FACILITATING WORKSHOPS
Facilitating workshops effectively requires a set of key skills, models, tools, and techniques to engage participants and achieve the workshop’s goals.
Below are some components crucial to running successful workshops
KEY SKILLS
Ability to create and a thinking environment
Ability to encourage people to participate
Manage diverse and strong views
Experienced in governance and guiding or participating in formal processes
Interested in helping people and organisations solve problems
A good listener and communicator
Able to contribute the time necessary to undertake the role effectively
Not politically active, and without commercial conflicts of interest
MODELS
ORID (Objective, Reflective, Interpretive, Decisional): A structured questioning process that can help guide group discussions.
Six Thinking Hats: Developed by Edward de Bono, it provides a model for parallel thinking, where everyone thinks in the same direction at the same time, making group discussions more organized and productive.
SCARF (Status, Certainty, Autonomy, Relatedness, Fairness): A model that helps facilitators understand how to influence and collaborate with others more effectively.
TECHNIQUES
SWOT Analysis: A strategic planning technique used to evaluate Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats related to the workshop’s objectives.
Ice Breakers: Activities designed to warm up the group and encourage open communication.
Round-Robin: Everyone takes turns to speak, ensuring that all voices are heard.
World Café: A structured conversational process focused on knowledge sharing.
Fishbowl Discussions: A few participants discuss a topic while the rest of the group observes, and then roles are switched.
Gallery Walk: Participants’ ideas are displayed on walls, and everyone walks around to review them and provide feedback.
Dot Voting: A quick way to prioritize a long list of ideas, where participants are given dots or stickers to place on the ideas they find most valuable.
CREDENTIALS
A Management Consultant with a lot of experienced as a facilitator and coach. Has previously been the Chairman of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee, an Independant Member of the Public Accounts Committee and Athlete Representative for the Commonwealth Games in 2014. Also has experience in stakeholder management and public consultations, including for example the Incorporation of the Ports of Jersey, and more recently work for Farm Jersey and The Rural Economic Strategy
WHAT CLIENTS SAY
CASE STUDY: ENHANCING JERSEY’S VISITOR ECONOMY THROUGH STRATEGIC COLLABORATION
Tim Rogers – Consultant / Facilitator -Visitor Economy Strategy Group
In a part-time role, consultant Tim Rogers has been instrumental in elevating Jersey’s Visitor Economy Steering Group (VESG), a platform initiated by the Minister for Economic Development, Tourism, Sport and Culture. The group focuses on boosting the tourism and hospitality sectors through improved dialogue between the industry and the government. Rogers was primarily responsible for steering the VESG meetings and strategizing for the long term.
His contributions encompass facilitating key discussions, aiding in event management, supporting policy papers, enhancing communications, and launching a data hub project. Rogers’ efforts extended to direct collaborations with crucial stakeholders like Ports of Jersey and Visit Jersey. His balanced approach has shifted the perception of VESG’s strategy from being just a governmental initiative to a collaborative blueprint for industry-wide change.
Rogers’ methods have been lauded for fostering better organizational synergy, improving communications, and striking a balance between immediate actions and long-term goals. With tangible results achieved on a lean schedule, Rogers has received high praise from Jersey’s Government for his indispensable support in streamlining processes and rallying stakeholders.
I would like to take the opportunity to thank him for his support until now. I am sure you will all agree it is good to have had some outside support and a fresh pair of eyes, enthusiasm and rowing coach mentality to challenge us all and get our thinking hats on. You have been a good source of thinking support and helped us get to a good place with the process, a framework and helped us to engage and build momentum with the stakeholder group. Olivia Chaplin Sector Lead Retail and Visitor Economy, Government of Jersey
CASE STUDY FARM JERSEY AND THE RURAL ECONOMIC STRATEGY
Working for Solitaire Consulting Limited https://www.solitaireconsulting.com/ .
This is what Farm Jersey said: Farm Jersey used Tim Rogers as an independent facilitator for the review of the Jersey Royal Industry as part of the Rural Economy Strategy (2017-2021). The programme from October to December 2019 went really well, comprising 16 face-to-face interviews, two workshops and a comprehensive set of outputs from each. We are delighted with the process, engagement and outputs that have come from this initiative and the positive impact it has had on our plans for 2020 and beyond. John Vautier (Rural Business Advisor, Economy & Partnerships) John Garton (Farm Jersey)