How can you balance structure and flexibility when working with large groups?

1 Define the purpose

Before you start designing your facilitation process, you need to clarify the purpose of the large group intervention. What are the goals, objectives, and outcomes you want to achieve? Who are the stakeholders, and what are their interests, needs, and expectations? How will you measure the success of the intervention? Having a clear and shared purpose will help you align your structure and flexibility with the desired results.

2 Choose the methods

Once you have defined the purpose, you need to choose the methods that will best suit your large group intervention. There are many different types of large group methods, such as World Cafe, Open Space, Future Search, Appreciative Inquiry, and more. Each method has its own principles, procedures, and benefits, but they also have some common elements, such as creating a safe and inclusive space, fostering dialogue and collaboration, and generating collective action. You need to select the methods that match your purpose, context, and resources, and that can accommodate the size and diversity of your group.

4 Facilitate the process

The core of your large group intervention is the facilitation process, where you guide and support the participants through the various stages and activities of your chosen methods. This is where you need to balance structure and flexibility the most, as you have to follow a clear and coherent process, but also respond to the emerging needs and opportunities of the group. You need to use a variety of facilitation skills, such as asking powerful questions, listening actively, summarizing key points, managing conflicts, harvesting insights, and synthesizing actions. You also need to be flexible and creative, such as by adapting the pace, tone, or format of the process, or by introducing new elements, such as icebreakers, energizers, or reflections.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?