Discussion, Decision, or Brainstorm - Know the Mode | Facilitation Skills

Ultimize. At the beginning, tell the group what mode they are in. Are we brainstorming? People know what that is, but tell them. Are we discussing? Or are we deciding? Because if you don't define that, the group will mix them, they'll jumble them all up. I've seen this constantly. A facilitator asks a question and within seconds one person's generating ideas, another is trying to push for a quick decision. Now you got conflict, not because people really disagree, but because they're operating in different modes. Let me give you a simple example. You ask, what should we do next? One person says, well, we could try this. Another says, well, that won't work. Now the idea shuts down, not because it was bad, because evaluation entered too early. It might have been a bad idea, but you can't do that during brainstorming. Now flip it. You say, let's spend 5 minutes just generating ideas, no evaluation. Now the group knows how to behave. Then you say, let's look at what we've got. Now evaluation is appropriate. Then now we need to make a decision. Now the group shifts again. Same people, same topic, completely different result. Because you controlled the mode. Here's the key insight. Most facilitation problems are not people problems. They are mode confusion problems. So your job is to make the mode explicit. Say it out loud. Repeat it when needed. Let's stay in idea generation now. Let's stay in the brainstorming mode. Do you want to use that term? Or We're now evaluating these ideas. Or we need to make a decision. It's time to decide, folks. Those signals align the group. And when the group is aligned, everything becomes easier to manage.