Facilitating with Ease! Core Skills for Facilitators, Team Leaders and Members, Managers, Consultants, and Trainers, 3rd Edition

Chapter Seven

Facilitating Conflict

Dealing with conflict is a fact of every facilitator’s life. Consider the following scenario: you’re facilitating an important meeting. Everything is going along great until you hit the third agenda item. Suddenly two members start arguing. Listening goes out the window, as each person pushes his or her ideas. The rest of the group becomes uncomfortable as the two combatants become ever more emotional. The discussion spins in circles. What do you do now?

For starters remember that differences of opinion are a normal part of any human interaction, so relax. The fact that people are arguing does not mean that you’re doing a poor job. It is, however, a call to action. As facilitators, we need to intervene to restore ...