In this article we discuss the process of group facilitation. We have identified three steps .
First the facilitator takes in what is going on, both inside themselves and in the group. Second, the facilitator makes sense of this. Third, the facilitator does something to help the group, i.e. makes an intervention of some sort.
The initial step of taking in is more complicated than appears at first sight. The second step is making sense of what has been taken in, using whatever theories and models are available to the facilitator. The third step is choosing when and how to intervene, again using appropriate theories and models. In practice the sequence is cyclical in form (after any intervention you take in its effects and the cycle continues) but is often haphazard in its order (at any moment you may be intervening, taking in and making sense all at the same time). For descriptive purposes and to get a clear picture of what a facilitator actually does in a group, we find the three-step model serves a useful purpose.