The Facilitator's Fieldbook

Thomas Justice & David W. Jamieson

What is facilitation? Ironically, it's a difficult word that means "to make easy." When applied to businesses and organizations, facilitation means helping people work together in groups and teams to achieve their goals.

Comprehensive in scope, yet extremely practical and to the point, The Fieldbook is perfect for both novice and experienced facilitators. Those new to the art of facilitation will find clear guidance on basic how-to information. More experienced facilitators will discover advanced methods for use in more challenging facilitation situations and simple models for facilitating both large and small groups.

The Art of Facilitation

Dale Hunter, Anne Bailey, Bill Taylor 

The Art of Facilitation provides a superb training resource for facilitators and enables group members to understand facilitation and to take on this role themselves. It also provides access to the source of group empowerment and shows how to create group synergy. Divided into four major components, this book will give you the insight, tools and resources you need to help your group work easily and more effectively together.

Zen of Groups

A Handbook for People Meeting With A Purpose
Dale Hunter, Anne Bailey, Bill Taylor

A must-have book to help you become a more effective group member and stimulate your meetings with energy needed for achieving your goals. You'll learn the skills for participating in groups as an individual member, make groups as a whole more effective, and make group meetings more enjoyable through tapping the synergy available in groups.

The Skilled Facilitator

Practical Wisdom for Developing Effective Groups
Rodger M. Schwarz

Roger Schwarz draws on his own extensive facilitation experience and insight to bring together theory and practice, creating a comprehensive reference for consultants, peer facilitators, mangers, leaders -- anyone whose role is to guide groups toward realization their creative and problem-solving potential. The Skilled Facilitator provides essential materials including simple but effective ground rules for governing group interaction; what to say to a group (and when to say it) to keep it on track and moving toward its goal, proven techniques for starting meetings on the right (and ending them positively and decisively) practical methods for handling emotions (particularly negative emotions) when they arise in a group context, and a diagnostic approach for helping both facilitators and group members identify and solve problems that can undermine the group process.

Facilitating With Ease

A Step-By-Step Guidebook with Customizable Worksheets on CD-ROM
Ingrid Bens

Based on Bens' twenty years experience, this workbook and CD-ROM package walks the reader through the basics of facilitating in a clear and straightforward way and provides the reader with tips and techniques, tools, surveys and meeting designs.

Facilitation Skills

Helping Groups Make Decisions
Gregory B. Putz

A comprehensive guidebook outlining the six steps to group decision making. The book includes practical advice on setting up the meeting room, use of flipcharts, building consensus, and handling conflict. Important information on do's and don'ts and frequently asked questions are included in the text. Special emphasis is placed on the neutral role of the facilitator.

Facilitator's Guide to Participatory Decision-Making

Sam Kaner, Lenny Lind, Catherine Toldi, Sarah Fisk, Duane Berger

Facilitator's Guide to Participatory Decision-Making provides trainers and facilitators with skills beyond basic facilitation skills training. If you are knowledgeable of how facilitation differs from leading and managing, then this is the next book for you. 

Of particular use is the model of how participatory decision making occurs. Understanding this model and sharing it with teams (and management) that you facilitate will take the guess work out of team decision making.