Each group will rotate facilitation or select a permanent facilitator, who will be responsible for seeing to it that every proposer has an opportunity to present his/her ideas briefly and get a response from every other member of the group. This procedure will serve several purposes. First, it will keep the group focused. If every participant knows that s/he will have an opportunity to speak and be heard as well as to listen and respond to everything presented in every meeting. They will be more likely to stay interested and focused much more of the time. People tend to space out much less when they know that they will soon be speaking and that they will get a response to what they say.

It’s necessary for the facilitator to make sure that every possible contribution to each proposal is offered and understood. Another important focus will be to minimize distractions and keep everyone on topic. Facilitators will be prepared to prevent or curtail rambling and negativity. The facilitators will be responsible at all times for keeping argumentative debate minimal and encouraging product-oriented open-minded attentive discussion.

The facilitator will try to limit the average time that each participant actually speaks in free discussion periods at each meeting to approximately ten minutes. S/he will see to it that everyone enters the interaction, that people don’t interrupt each other, and that discussion stays on topic. The enforcement of time limits will be done entirely by the facilitator. When clarification is requested, facilitators will review or summarize the comments made and verify their summary with the speaker who made the original input.

If group members are dissatisfied with their facilitator, the problems that arise will be discussed and hopefully resolved in the group. The facilitator will be replaced, if that’s what a majority of the group decides to do. The facilitator being replaced will have the option to do additional training, after which he or she will be available to a new compatible group.

Participants who have difficulty adjusting to other members of their group or to their facilitator will have the option to transfer to another group or to start a group of their own. They might prefer to create some other format, or to simply participate in to the Solution Exchange without a group.

If there aren’t enough trained facilitators to accommodate all of the groups that want to engage in the project, any of the group’s members can do the online training and become the facilitator.

Training to Facilitate

Candidates to become facilitators will be self-selected, but they will be required to read the instruction materials and to post their questions in online facilitation workshops. In this way, their questions can be answered and their instruction can be individualized to some extent. They will also be asked to answer some questions that indicate that the material read has been absorbed and understood. Anyone willing to undertake this online training will be encouraged.

They will be required to do a good deal of reading about the format for the group meetings, facilitation methods, conflict resolution, negotiation procedures, and dialogue as differentiated from debate. Facilitation trainees will also be asked to read materials that describe the issues involved in the problem areas each has chosen to work with.

Any member of an ongoing group may decide to do the training and become available to facilitate. Those who are unable to successfully complete the required facilitation training will be invited to become participants in a group. The names and self-descriptions of facilitators who have successfully completed the training and are available will be listed online for groups needing to replace their facilitator or for individuals wanting to start a new group. Groups will have the option to rotate facilitation among as many of their members as are willing to be trained.

People approved to facilitate a group will be asked to specify the problem area they choose to work with. Eventually, they will be assigned to a group with similar focus. If they facilitate a “face-to-face” meeting, they will need to announce a place for each meeting, which could either be a participant’s private home or a public space that is relatively private and quiet. Facilitators will be asked to write a brief statement describing themselves for potential members to see when they consider which group to join.