that impact groundwater. If 47 sounds like a lot, it is. Even worse, many have been ‘interim’ for a decade. Easy, right?

Historically in the United States, water has been environmentally regulated by aquatic standards (what is good for fish and plants) and by human health standards North Carolina is required by N.C. General Statute 143-214.1 and N.C. Administrative Code Subchapter 15A NCAC 02L to adopt groundwater quality standards to protect the use of groundwater as a source of drinking water. Updating the groundwater standards as research supports understanding human health effects ensures that cleanup requirements are set at a level that minimizes the risk that private well water,.

In North Carolina, groundwater standards are used primarily by the following eight programs: Brownfield Redevelopment, Underground Storage Tanks, Superfund, Solid Waste (landfills), Hazardous Waste, Non-Discharge wastewater treatment and reuse systems, Groundwater Protection, and the Asphalt Testing Program.

The Environmental Management Commission is statutorily charged with using the least of the following criteria:

1. Systemic/non-cancer threshold concentration

2. Cancer threshold corresponding to incremental lifetime cancer risk of 1x 10-6

3. Taste threshold limit value

4. Odor threshold limit value

5. Maximum contaminant level

6. National secondary drinking water standard

Obviously, some criteria is more quantitative than others which introduces some judgment and subjectivity into the decision matrix. In other cases, the science is either still developing or is old and developed with using an outdated approach.

The mix of substances includes metal/inorganics such as antimony, beryllium, thallium, and vanadium – some of which are naturally occurring in nature and groundwater. The list also includes some old and new organic compounds such as acetic acid, acetochlor, bromomethane, n-butanol, propylene glycol, and 1,2,4,5-tetrachlorobenzene, and 2,4,6-trichlorophenol – among others. And of course, there is perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA).

In this example from North Carolina, there are 47 compounds, eight impacted programs, six criteria, and science that ranges from emerging to arguably outdated. The listing of new compounds continues to increase faster than the science can keep up.

Complying with environmental regulations on projects and major programs is tough. Making the environmental regulations may be even tougher. Staying in touch with the changing regulatory environment is essential for successful project development and delivery.

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The Art of Facilitating Root Cause Failure Analysis - And Why It Matters

Root causes are usually deep in the ground and require effective facilitation to understand them.

Facilitating a Root Cause Analysis requires a special subset of facilitation and technical skills.

Keeping the basic facilitation roles and responsibilities in mind allows the facilitator to focus during sessions and to improve in key areas between assignments. The basic roles and responsibilities are common to all types of facilitation.

• Prepare in advance - “who, what, when, why, where and “how”

• Plan and distribute the written agenda

• Define objectives at the beginning of the event

• Establish expectations

• Guide the group in presenting and sharing information

• Provide closure and reiterate action items

Root Cause Analysis is a special subset of facilitation because it is perceived as an exercise to assign blame for failure. The following are some recommendations for root cause analysis interviews.

1. Schedule the interview in advance

2. Establish a desired time frame before the interview – shorter interviews are usually better

3. Use a standard format with a clear purpose

4. Meet at the interviewee’s place of work or neutral ground

5. Sit on the same side of the table – simulate that you are working together to solve a problem

6. Use visuals or drawings whenever possible to divert any animosity away from the interviewer/facilitator

7. Never find fault or place blame – create an open and safe environment that leads to information sharing

8. Listen for frustration or unusual language or references

9. Assume everyone is telling the truth

Interviews are the first step in Root Cause Analysis. There are several other steps that require good facilitation, including group settings to establish causal factors.

Root Cause Analysis is tricky to facilitate because it is perceived to be an exercise in assigning blame for failure. In reality, it is tricky because most root causes of failure are associated with management issues rather than individuals or components of systems.

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JD Solomon, Inc provides services at the nexus of facilities, infrastructure, and the environment. Contact us for more information related to facilitating Strategic Plans, Board Retreats, Business Case Evaluations, Risk Assessments, and Root Cause Analysis.

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