Facilitation

Facilitation is the art of guiding groups and teams through a process, whether it is a meeting to conduct information gathering/dissemination, analysis, or strategic planning.

The Decision Analysis Team (DAT) is trained in facilitation, and can guide meetings and help teams reach consensus on issues and document meeting information. The DAT acts as an active but impartial third party at meetings, promoting and maintaining appropriate group conduct and maximizing productivity. Meetings that the DAT facilitates are more efficient and have clearer, defendable results with greater buy-in from participants.

DAT uses a strategic facilitation process to help clients efficiently and effectively run meetings. First, DAT helps clients define issues and generate ideas. DAT works in partnership with clients to gather the right group of experts and users needed to work on a project. Next, DAT helps clients generate alternative solutions to defined issues through divergent thinking exercises.  This is done through facilitating information exchange between divergent perspectives (SMEs and users). Finally, DAT encourages the group to debate and analyze alternatives using proven decision analysis techniques, and converge on a single solution for action using a consensus-based approach.

Types of meetings the DAT can facilitate:

• Off-sites for strategic planning and change management
• Project meetings where decisions are discussed and made
• Information meetings such as workshops and focus groups where participants share and discuss information

The knowledge and expertise possessed by the DAT is enhanced by a business model that stresses collaboration and is focused in three interrelated areas including: Operations Research, Analytical Tools, and Facilitation.