1. This is the property of the Project Management Institute and may not be
reproduced or disseminated without the expressed written permission of PMI.
Facilitation
An effective Approach
for Team Leaders
Peter Pfeiffer, PhD, PMP, CKM
peter.pfeiffer@mpprio.com.br
2014

2. This is the property of the Project Management Institute and may not be
reproduced or disseminated without the expressed written permission of PMI.
Agenda
• Why do we need facilitators if we have leaders?
• How does Facilitation work? Does it work at all?
• “If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it”,
Right?
• Are you ready to accept the challenges and
facilitate anyway?

3. This is the property of the Project Management Institute and may not be
reproduced or disseminated without the expressed written permission of PMI.
Leader and Facilitator
Focus on Task Focus on Process

4. This is the property of the Project Management Institute and may not be
reproduced or disseminated without the expressed written permission of PMI.
Why do we need Facilitation?
Groups are generally far more complex than we
imagine.
Individual backgrounds can vary a lot.
Interpersonal relationships interfere.
Human communication is an extremely complex process.
Sharing goals and objectives is not trivial.

5. This is the property of the Project Management Institute and may not be
reproduced or disseminated without the expressed written permission of PMI.
1. Absence of team identity.
2. Difficulty making decisions.
3. Poor communication.
4. Inability to resolve conflicts.
5. Lack of participation.
6. Lack of creativity.
7. Groupthink.
8. Ineffective leadership.
Problems that teams encounter frequently
Source: Harvard Business Review

6. This is the property of the Project Management Institute and may not be
reproduced or disseminated without the expressed written permission of PMI.
Communication
The Key Elements of the Facilitation
Teamwork
Visualization

7. This is the property of the Project Management Institute and may not be
reproduced or disseminated without the expressed written permission of PMI.

8. This is the property of the Project Management Institute and may not be
reproduced or disseminated without the expressed written permission of PMI.
Frequency of the Use of Senses

9. This is the property of the Project Management Institute and may not be
reproduced or disseminated without the expressed written permission of PMI.
Visualization

10. This is the property of the Project Management Institute and may not be
reproduced or disseminated without the expressed written permission of PMI.
Advantages of Visualization
 A common center of attention is created.
 The contributions are registered and don’t get lost.
 Visualized declarations facilitate a similar interpretation.
 The author has to choose between information more or less
relevant.
 Discussions become more objective and shorter.
 Participation in discussions and searching solution improves
substantially.

11. This is the property of the Project Management Institute and may not be
reproduced or disseminated without the expressed written permission of PMI.
Manage the process
How can the
management process be
improved to achieve better
results?
Choose the
appropriate approach
Which is the
best approach to
deal with the
task?
Help to comprehend
the task
What are the tasks
to be accomplished?
Facilitate
to produce
Tasks = What we do
Process = How we do it

12. This is the property of the Project Management Institute and may not be
reproduced or disseminated without the expressed written permission of PMI.

13. This is the property of the Project Management Institute and may not be
reproduced or disseminated without the expressed written permission of PMI.
LevelsofsocialBehavior
Love
Joy
Sadness
Hate
Sympathy
Affection
Hope
Status
Ambition
Desires
Values
Fear
Shame
Insecurity
Mistrust
Rejection
Antipathy
Hidden rules
Taboos
Anxiety
Technical level
Psycho-social level
Resources
Concepts
Deadlines
Materials
Hierarchy Tasks
Rules and norms
Proceedings
Objective Information
Ideas

14. This is the property of the Project Management Institute and may not be
reproduced or disseminated without the expressed written permission of PMI.
To understand the dynamics, one needs to dive deeper!

15. This is the property of the Project Management Institute and may not be
reproduced or disseminated without the expressed written permission of PMI.
LevelsofsocialBehavior
Love
Joy
Sadness
Hate
Sympathy
Affection
Hope
Status
Ambition
Desires
Values
Fear
Shame
Insecurity
Mistrust
Rejection
Antipathy
Hidden rules
Taboos
Anxiety
Technical level
Psycho-social level
Resources
Concepts
Deadlines
Materials
Hierarchy Tasks
Rules and norms
Proceedings
Objective Information
Ideas

16. Preparation (clarify purpose, issues, facts, participants, expected outcomes)
Define Setting (create appropriate atmosphere, select room, chairs, tables,
define breaks)
Define Approach (select tools and techniques, dynamics, equipment and
materials)
Prepare Agenda (explicit purpose, expected results, define duration)
Prepare yourself for the Event
Documentation (register what happened)
Follow-up (share results, indicate next steps)
Important steps to facilitate an event:

17. This is the property of the Project Management Institute and may not be
reproduced or disseminated without the expressed written permission of PMI.
Process Formats

18. This is the property of the Project Management Institute and may not be
reproduced or disseminated without the expressed written permission of PMI.
Event Setting

19. This is the property of the Project Management Institute and may not be
reproduced or disseminated without the expressed written permission of PMI.
The Facilitator’s Challenges
Beyond the knowledge and skills of facilitation
techniques, the greatest challenges are related to
people, their characteristics, behaviors and
attitudes.
To deal with these challenges there is no
technological solution available. There is no
hardware nor software available to explore the
lower part of the iceberg.
What we need is “peopleware”!

20. This is the property of the Project Management Institute and may not be
reproduced or disseminated without the expressed written permission of PMI.
Deal with different personalities

21. This is the property of the Project Management Institute and may not be
reproduced or disseminated without the expressed written permission of PMI.
Guarantee efficient communication

22. This is the property of the Project Management Institute and may not be
reproduced or disseminated without the expressed written permission of PMI.
Create a common vision

23. This is the property of the Project Management Institute and may not be
reproduced or disseminated without the expressed written permission of PMI.
Motivate people

24. This is the property of the Project Management Institute and may not be
reproduced or disseminated without the expressed written permission of PMI.
Deal with conflicts

25. This is the property of the Project Management Institute and may not be
reproduced or disseminated without the expressed written permission of PMI.
Keep
focused

26. This is the property of the Project Management Institute and may not be
reproduced or disseminated without the expressed written permission of PMI.
Build
commitment

27. This is the property of the Project Management Institute and may not be
reproduced or disseminated without the expressed written permission of PMI.
Deal with time

28. This is the property of the Project Management Institute and may not be
reproduced or disseminated without the expressed written permission of PMI.
Maintain the balance

29. This is the property of the Project Management Institute and may not be
reproduced or disseminated without the expressed written permission of PMI.

30. This is the property of the Project Management Institute and may not be
reproduced or disseminated without the expressed written permission of PMI.
Thank you for your attention!