What are the best team facilitation practices for open communication?

Team facilitation is a skill that helps you guide a group of people towards a common goal, while creating an environment that fosters collaboration, creativity, and learning. One of the key aspects of effective team facilitation is open communication, which means that everyone in the group can share their ideas, feedback, and concerns without fear or hesitation. Open communication can improve the quality of the team's work, the engagement of the team members, and the trust and rapport among them. In this article, we will explore some of the best team facilitation practices for open communication, and how you can apply them to your own team.

1 Define the purpose

Before you start any team facilitation process, you need to clarify the purpose of the session, the expected outcomes, and the roles and responsibilities of each participant. This will help you set the direction and the scope of the communication, and avoid confusion or misunderstanding later on. You can use tools like SMART goals, agendas, or ground rules to define the purpose and communicate it to the team. You should also invite the team to ask questions, voice their expectations, and share their opinions on the purpose.

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Adam Piandes

Facilitator | Speaker | Communication & Culture Expert | Helping Companies Keep Their Best People and Hit Goals Faster | Leadership Coach & Teacher | Using Conflict as A Catalyst for Growth
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Without a purpose, what's the purpose? Clarifying the expected outcomes, roles, and responsibilities creates a pathway to success, but the "why" we choose to engage in open communication fuels increased collaboration, cohesion, and connectedness.

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2 Use active listening

Active listening is a skill that involves paying attention to what others are saying, showing interest and empathy, and reflecting back what you heard. Active listening can help you build rapport with the team, understand their perspectives and needs, and identify any gaps or conflicts in the communication. You can use techniques like paraphrasing, summarizing, asking open-ended questions, or giving feedback to practice active listening. You should also avoid distractions, interruptions, or judgments that can hinder your listening.

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Linnea Saari

Staffing Lead at Futurice | Unleashing the Potential of People and Business | Founder at ImproLead | Entrepreneurship | B2B
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Active listening is not just about hearing words but truly comprehending the message and the most importantly _the emotions_ behind it. This skill demands focus, patience, humbleness, vulnerability and a genuine commitment to understanding others.

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Adam Piandes

Facilitator | Speaker | Communication & Culture Expert | Helping Companies Keep Their Best People and Hit Goals Faster | Leadership Coach & Teacher | Using Conflict as A Catalyst for Growth
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Active listening is effortless to do; you show up, remove your judgments, stay centered, focus your energy, remain neutral and objective, refrain from giving advice, tame your desire to speak, be open to learning, stay connected to the speaker, encourage vulnerability through your posture, and remind your ego that it is your job to be in service to the other person(s). Simple. :)

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3 Encourage participation

Participation is the degree to which the team members are involved and engaged in the communication process. Participation can enhance the diversity and creativity of the team's ideas, the commitment and ownership of the team's decisions, and the satisfaction and motivation of the team members. You can encourage participation by using methods like brainstorming, voting, or ranking to generate and evaluate ideas, by creating a safe and supportive space for everyone to speak up, by acknowledging and appreciating the team's contributions, and by addressing any barriers or challenges that may prevent participation.

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Adam Piandes

Facilitator | Speaker | Communication & Culture Expert | Helping Companies Keep Their Best People and Hit Goals Faster | Leadership Coach & Teacher | Using Conflict as A Catalyst for Growth
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Encouragement to participate is catalyzed through curiosity and acknowledgment. The more welcomed a person feels, the more willing they are to open and share. Please remember that these gestures must be sincere; otherwise, participants will know that you're simply checking boxes and not fully invested in their ideas and creative musings.

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4 Manage conflict

Conflict is inevitable in any team, especially when there are different opinions, interests, or personalities involved. Conflict can be constructive or destructive, depending on how it is handled. Constructive conflict can lead to better solutions, deeper understanding, and stronger relationships, while destructive conflict can lead to resentment, hostility, and dysfunction. You can manage conflict by using strategies like clarifying the sources and impacts of the conflict, facilitating dialogue and negotiation among the parties, finding common ground and mutual interests, and seeking resolution and agreement.

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Adam Piandes

Facilitator | Speaker | Communication & Culture Expert | Helping Companies Keep Their Best People and Hit Goals Faster | Leadership Coach & Teacher | Using Conflict as A Catalyst for Growth
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Conflict is inevitable and must be prepared for; to do this, teams must prioritize getting to know one another meaningfully and create connections from their curiosity. Without establishing a solid foundation of psychological safety and connectedness, there's no chance for members to respond to conflict constructively. When trust is established, not only can conflict be productive, but it also builds resilience.

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5 Provide feedback

Feedback is the information that you give or receive about the performance, behavior, or outcome of the team. Feedback can help the team improve their quality and efficiency, learn from their mistakes and successes, and align their expectations and goals. You can provide feedback by using models like the sandwich method, the SBI model, or the COIN model to structure your feedback, by using specific, factual, and constructive language to deliver your feedback, by timing your feedback appropriately and regularly, and by inviting and accepting feedback from the team.

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Adam Piandes

Facilitator | Speaker | Communication & Culture Expert | Helping Companies Keep Their Best People and Hit Goals Faster | Leadership Coach & Teacher | Using Conflict as A Catalyst for Growth
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Providing feedback is an essential part of a team's growth process; however, team members need to prepare and be trained on how to receive and constructively process this type of input; otherwise, the well-intentioned premise of giving feedback can backfire and cause more harm than good.

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6 Evaluate and improve

Evaluation and improvement are the processes that help you measure and enhance the effectiveness and impact of your team facilitation and communication. Evaluation and improvement can help you identify and celebrate the team's achievements, recognize and address the team's challenges, and plan and implement the team's actions for the future. You can evaluate and improve by using tools like surveys, interviews, or focus groups to collect feedback from the team, by using criteria like SMART goals, KPIs, or OKRs to assess the team's performance, and by using methods like PDCA, SWOT, or 5 Whys to analyze and improve the team's processes.

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7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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What are the best team facilitation practices for open communication?

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

1 Define the purpose

2 Use active listening

3 Encourage participation

4 Manage conflict

5 Provide feedback

6 Evaluate and improve

7 Here’s what else to consider

Team Facilitation

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What are the best team facilitation practices for open communication?

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

1 Define the purpose

2 Use active listening

3 Encourage participation

4 Manage conflict

5 Provide feedback

6 Evaluate and improve

7 Here’s what else to consider

Team Facilitation

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