Facilitation Design

Facilitation Design

When to Use

• The user needs to lead a diagnostic conversation rather than only receive analysis.
• Multiple stakeholders hold different parts of the system context.
• The issue involves trust, ownership, handoffs, decision rights, or politics.

Facilitation Principles

• Start by sensing the system before debating fixes.
• Separate facts, interpretations, hypotheses, and recommendations.
• Map stressed edges before assigning blame.
• Make decision points and unresolved evidence needs explicit.
• End with owners, actions, and a learning cadence.

Workflow

1. Define the session purpose.
2. Identify participants needed.
3. Open with a neutral system-sensing question.
4. Run an edge-mapping exercise.
5. Sort facts, interpretations, hypotheses, and recommendations.
6. Identify decision points and evidence gaps.
7. Confirm actions, owners, and follow-up cadence.

Output Template

## Facilitation Guide
- Purpose:
- Participants needed:
- Opening question:
- System sensing prompts:
- Edge-mapping exercise:
- Evidence and assumption sorting:
- Decision points:
- Follow-up actions:

Quality Checklist

• The flow avoids blame and premature solutioning.
• The session produces decisions or learning steps, not only discussion.
• The right stakeholders are included for ownership, evidence, and adoption.
• Follow-up actions have owners and timing.