Facilitation Skills Guide

Facilitation

Skills Guide

Brainstorming

Working together

Participatory

Acknowledgements

The NWT Literacy Council gratefully acknowledges the financial assistance for

this Skill Builders for Young Parents project from the Department of Education,

Culture and Employment, GNWT.

The NWT Literacy Council is a territorial non-profit group that promotes and

supports literacy in all official languages of the NWT. Our program areas

include Aboriginal languages, family literacy, adult literacy and essential skills,

youth literacy, and plain language.

Contact the NWT Literacy Council for more information or to get copies of this

document.

Box 761, Yellowknife, NT X1A 2N6

Phone toll free: 1-866-599-6758

Phone Yellowknife: (867) 873-9262

Fax: (867) 873-2176

Email: nwtliteracy@nwtliteracy.ca

Web site: www.nwtliteracy.ca

July 2014

Table of Contents  
Facilitation Skills Guide     1 | P a g e  
Table of Contents 
Introduction ............................................................................................... 2 
A facilitator’s role ..................................................................................... 2 
Knowledge and skills of a good facilitator ................................................ 3 
Values and attitudes of a good facilitator ................................................. 4 
Consider your audience ........................................................................... 4 
Differences between teaching and facilitation .......................................... 5 
Vary your learning activities ..................................................................... 6 
Facilitation Tips ........................................................................................ 7 
Make a safe place ................................................................................... 7 
Do’s of facilitation .................................................................................... 8 
Facilitator tools ........................................................................................ 9 
Challenges for facilitators ...................................................................... 13 
Tools for Success ................................................................................... 16 
Introduction activities ............................................................................. 16 
Warm-up activities/energizers ............................................................... 20 
Team building activities ......................................................................... 26 
Dice Games ........................................................................................... 28 
Interactive games .................................................................................. 29 
Closing activities .................................................................................... 33 
Grouping................................................................................................ 37 
 
 

Introduction

Facilitation Skills Guide 2 | P a g e

Introduction

This guide explains what a facilitator does and provides tips and tools to

help people successfully facilitate workshops. The guide is good for people

who are new to facilitation as well as those who are experienced

facilitators. You will find a range of activities that will help make your

workshop interesting and engaging.

The introduction section covers:

• A facilitator’s role

• Knowledge and skills of a good facilitator

• Values and attitudes of a good facilitator

• Consider your audience

• Differences between teaching and facilitating

• Vary your learning activities

A facilitator’s role

As a group facilitator, you help a group to discuss

an issue, make a decision, or solve a problem. You

keep the group moving, and always towards its

(not your) goals. The facilitator does not know all

the answers. Their role is to help the group think

critically about the topic of the training or

workshop, and to make decisions for themselves.

There should be a balance between offering ideas to guide the group and

patiently listening and questioning. The facilitator’s role is also to

encourage each member of the group to contribute to the best of their

ability. Everyone has valuable knowledge and a valuable contribution to

make. But people can be reluctant to share their knowledge. They may lack

http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/rural/facts/95-073.htm#role

The name

“facilitator” comes

from the Latin word

“facilis” which

literally means “to

make easy.”

Introduction

Facilitation Skills Guide 3 | P a g e

the confidence or may not consider what they know to be important. The

facilitator’s role is to build trust and respect between the members of the

group and to encourage discussion so everyone can learn from one

another.

With the proper facilitation skills and knowledge, you can help any group

achieve its goals efficiently and enjoyably.

Knowledge and skills of a good facilitator

An effective facilitator:

▪ Is well prepared.

▪ Thinks and acts creatively.

▪ Listens and observes.

▪ Uses visual aids effectively (overheads, flipcharts, etc.).

▪ Records ideas neatly.

▪ Asks probing questions.

▪ Thinks quickly.

▪ Acknowledges and responds to participants.

▪ Summarizes.

▪ Resolves conflict.

▪ Uses humour.

▪ Knows a variety of techniques for group discussions, including

problem-solving and decision-making.

▪ Designs or chooses appropriate group discussion techniques.

▪ Understands people and groups, and energizes the group.

Introduction

Facilitation Skills Guide 4 | P a g e

Values and attitudes of a good facilitator

An effective facilitator must also hold certain values and attitudes.

Respect and Empathy: All ideas are important. No idea or individual is

more important than another.

Cooperation: Your group members must work together to reach the

group’s goals. As a facilitator you cannot force individuals to work

together, but you can create an environment for it to happen.

Honesty: You and the group need to be honest and open about your

feelings, values, and priorities.

Responsibility: The group must assume responsibility for the solutions

and their implications. The facilitator assumes responsibility for his or her

actions, which ultimately affect the content, participation, and process of

the session.

Flexibility: As you facilitate the workshop, you will need to be flexible

with time and adjust the schedule as needed.

Consider your audience

Your audience, the people who will actually be part of the workshop, is

probably the most important piece of the puzzle here. You will need to

consider the following:

▪ What do they already know? What knowledge and skills do they

already have? What can they contribute to the workshop?

▪ Is the material relevant? Is the workshop and material relevant to

their needs? Is the material of interest to them?

▪ Will they come with a particular attitude? Were they forced to

come to the workshop? Are they only at the workshop because they

have to be there?

Introduction

Facilitation Skills Guide 5 | P a g e

Differences between teaching and facilitation

Teaching

Facilitating

Teachers start from their own

knowledge.

Facilitators start from the

knowledge of the group.

Teachers follow a pre-set

curriculum.

Facilitators address issues

identified by the group or their

community and adapt new

ideas to the needs and culture

of the group.

Teachers present new

information from the front, or

“head,” of the room.

Facilitators use practical,

participatory methods, like

group discussion and activities

in which all members of the

group participate.

Information flows in just one

direction, from teacher to

students.

Information flows in many

different directions between the

facilitator and individual group

members―a genuine exchange

of ideas.

Teachers bring extensive

knowledge of the subject.

Facilitators draw out and build

on the knowledge of the group,

and knows where to find

further information on the

subject.

http://tilz.tearfund.org/webdocs/Tilz/Fac%20skills%20English/Facilitation%20_E.pdf

Introduction

Facilitation Skills Guide 6 | P a g e

Vary your learning activities

Did you know...that it is important to provide a range of learning activities

for participants?

Research tells us that we learn:

▪ 5% through lecture.

▪ 10% through reading.

▪ 20% through watching a video or listening to a podcast.

▪ 30% through demonstration.

▪ 50% through discussion.

▪ 75% through doing something or practicing something.

▪ 90% through teaching others.

Provide participants with a range of activities from watching YouTube

videos to brainstorming to role playing. Give participants an opportunity

to teach or lead the group. Give participants time to talk and connect with

one another. Let them share their ideas and their knowledge.

http://www.workshopexercises.com/Facilitator.htm#FacilitatorDefined

Facilitation Tips

Facilitation Skills Guide 7 | P a g e

Facilitation Tips

As we have learned, facilitation is the art of guiding but

not leading, encouraging learning but not lecturing,

engaging but not directing. In this section are some

facilitation tips to help you facilitate effectively and

successfully!

This section covers:

▪ Make a safe place

▪ Do’s of facilitation

▪ Facilitator tools

▪ Challenges for facilitators

Make a safe place

Almost all workshops ask participants to reflect on their own learning

journey, and collectively explore the subject matter. Often workshop

material is sensitive and facilitators will have to use their judgment about

what and how much they want to tackle at any given time.

Be aware that some adult participants may find talking about certain

issues difficult. Many may have dealt with failures in the school system

and other training programs. They may feel a great deal of fear around

learning and success.

Make sure you allow people to participate at their own pace and level.

Facilitation Tips

Facilitation Skills Guide 8 | P a g e

Dos of facilitation

Here are a few basic facilitation tips to help you deliver the workshops in

this program:

Develop working agreements. Develop ground rules, or working

agreements, to help participants understand what is expected of them and

others in the program.

Find out the expectations of the group. Ask the participants why they

came to the workshop and what they want to learn. Write what they say

on flipchart paper and address each statement and whether or not it will

be covered in the workshop. Be honest. If it will not be covered, clearly

explain why not and tell them that they can get more information from

you after the session, or direct them to another workshop that may better

suit their needs.

Use the flipchart. Write down what participants say on flipchart paper.

This helps show the speakers that their ideas have been acknowledged,

and helps group members follow the conversation.

Use games and icebreakers. Games are a great way to set the tone for the

workshop and get participants open and ready to learn. You will find a list

of introduction activities, energizers, games, and team-building activities

in this guide.

Give everyone a chance to participate. The facilitator’s role is to make

sure that there are opportunities for everyone to participate. You can do

this through activities like brainstorming, group work, or using a talking

stick.

Use different methods of instruction. Use a variety of facilitation tools:

group work, lecture, reading, video, audio, role-playing, warm-ups,

discussion, and presentation.

Put up a parking lot. Place a piece of flipchart paper that says “Parking

Lot” on the wall. Write items and questions that come up during the

training that are not relevant to the content of the training at that particular

Facilitation Tips

Facilitation Skills Guide 9 | P a g e

moment, but that you want to address later. In the beginning of the

training, explain what it will mean to “place questions in the parking lot.”

Make up a participant bag. In almost every workshop, there is a lot of

brainstorming and other types of activities that use markers, tape, scissors,

stickie notes, etc. Buy some large Ziploc bags and put all these items in the

bag. Give each participant a bag to use for the workshop.

Facilitator tools

Brainstorming

Brainstorming is a tool that helps a group to come up with as many ideas

as possible without worrying about the details. You can do brainstorms as

a large group or in small groups. Make sure you have flipchart paper and

markers for each group.

Go over the rules of brainstorming before you start:

▪ Speak one at a time.

▪ Listen to each other.

▪ No idea is a bad idea.

▪ No judgement is allowed.

▪ The more ideas, the better!

You might want to do a practice brainstorm with participants with

something fun. For example, you could ask participants to brainstorm all

the things you can do with duct tape.

Different ways to brainstorm

Sometimes brainstorming can get a little boring. Make it interesting by

trying these different ways to brainstorm.

1. Three-way rotation: Sometimes we can get attached to our ideas

and it makes it hard to hear the ideas of other people. The three–

way rotation tool can help!

Facilitation Tips

Facilitation Skills Guide 10 | P a g e

In small groups have people brainstorm a given topic. Have them

write all their ideas on a large sheet of paper. When the groups have

had enough time (15 to 20 minutes), take each sheet and give it to a

different group. Tell the groups to now cross off all but the five best

ideas on the sheet. Because the groups are not working on their own

ideas, it will be easier for them to cross off ideas. Next, take each of

the sheets and again give them to a different group. This time tell

the groups to rank the top three ideas by marking a 1, 2 or 3 next to

each one. This is a great way to prioritize or find the top three

choices.

2. Corners: This is a great tool to get people talking about different

topics. Write down each of the topics on a separate piece of flip chart

paper. Put the papers up in different areas of the room. Read the

topics to the whole group. Ask people to choose the topic that is

most interesting to them and ask them to go to that area of the room.

The groups discuss their topics and write down their ideas. Each

small group reports back to the larger group.

3. Carousel: This type of brainstorming helps participants to really

think about a topic and generate lots of ideas. Each group works

together to brainstorm a topic. Give each group a piece of flipchart

paper with a different topic on it. Give the group about 10 minutes

to brainstorm and record their ideas. At the end of the time period,

the group exchanges their paper with another group. They read

what the other group has written and add their ideas. At the end of

the period, change papers again. Continue until all ideas are

exhausted. Each group puts their paper up on the wall and

participants move around the room and review the lists. You can

use this tool with a variety of topics. All you need is a topic that

lends itself to a variety of situations.

Facilitation Tips

Facilitation Skills Guide 11 | P a g e

Pros and cons

Got several ideas and can't decide which one to go for? Simply list the

benefits and drawbacks of each idea and compare the results. This can be

done as a full group, or by asking pairs, or small groups, to work on the

pros and cons of one option and reporting back to the group.

Agree and disagree

Make signs up and put them on opposite sides of the room. Pose a

question and ask participants if they agree or disagree. Ask each group to

discuss why they agree or disagree with the statement and then have them

share their ideas with the other group. Participants can then move over to

the other side if they are convinced by their ideas.

Talking sticks

You can use a stick, or a feather, or almost any other distinctive object.

Place the talking stick in the centre of the group. Speakers take it from the

centre, say their piece and return it to the middle. Only the person holding

the talking stick is permitted to speak (you can set a time limit if

necessary). This tool allows people to consider and take their time in

voicing their views as they don't have to be afraid that someone else might

jump in. It also makes people conscious of when they interrupt others and

helps them to break the habit. Here is a list of agreements to follow:

▪ Only one person speaks at a time; everyone else listens.

▪ Everyone needs to listen respectfully while someone is speaking.

▪ No one will repeat anything they hear in the circle to others. What is

said in the circle stays in the circle.

▪ People should speak about the topic and not respond to what other

people in the circle have said.

Facilitation Tips

Facilitation Skills Guide 12 | P a g e

Limited discussion

This can be used to place limits on dominant or over-eager speakers. It also

encourages shy speakers to contribute. Each person is given the same

number of items; it could be candies, sticks, beads, etc. Every time

someone speaks he or she gives up one of the items. When someone has

used all their items they may not speak again until everyone else's items

are gone too. Decide beforehand whether people may give their items to

other members of the group.

Working in small groups

There are many reasons why you may want to split into smaller groups,

but the biggest reason is smaller groups help people who are too shy to

speak in a larger group to have a voice. Smaller groups allow time for

everyone to speak and to feel involved.

Questions

Most participants shy away from asking questions. Participants may be

scared to ask a “foolish” question and think they might be the only

confused person in the room. All questions are valid.

One way to encourage everyone to ask questions is to give everyone an

index card. Ask participants to write down a question they want

answered. Then ask participants to turn the card over so that the written

side is down and pass it to someone else. Participants continue passing the

cards in random fashion until you yell "Stop!" Make sure everyone has a

card. Now select a participant at random and ask her or him to read a

question from the card.

Facilitation Tips

Facilitation Skills Guide 13 | P a g e

Challenges for facilitators

There are many challenges a facilitator faces when working with a group.

Taking control

One of the greatest difficulties that facilitators can face is the temptation to

take control of a discussion or change the process. This is often out of a real

desire to help the group move forwards. If we are used to a top-down

teaching style, and have not had the chance to observe good facilitators at

work, it can be very difficult to change our approach to sharing ideas.

Some ways for empowering participants are:

▪ Be patient.

▪ Listen to others and show that their opinions are valued.

▪ Be open to learning from the group so that information sharing is

multi-directional.

▪ Encourage the group to discover solutions for themselves and to

take responsibility for their own learning.

Difficult questions

You do not need to have all the answers, but it is important that you are

familiar with the subject material. It is okay to say that you do not know

the answer. Tell participants that you will find out the answer as best you

can and get back to them. Some ways of dealing with difficult questions

are:

▪ Prepare yourself for the workshop. Read over all the material you

will be presenting.

▪ Anticipate people’s questions where possible and think of possible

responses.

▪ Repeat the question for all participants. Maybe someone in the

group knows the answer.

http://tilz.tearfund.org/webdocs/Tilz/Fac%20skills%20English/Facilitation%20_E.pdf

Facilitation Tips

Facilitation Skills Guide 14 | P a g e

Managing conflict

Sometimes people will have strong and conflicting ideas on a subject. Poor

relationships within the group will also affect the way the group works

together as a whole. A facilitator needs to be sensitive to possible

differences and tensions, and encourage people to work through these,

keeping their common goals and interests in mind. Some ways for

managing conflict are:

▪ Acknowledge the conflict.

▪ Try to establish the cause of the conflict.

▪ Help lead participants to a place of agreement, or to agree to

disagree.

▪ Use your group agreements to help you manage the conflict. Make

sure everyone is treating one another with respect and listening to

different points of view.

Handling dominant people

Sometimes there is one person who dominates the discussion. They are

confident they have all the right answers! A good facilitator needs to make

sure that others have an opportunity to speak. Some ways to make sure

that everyone has a chance to participate are:

▪ Break the group into smaller groups.

▪ Give each person five stones, matchsticks or candies. When they

speak they must put one back in the jar. When all their items are

gone, they can’t speak anymore.

▪ Give group members a role. Roles can be facilitator, time keeper,

recorder, reporter, etc. Make sure that everyone has a chance to be

each role at least once.

▪ Give dominant participants other responsibilities, like making sure

the group keeps to their time table. This will distract them.

▪ Lead off your discussion group with: “Let’s hear from some of you

who have not had a chance to voice your opinion.”

Facilitation Tips

Facilitation Skills Guide 15 | P a g e

Working with shy people

Sometimes people may be very shy or afraid to express their views in a

group. It is important that you provide the space and opportunity for

everyone to participate. Some ways to help shy people participate are:

▪ Break into smaller groups so they can express their ideas with fewer

people.

▪ Do “pair-share.” Ask participants to share their ideas with the

person next to them.

▪ Refer back to their ideas, so they know that these are important and

of value.

▪ Give them time to think about their answers or their opinions.

▪ Use role-play activities to build confidence and skills.

Tools for Success

Facilitation Skills Guide 16 | P a g e

Tools for Success

Teaching a subject and delivering a workshop are very different. In this

section there are a variety of tools to help you make your workshop fun

and engaging.

This section covers:

▪ Introduction Activities

▪ Warm-up Activities/Energizers

▪ Team Building Activities

▪ Games

▪ Closing Activities

▪ Grouping

Fun and laughter are the best ways to engage participants in the learning

process!

Introduction activities

C-U-E: Draw C-U-E on a flip chart. As you give directions, complete the

words to form “Common,” “Unique,” and “Expectation.” Ask each group

to select a recorder and a facilitator. Each group should try to identify one

thing that all members have in common. Encourage them to look for

something a bit uncommon—not “we all live in Yellowknife” or “we all

love children,”…but “we have all have teenagers,” or “we all love

mysteries.” Then groups should look for something unique about each

member of the group—something one person has done that no one else

has done. Finally, they should talk about what they expect to gain from

today’s session.

Pair introductions: Ask people to pair up with people they don't know or

know less well. One person interviews the other for three minutes, then

roles are swapped. Questions can include the reasons why the person is

Tools for Success

Facilitation Skills Guide 17 | P a g e

there and what they are hoping to learn/achieve during the

meeting/workshop. When the whole group re-forms the pairs introduce

each other, giving as much detail as they can remember. The facilitator

could also suggest specific themes to be included in the interview.

Introduce yourself: Break people into small groups and give

each person a penny. Ask them to introduce themselves to

the group and talk about what they were doing during the

year on the coin.

Baggage claim: Give each participant a baggage card. Have them “pack

their bags” by writing five interesting facts about their lives on the bag.

Try to have them use facts that other people may not know about them.

This will make the game a little more difficult. Collect the cards.

Participants now have to pretend they are getting off a flight and they are

going to the baggage area to get their bag. Only they “accidentally” pick

up someone else’s bag. (In other words, they get someone else’s card.)

They then have to go around the room questioning the other participants

until they find out whose bag they have.

"Do You Know Me?": Each person is given a nametag and an index card.

The name tag has the name of another person in the group on it. Everyone

is told to circulate, meet, mix and mingle to gather information, insights or

stories about the person on their tag from group members. The opening

line "Do you know me?" is used to help generate clues and conversation.

The index card is to be used to write down the information collected. At

the end of a designated time - about 15 minutes, each participant

introduces their "name tag" and its person to the group.

Categories: Ask people a question like: How many siblings do you have?

They must roam around the room and get into a group depending on how

many siblings they have. Then give them a chance to chat. Other questions

are:

▪ What season do you like best?

Tools for Success

Facilitation Skills Guide 18 | P a g e

▪ What is your favourite colour?

▪ Were you born in the NWT?

▪ What meal do you like best: breakfast, lunch or supper?

▪ Are you a morning person or a night owl?

Speed dating: Participants have 30 seconds to one

minute to talk to another participant in the

workshop and find out about them. Then they

move on and talk to another person, then another,

etc. At the end of the rounds, everyone comes back

together and contributes what they know about

each person. For example, “So everyone had a chance to meet Mary; what

did you learn about her?” Make sure you encourage people to be creative

about what they ask each other. That way you also hear funny stories

about past holidays, or how many pairs of shoes someone has, the craziest

person they know, etc. The possibilities for creativity are endless!

Find someone who: Each participant is given a sheet with a list of about

10 to 20 attributes or statements. They must get up and walk around and

find people who have those characteristics or attributes. They write their

name in the space provided. You can devise your own set according to the

group, if you know them, but some suggestions are: has eaten sushi, has a

tattoo, likes to wake up early, is a night owl, has four children, listens to

classical music, etc. The first person to complete their sheet wins!

Toilet paper activity: This requires a roll of toilet paper and a

group that is waiting for introductions. The group leader

begins by announcing that, unfortunately, there is only one

roll of toilet paper here, so in fairness to all we will share

now. Then instructions are given to pass the roll around the

table/room and each person is to take what they think they will

need. When everyone has some, the leader then apologizes to the group

and says, “I’m sorry; I lied. There is actually lots of toilet paper available

but this is a way we will determine how many facts are to be shared by

Tools for Success

Facilitation Skills Guide 19 | P a g e

you about yourself, with the group. ONE for each section of paper taken!

” NOTE: Facts can be basic…age, birthday, favorite movie, etc. - and a

concern for those who took A LOT of paper.

Pictograph mingle: This is a good activity if the instructor does not know

the participants but the participants know each other. Draw five things on

the board that are important to you. For example: a dog, a book, a plane, a

smiley face, and a dog team. Get participants to ask you questions about

these five things to find out more about you. For example: I miss my dog. I

love to read. I arrived yesterday on a plane. I am happy to be here. I really

want to go for a dog sled ride. Give participants a blank piece of paper,

and get them to draw five pictographs representing things they want to

chat about, or things that are important to them at the moment.

Name game: This is an easy and fun activity to help participants get to

know one another’s names. Everyone sits in a circle. Each person says their

name and a favourite food that starts with the first letter of their name. The

first person starts and then the second person must repeat the first

person’s name and favourite food and then say theirs. The next person has

to repeat the first two people’s name and food and then say theirs, and so

on.

What’s in your wallet?: Ask people to look through

their wallets or purses and find three things that they

can use to introduce themselves to others in the group.

Allow 2-3 minutes for each person to share their items.

You can do this as a whole group or in small groups.

Excitement Sharing: People share something exciting that has happened

to them recently. Examples are: ‘I went cranberry picking last week’, 'My

friend from Smith came to visit', 'I've got a new job'. This creates a lot of

positive energy for the meeting and puts people more in touch with each

other's lives. You can use this instead of introductions when people

already know each other. Make sure people keep it brief.

Tools for Success

Facilitation Skills Guide 20 | P a g e

Warm-up activities/energizers

The magic wand: You have just found a magic wand that

allows you to change three things in your life. You can change

anything you want. What would you change? Ask participants to

discuss why it is important to make the change. This activity

helps participants to learn about others' desires and frustrations.

Finish the sentence: Go around the room and ask each to person

complete one of these sentences (or something similar):

▪ The best job I ever had was...

▪ The worst project I ever worked on was...

▪ The riskiest thing I ever did was...

This is a good technique for moving on to a new topic or subject. For

example, when you start a session and you want everyone to introduce

themselves, you can have them complete this sentence: "I am in this group

because..." You can also move on to a new subject by asking a leading

question. For example, if you are doing a workshop on time management,

you could ask participants to complete this sentence: "The one time I felt

most stressed because I did not have enough time was...”

Sock toss: The group stands in a circle. The leader throws a sock to

someone and calls his or her name. This person throws the sock to another

person and calls their name. This continues until the sock is back with the

leader. He or she sends it around again, but begins to introduce additional

socks, so there are lots of socks flying!

Have you ever: Ask participants to stand up if they have ever done

certain things. You can make up your own list or you can use the one

below:

▪ Have you ever sung karaoke?

▪ Have you ever been without a shower for more than 2 weeks?

Tools for Success

Facilitation Skills Guide 21 | P a g e

▪ Do you have both a brother and a sister?

▪ Have you ever ridden a horse?

▪ Have you broken a bone before?

▪ Have you ever had a close relative who lived to over 100?

▪ Have you ever been parachuting or done a bungee jump?

▪ Have you ever seen a polar bear?

I love my neighbor who: One person stands in the middle of a circle.

Everyone else is seated in a circle on chairs. The person in the middle says:

“I love my neighbor who wears glasses.” Everyone wearing glasses stands

up and changes places with someone else who wears glasses. The person

in the middle must try to sit down on one of the just emptied seats. The

person left without a seat becomes the next person in the middle and uses

something different to complete the statement “I love my neighbor who...”

You can also do this activity with paper. Make sure everyone is standing

on a piece of paper instead of sitting in a chair.

Change: This simple exercise makes people aware of the impact of change

and how they feel about it. Ask the participants to fold their arms. Then

ask them to fold their arms the other way round. Wait in silence for a few

moments before asking them to unfold their arms. Debrief by asking:

▪ How difficult was it to fold your arms the other way?

▪ What does it feel to have your arms folded the other way round?

▪ Did you have the urge to unfold and re-fold your arms again?

This is a great warm-up activity for goal setting or making changes in your

life.

Birthday line: Explain to the group that this is a nonverbal exercise. The

group is to form a single straight line, according to birthdays. For example,

persons with January birthdays will be at the beginning of the line, earliest

January dates first, followed in order by later dates. The line progresses by

Tools for Success

Facilitation Skills Guide 22 | P a g e

months and days with December birthdays at the end. Persons with the

same birthday share the same place in line. You must communicate

nonverbally (no lip-reading or spelling in the dirt allowed). When the line

is completed, each person will shout out his/her birthday, beginning in

January.

Line-up: Ask participants to line up according to age, birthday, height,

favourite fruit in alphabetical order, favourite colour in alphabetical order,

etc. The trick is―they have to do it without talking.

Rebel foot: This is a good exercise for self-awareness and

releasing tension in a session. Make sure that the members

of the group are sitting comfortably. Now ask them to lift

their right feet off the floor and make clockwise circles and,

while doing this, ask them to draw the number '6' in the air with their right

hands. Their feet will change direction and there's nothing they can do

about it!

Three animals: Ask participants to think of an animal. Now think of

another animal. Finally, think of a third animal. The three animals

represent, in the order you thought of them:

▪ What you would like to be.

▪ How you are perceived.

▪ How you really are.

Questions: A great way to get people talking is by asking

questions. You can go around the table or do this in groups.

▪ If you could have an endless supply of any food, what

would you get?

▪ If you were an animal, what would you be and why?

▪ What is one goal you’d like to accomplish during your lifetime?

▪ What’s your favorite thing to do in the summer?

Tools for Success

Facilitation Skills Guide 23 | P a g e

▪ If you could visit any place in the world, where would you choose to

go and why?

▪ What’s the ideal dream job for you?

▪ What are your favorite hobbies?

People poems: Ask the participants to use the letters in their names to

create a poem. Each line begins with the letters of their name in order.

They need only one word in each line. The words must tell something

about themselves—for example, something they like to do, or a personal

characteristic. When they have finished the poems, ask them to share their

poem with the other participants. Participants may use a dictionary to help

them find words. You can also make up community poems describing

your community, using the letters in the name of your community. This

can also be used as an introductory activity.

For example: Catherine might write...

Carefree

Athletic

Tall

Humorous

Energetic

Red-haired

Intelligent

Nervous

Envious

Continuum: Ask participants to line up on a continuum. Give them topics

like: spicy food, sports, sewing, or animals. Ask them to line up depending

on their like or dislike of the topic.

Tools for Success

Facilitation Skills Guide 24 | P a g e

Person, bear, gun: This game is similar to Rock―Paper―Scissors.

Divide the group into two equal lines of people facing each other. There

are three possible “characters” the group can assume.

▪ Bear―growl with claws barred.

▪ Person―a “he man” stance with grunt.

▪ Gun―hunter with gun and shout “bang.”

Person wins over gun. Gun wins over bear. Bear wins over person.

Each group huddles together and decides (as a group) which of the three

they will represent and then they form a line facing the other team. On the

signal from the leader, the two groups face each other and act out their

part. This is a really fun and engaging warm-up activity. Do it a couple of

times, as the teams will need to try and outsmart each other.

I have never: Each person starts off with some candy. Going around the

circle, each person finishes the sentence "I have never..." Everyone who

HAS done what they have never done gives that person one of their

candies. This is a fun way to learn things you might otherwise not find out

about people. Some examples are:

▪ I have never gone ice fishing.

▪ I have never been to Calgary.

▪ I have never gone bungee jumping.

Top three: For a quick energizer, divide the participants into small

groups and ask them to come up with their top three of something and

have them rank the items in order of importance. It can be something

related to the meeting―such as the top three challenges they have at work,

or the top three gadgets they couldn't live without, or the top three foods

they look forward to during a specific holiday or season. At the end, ask

one person from each group to report the group’s list of three.

Tools for Success

Facilitation Skills Guide 25 | P a g e

Boop: Break the group into teams of three to four people. Give

each group a balloon. Tell them to keep the balloon up using

their hands. Next, their elbows, next their feet, next their heads,

and so on.

Counting in threes: Participants stand in a circle. They take turns to

count out loud around the circle. Every time a number is reached that

is a multiple of three or contains the digit 3 (3, 6, 9, 12, 13, 15, etc.) that

person must clap instead of saying the number out loud. If someone makes

a mistake, they drop out of the circle and the next person starts from

number one again.

Ranking: One person is asked to leave the room. The remaining

participants choose something to rank themselves on. This could be their

height, their hair colour or length, the month in which they have a

birthday, and so on. The participants line up according to the ranking

system they have secretly chosen and ask the person outside to come back

into the room. This person then has to guess how the participants have

been ranked.

Lap sitting: Everyone sits in a chair in a circle. The facilitator makes

several statements like: Move three chairs to the left if you are wearing

jeans. The people who are wearing jeans must move three chairs. If

someone is sitting in the seat, then they must sit on their lap. Other

statements you can say are:

▪ Move five chairs to the right if you are wearing red.

▪ Move two chairs to the left if you have a driver’s license.

▪ Move four chairs to the right if you drive a truck.

Tools for Success

Facilitation Skills Guide 26 | P a g e

Three animals: Think of an animal. Now think of another

animal. Finally, think of a third animal. The three animals

represent, in the order you thought of them:

▪ What you would like to be

▪ How you are perceived

▪ How you really are

Team building activities

Marooned: Divide the group into teams and tell them

that they are marooned on an island. Ask them: “What

five items would you have brought with you if you

knew there was a chance that you might be stranded?”

You can have them write their items on a flip chart and

discuss and defend their choices with the whole group.

This activity helps them to learn about others’ values and problem solving

styles and promotes teamwork.

Time capsule: This is a good exercise for practicing reaching consensus

and for team members to understand each others' values. Have each

member of the team list five items that they feel should be included in a

time capsule that will be opened by another civilization in five thousand

years' time. Each member of the team should then explain the reasons for

their choice. The team then reaches consensus on which five objects should

be included in the time capsule. Ask each team to write their final choice of

items on a flipchart and discuss and defend their choices with the whole

group. Then discuss the things you dislike and why.

Values discussion: Ask participants to find two people who are wearing

the same color as them. Have them find a spot where they can talk

together. Tell them they will be talking about some issues and you will

give them new topics every few minutes. Here are some samples:

▪ Talk about the most important thing you learned today.

Tools for Success

Facilitation Skills Guide 27 | P a g e

▪ What is something that few people know about you?

▪ What do you value in a friend?

▪ What do you want to be doing in five years?

▪ What is one goal you have for next year?

▪ What is a motto you try to live by?

▪ What is the greatest challenge you are facing?

▪ What do you like most about yourself?

▪ What do you value most in life?

▪ If you won a lottery ticket and had a million dollars, what would

you do with it?

▪ If you could transport yourself anywhere instantly, where would

you go and why?

▪ In your opinion, which animal is the best (or most beautiful) and

why?

Skilled hand exercise: Hand out paper and pens. Ask everyone to draw

around their hands and to write something they do well into each of the

fingers. Split into pairs. Take turns discussing things you do well and how

you acquired those skills. This exercise not only helps people find out

more about each other, but also develops people's confidence.

Duct tape project: Ask learners to work in pairs of two to three people.

Give each group a roll of duct tape and ask them to create something. Give

participants at least 20 minutes.

Follow the leader: Everyone gets in a line and puts their hands on the

shoulders of the person in front of them. Everyone except the first person

in line closes their eyes. The first person who is the leader leads everyone

around, and the group has to communicate and work as a team to avoid

obstacles.

Tools for Success

Facilitation Skills Guide 28 | P a g e

In common: Break participants into groups of three to four. Give groups

about three minutes to come up with one word that describes something

they all have in common. Tell them to write this word down on flipchart

paper. Now give each group 10 minutes to decorate their paper. Ask each

group to present their word and art work to the other groups.

Team building: Break participants into groups of three to four. Give each

group an assortment of material (lego, paper, scissors, glue, tissue paper,

pipe cleaners, etc.). Ask them to build the tallest building they can. Give

them 20 minutes or so to work on the project. The group with the tallest

building wins.

Dice Games

You will need two sets of dice for all these games.

Count to 100: You will need at least eight people for this

game and an even amount of players. Everyone stands in

a circle and finds a partner across from them.

▪ Choose two participants to start rolling the dice.

▪ If a person gets doubles they run into the middle of the circle with

their partner and start clapping and counting to 100.

▪ When another person rolls doubles, they run in to the middle with

their partner and starting clapping and counting. And the first pair

must go back to the outside circle and continue to shake the dice.

▪ There should only be one pair of people in the circle counting at a

time.

▪ When a pair gets to go again, they start off at the number they left

off at. So if they were able to count to 10 their first time in the circle,

then they start off at 11 when they get doubles again.

▪ The first pair to get to 100 wins!

▪ Give a small prize to the winning pair.

Tools for Success

Facilitation Skills Guide 29 | P a g e

Dice Charades: You will need at least eight people for this game and an

even amount of players. Everyone stands in a circle and finds a partner

across from them.

▪ You will need to come up with at least 30 slips of paper with

pictures or words/phrases that pairs will act out. If you are doing a

workshop on nutrition, you can use nutrition related pictures or

phrases like “Cooking in the kitchen” or “Eating and apple.”

▪ Choose two participants to start rolling the dice.

▪ If a person gets doubles they run into the middle of the circle with

their partner and they pick a piece of paper and act out the picture

or phrase. If their partner gets it they put the slip of paper in their

pocket and then grab another one. If another person rolls doubles

before their partner guesses correctly, then they pass the paper to the

next person and their partner guesses.

▪ This goes on until all the slips of paper are gone.

▪ Pairs add up their slips of paper and the pair with the most wins.

▪ Give a small prize to the winning pair.

Interactive games

Scrabble: Divide the members of a group evenly, if possible, to have

groups of 3 – 5 people. Then each member donates the first and last letters

of both their first and last name:

For example: MarY WhitE would donate MYWE

The group must create as many words as possible using the letters that

they have in their pile and record them using pencil and paper. The group

with the most words created is the winner.

Bingo: Ask participants to choose a theme, such as literacy, home, school,

children, etc. Give each participant a Bingo Card or ask them to make their

own. Ask participants to call out 16 words related to that theme, one word

at a time—for example, kitchen, garden, etc. Write each word on the board

or a flipchart. At the same time, ask each participant to write the word in

Tools for Success

Facilitation Skills Guide 30 | P a g e

any of the boxes. Call out the words at random. The first participant to get

a straight line and call out “Bingo!” is the winner. You can use this game

for any topic.

Alphabet scavenger hunt: Divide participants into groups of three or

four. They must use all 26 letters of the alphabet for the scavenger hunt. In

their groups, participants try to find something in the room that they can

see that begins with each letter of the alphabet. They need only one thing

for each letter. The first group to find things for all 26 letters reads out their

words. If the words are all okay, this group is the winner. If any are not

okay, the game continues until another group finishes.

Crazy word chains: Ask participants to sit in a circle. Have them clap a

slow rhythm. The first participant says any word to the time of the rhythm.

The next participant must then say a word that begins with the last letter

of the previous word.

For example:

APPLE . . . ELEPHANT . . . TOY. . . YELL. . . LOON . . . NIGHT

The game starts over when a participant misses a turn or says a wrong

word.

Scattergories: Divide the participants into groups of three to four. Ask

participants to call out 10 different categories of objects—for example,

river, food, car, girls’ name, animal, country, etc. The more categories you

have, the longer each game will be. Write the categories on the board or a

flipchart paper. Ask one of the participants to choose a letter of the

alphabet—for example, ‘m’. When the facilitator says “go” all the groups

have to try to write down an example for each category beginning with

that letter. You can also have decided on the categories beforehand and

give groups a handout with all the categories listed. Look at the example

below:

Tools for Success

Facilitation Skills Guide 31 | P a g e