G R O U P   F A C I L I T A T I O N

It’s no secret that groups often have difficulty making significant choices and complex decisions that have far-reaching impacts. Group members often over-analyze, worry, struggle, and may end up getting stuck. Modern problems are complex, and it seems like we never have enough information to make a clear, clean decision. Most big decisions can involve many players or related issues, often with competing interests that can cloud the situation even further.

Deciding on a strategy for your organization to pursue, or choosing between two projects when you have funding for only one often feels like you will win or lose, depending upon your choice. Yet, in most instances, we miss the fact that multiple paths to success exist.

At Relevant Strategies we use a proven method developed by the Institute of Cultural Affairs, called Focused Conversation to tap deep, collective group wisdom. It follows a four-step process designed to uncover the depth of the issue and reach solutions, using contributions from all group members. The steps are:

• Objective Level: What are the facts and external reality?
• Reflective Level: What are our personal reactions to the facts?
• Interpretive Level: What meaning, values, significance, options and implications might we assign to this?
• Decisional Level: How do we define our resolution, wrap-up, and commitment to a solution?

This methodology offers a framework to apply our collective wisdom, tapping into multiple levels of our intelligence, and recognizes that complex issues are inherently participatory. We have successfully worked with hundreds of people with all sorts of complex issues, where stakeholders have competing interests and different levels of information.