Sequencing

Usually if a lot of people are taking part in a discussion, there are a lot of differing perspectives on the issues. When this happens, everyone approaches the topic from their own point of view and their own frame of reference. The facilitator’s challenge is to help people value one another’s contributions.

Sometimes facilitators have a tendency to cut people off if they appear to be off topic. However, deciding what is off topic and what will eventually help the group understand one another better is not easy to discern.

What can a facilitator do? The simplest and most straightforward technique is sequencing. With this technique, the facilitator validates each perspective and then directs a group to focus on each line of thought in sequence, one at a time. This is very similar to queuing or stacking, except with points of view rather than speakers being stacked.