"Agile" group facilitation... what might that mean in practice?

My friend and colleague Matthias zur Bonsen has just posted an article on this subject in German. Here is a translation, for my English-speaking peeps: 

Agile is on everyone’s lips these days. So do we now need to apply it to group facilitation, as well? From our perspective, yes - it’s worthwhile to look at group facilitation through these lenses. After all, facilitation is often carried out in such a way that we discuss topics sequentially, each clearly delineated from the next. Or we proceed through clearly defined work steps: first finish one step, then start the next. Doesn’t that sound a lot like the linear waterfall approach that has been all too common in conventional projects? From our point of view, agile facilitation means leaving this linear process behind to enable a more simultaneous approach, one that corresponds more closely to the actual functioning of the human mind. We tend to associate freely, jumping from one topic to another, and are often most productive when we can follow our own trail. Agile facilitation should allow this - for example, working on the problem definition and possible solutions at the same time. In this sense, Dynamic Facilitation, a method originally developed by Jim Rough, has long been agile.

Dynamic Facilitation is all about creating the conditions for the right solutions emerge on their own. And they usually do - Dynamic Facilitation is known to deliver unexpected breakthroughs, even in very difficult situations. But you can never tell exactly when they will happen. In non-agile projects, clear milestones and long-term deadlines are fixed [translator's note: whether they are met or not, is another story!] and the outcome that needs to be realized at the end of a long journey, is clearly defined at the start. This is different in agile projects. There is another parallel here with Dynamic Facilitation, which - agile in the best sense - relies on emergence, constant learning and fluid involvement with what is important now. Thus, the final deadline is not so clearly defined at the outset. Sometimes the breakthrough appears sooner than expected, sometimes later. And even the result can be unpredictable - because a group can discover in the process that the initial question was not actually the most important one. Then the group works on a topic that was not even on the radar before - and ends up quite satisfied.

There is another parallel here with Dynamic Facilitation, which - agile in the best sense - relies on emergence, constant learning and fluid involvement with what is important now.

Dynamic Facilitation can feel unfamiliar at first, as it is so different from conventional facilitation. Controlling less, allowing more self-organization, giving space, trusting the wisdom of the group from beginning to end, enabling emergence, going organically with the energy of the group. New order can emerge from chaos. That scares some people. And can cause concern, especially if a company’s clients are participating in the process. But now many are looking for more agile approaches, and Dynamic Facilitation is one of them. Group facilitation could not be more agile than this!

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So, that's Matthias' article; brief and to the point. He is the one who originally translated the Dynamic Facilitation manual I wrote, into German; it is a real pleasure now, to translate some of his own writings on the subject, into English.

Back in 2013, for a special issue of the OD Practitioner on Dialogic OD, I had written a longer article that mentions the connection between DF and Agile. Other free materials about Dynamic Facilitation are available through my website (and you don't even need to give us your e-mail in order to read them! :-)

Yet possibly due to my limited marketing skills, Dynamic Facilitation is still better known in Germany than in the U.S. The German-language book that Matthias and I have co-edited has just come out in a new second edition, with two additional chapters. And we are looking forward to leading an advanced training together in Germany, in March of 2020.

Do leave me your e-mail if you'd like to be notified of any upcoming trainings in the U.S... or even better, if you'd like to arrange for an in-house training at your triple-bottom-line organization!

Update as of Jan 2020: While the advanced training in Germany has been sold out for a few months now, there is an upcoming 2-day workshop in SF next week that still has a few spaces left. FYI!