How to Facilitate a Consensual Sphere of Concern, Influence, and Control Using the Bookend Method

The single most important responsibility of a facilitator is to protect the people or meeting participants.  The next most challenging responsibility however is to to make it easy for a group to focus on one issue at a time.

It can be helpful to separate a discussion into the aspects about which the group can control, aspects that it may influence, and aspects about which it has not control or significant influence.  Since groups seldom perform effectively using a linear approach, consider using a “Book End” approach for an activity like the consensual sphere.  Following are the steps required that can be applied to most situations, including prioritizing a list of criteria.

Concern Influence Control

Scope creep kills projects.  It also kills meetings.  The consensual sphere helps a group become mindful of aspects that could alter the groups attitudes, beliefs, and decisions.  It helps a group to focus, on one group at a time, or one aspect at a time.

BOOKEND METHOD

Purpose

Effective facilitators shy away from working lists in a linear fashion.  The purpose with the use of bookends is to develop a natural habit of squeezing the grey matter towards the middle, rather than wasting too much time on it.

Rationale

Groups tend to argue about grey matter that frequently does not affect the decision anyway.  For instance, with PowerBalls, you can envision some participants arguing whether something is more important than moderate yet less important than high.  We know from experience that high criteria drives most decisions, so bookends helps us identify the most important stuff quickly.

Method

After you have compiled a list of criteria or aspects, compare and contrast different items with the simple process explained below:

• Ask “Which of these is the most important?” (as defined by the PowerBalls displayed).  With the consensual sphere, our question would be “Which of these is within our control?”
• Next ask “Which of these is the least important?”  With the consensual sphere, our question would be “Which of these is a concern because it is beyond our control?”
• Then return to the next most important . . .
• And to the next least important . . .
• Until the list has been squeezed into the remaining one- third that is moderate..
• If comparing or contrasting, consider asking . . .
  • Which is most similar?
  • Which is least similar?
  • Repeat until one-third remain as moderate.
• For discussions consider asking . . .
  • What is your greatest strength?
  • What is your greatest weakness?
  • Repeat until one-third remain as moderate.

Facilitation Skills

The FAST curriculum on Professional Facilitation Skills details the responsibilities and dynamics mentioned above. Remember friends, nobody is smarter than everybody, so consult your FAST Facilitator Reference Manual or attend a FAST professional facilitative leadership training workshop offered around the world (see MG Rush for a current schedule — an excellent way to earn 40 PDUs from PMI, CDUs from IIBA, or CEUs).

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