The Art & Science of Facilitation: How to Lead Effective Collaboration with Agile Teams

by Marsha Acker

Have you ever been with a team that was spinning in circles and felt unsure how to help? Have you ever been in the room with a high-conflict group and wanted to flee? If you are responsible for leading teams of any size toward better outcomes, then chances are you have stepped into the role of facilitator at some point. But what does it mean to be a facilitator? While sticky notes, dot voting, and gathering people around a whiteboard are all helpful activities, they can only take us so far. Introducing the Five Guiding Principles of the Agile Coach Facilitation Stance, this book is your guide to moving your team forward, even when things get tough. You will learn to lead your team toward effective collaboration by inviting different points of view (even when it creates conflict), remaining unbiased in high-stakes meetings, understanding what the group needs, and navigating difficult interpersonal dynamics. The Art of Facilitation is for anyone who is ready to lead with self-awareness and group insight—who is ready to help their teams work more efficiently and effectively in a truly collaborative environment. Marsha Acker is a professional facilitator and executive coach with 25 years of experience supporting leaders as they tackle complex challenges and lead change in their organizations. The founder and CEO of TeamCatapult, she uses systems thinking, structural dynamics, dialogue, and agility to help teams collaborate and align with clarity, purpose, and vision.

Genres: Business, Nonfiction, Leadership, Design, Professional Development, Communication

190 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 12, 2021

Reviews

[Istvan Liska · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I read professional books I rarely have that feeling that the author really wants to teach me everything she knows about the topic. This is not the situation here. I felt like I had gone through one the best mentoring of my life. It opened me the wide depth of facilitation. So, thank you very much Marsha!

Some of my favorite quotes:

“The success of any facilitation is more about who you are and how you are being in the room than it is about what tool or technique you use.”

“Facilitation is both an art and a science. The science comes from what we know about how people think―how groups behave and teams develop. The art is how the facilitator learns to dance in the moment―seeing what’s happening in a group, hearing what’s behind the way the group talks with one another, listening for what’s not being said, and letting the magic of the group’s collective intelligence organically emerge.”

“Conversations are the core of leading sustainable change. It’s not always sexy, It’s not always glamorous. But if you’re in an organization that is struggling to find its way in agility, if your teams are stuck trying to create process-led change rather than change that begins with our basic interactive behaviors, then facilitation - and the conversations it enables - is the answer.”

[Danielle Kellogg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Journey to proficient facilitation

Truly this is a book chock full of tools that can support the facilitator in their journey toward proficiency in all stances of facilitation. Read it, and it becomes evident that you will return to it in the future.

[Lorenzo Pezzoli · Rating 4 out of 5]

The principles are great! Now the challenge is to find the way to put them into practice in my meeting ridden day-to-day.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found so many take aways in this book!
Some are obvious, and just are straight up reminders - but we all need that right?
Others are nice check lists and question blocks to return to, to update your skills, refresh etc!
Nice short read, but packed full

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Have you been (or had to run) a meeting and thought, “Surely, this could be better”? Have you ever felt frustrated because you were “supposed to collaborate” but the group couldn’t come into alignment? Do you work in a corporate space? If you answered yes to any of these things, this book may be for you.

Largely, it hit the four star mark for me because it was exceedingly practical. This is not a recipe in that it doesn't tell you exactly how you should do things each time but I wouldn't the book if that were what it did. Those books don't know your corporate environment, your stakeholders, your goals so you can't articulate one way of doing things. This did give a "have you thought about this?" kind of advice, which I believe I will go back to. My only frustration was that they often assumed things were easy that I can't fathom like, "find a co-facilitator". And, the active sponsorship of leadership for things.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marsha might have written the book I thought I’d write one day. Facilitation is an under-appreciated skill in our workplaces. Marsha provides a comprehensive guide to the skills and mindset facilitators need to excel. She reminds us that so much of what makes a great facilitator starts and stops with you. This book provides insights on how to bring your best self to your facilitation and the common pitfalls to avoid. This is a must-read for anyone who facilitates regularly.

[Stef · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish I had read this book earlier. Very insightful, on some topics an eye-opener. A quote from Lencioni from the book: "Facilitation begins with you, but it's about taking yourself and your ego out of the equation in order to be in service to a greater cause". Love this book, recommended for everyone in a facilitation role and in a leadership role.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I hate to be this person but this book was so repetitive that it was hard to get through 150 of the 170 something pages. The back half of the conclusion was my favorite and I wish there would have been more of that throughout the book.

[YJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I need to reread this book. There is so much to think about and take notes so in sinks in more during my practice.

[Kelsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review to come. Thank you for this wonderful read, Marsha!

[Katie Marbury · Rating 3 out of 5]

* not super engaging, but good content
* Book about how to change your facilitation style to benefit the group you’re working with

[Colin Martinez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this for class. The author is great in laying everything out and explaining its importance. A very useful and insightful read, I want to facilitate all day everyday now!

[Yana Bogoev · Rating 2 out of 5]

Solid content, blogspot execution