Additional Praise for The Skilled Facilitator
“Practical, credible, insightful, and relevant, the newest edition of The Skilled Facilitator is sure to find a special place on your bookshelf. Roger presents the most current practices that are both steeped in theory and immediately applicable.”
—Elaine Biech, author of Training and Development for Dummies, and editor of 101 Ways to Make Learning Active Beyond the Classroom
“The third edition of The Skilled Facilitator is a winner. The mutual learning approach builds in transparency and integrity in conflict resolution processes, its integration with the team effectiveness model makes this the preferred approach for team interventions. This is the stuff that organizational TRUST is built on. It will continue to be my go-to resource in my work as an organizational ombudsman and coach.”
—Thomas P. Zgambo, former World Bank Group ombudsman and former President of The Ombudsman Association (now the International Ombudsman Association)
“Roger Schwarz smartly updates his classic text on facilitation, taking into account contemporary brain research and framing his approach in terms of the proper, ‘mutual learning’ mindset for working with groups effectively. Schwarz offers a system that will help professionals in the field become trusting, trusted, and—with practice—terrific facilitators.”
—Ed Frauenheim, Director of Research and Content at Great Place to Work, and coauthor of Good Company: Business Success in the Worthiness Era
“The expanded, revised edition provides new, innovative approaches and insights not only to professional facilitators but also to those who want to use facilitation skills to be effective leaders, consultants, or coaches. Roger makes facilitation skills and techniques understandable and usable. These skills are particularly important in labor-management relations and other settings in which leaders must generate commitment rather than compliance and where mutual understanding is critical to productive relationships.”
—Robert Tobias, former president, National Treasury Employees Union, and professor of public administration, American University
“In an increasingly demanding business setting, the ability to adapt quickly is critical. Skilled facilitation is a key competence to making change happen. This insightful and practical book offers all those involved with facilitation tools they can use. By using these tools, they will help their organization win in changing markets.”
—Dave Ulrich, Rensis Likert Professor, Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, Partner, the RBL Group
“Roger Schwarz's third edition of The Skilled Facilitator is a must-read for anyone who is responsible for facilitating team meetings, leading group discussions, or conducting training sessions. His insights and practical tips for managing group process and group dynamics are invaluable. Whether you are new to facilitation or a seasoned pro, Schwarz's techniques, models, and concrete examples will help you get better results with the groups you lead and manage.”
—Karen Lawson, PhD, president, Lawson Consulting Group, Inc., and author of The Trainer's Handbook, 4th edition
“The Skilled Facilitator continues to be an outstanding resource for both new and seasoned facilitators, managers, and organizational leaders as well as consultants and coaches. The additions and enhancements in the third edition, particularly the new chapter on facilitating virtual meetings, make this well-written book a must for anyone who works with face to face and/or virtual groups. Roger is an exceptional consultant and inspirational teacher who walks his talk.”
—Nadine Bell, Certified Professional Facilitator, past Chair of the International Association of Facilitators, inaugural inductee to the International Association of Facilitators Hall of Fame
“Roger's book is still the best text on group facilitation available in English. The third edition continues his thoughtful and completely useful guidance on facilitating group processes and has benefited from the ongoing dialogue he has shaped within the facilitation field. Readers will get the core skills and mindsets necessary for effective group facilitation and perhaps more importantly, will be cautioned against the multitude of missteps that can sabotage the best intentions. His precision with language led to a number of changes in the new edition that clarify and simplify descriptions of the key facilitative rules and the applications of facilitation in coaching, training, and consultation.”
—Douglas Riddle, PhD, Senior Fellow, Center for Creative Leadership
“At the heart of the Skilled Facilitator approach is the premise that how you think is how you facilitate—or consult, coach, train, or mediate. No matter our profession, Roger's book offers us all practical and useful information for making any human interaction more effective and successful. After reading The Skilled Facilitator, I found myself listing all the ways I could immediately use Roger's six-step mutual learning approach, eight behaviors of mutual learning, and especially the content from ‘Diagnosing and Intervening on Emotions (the Group's and Yours).’ The Skilled Facilitator is an outstanding reference book that I will come back to again and again. I am glad I have it on my trainer's bookshelf!”
—Sharon L. Bowman, author of Training from the BACK of the Room and The Ten-Minute Trainer!
Praise for the Second Edition
“Everyone wants to be a facilitator: consultants, managers, even teachers. What is desperately needed is a common, practical reference for understanding facilitation in diverse professional settings. No one has done a better job than Roger Schwarz of synthesizing the major theoretical underpinnings and translating them into clear, usable guidelines for practitioners.”
—Peter M. Senge, author of The Fifth Discipline
“I recommend this book with enthusiasm to professionals in all fields, to consultants, graduate students, and thoughtful managers. Schwarz has done an excellent job of integrating social science theories with valuable advice. He makes both come alive with rich, excellent examples.”
—Chris Argyris, James Bryant Conant Professor, emeritus, Harvard University, and author of Knowledge for Action
“Roger Schwarz has written the perfect book to transform mediators into skilled facilitators. It is all here: the theory, the practical suggestions, the guidelines, the analysis of groups. The only thing better than this book is the book and the workshop.”
—Zena D. Zumeta, president, Mediation Training & Consultation Institute/The Collaborative Workplace
“As a new entry to the facilitation field, I wanted to find out what the industry thought was the best resource for combining theory with the practices of facilitation. I submitted my request to the largest online discussion forum for active, professional facilitators. Roger Schwarz's book The Skilled Facilitator was by far the favorite choice of people in the profession. I am ordering my copy now!”
—Malcolm Dell, former executive coordinator, Woodnet Development Council, Inc.
“People with group and team expertise often referred to Roger Schwarz's first edition of The Skilled Facilitator as ‘the facilitators' bible.‘ The enhanced, revised edition will easily retain that title. The millions who have to cope with ineffective meetings on a daily basis would be wise to quickly acquire and absorb the key points. Merely using the list of behavioral ground rules would so enhance the effectiveness of their meeting process that it would pay for the book many times over. Using the rest of the ideas in the book would generate significant bottom-line return through swifter, higher-quality, more easily implemented decisions at all levels of the organization.”
—Michael M. Beyerlein, director, Center for the Study of Work Teams, and professor of industrial/organizational psychology, University of North Texas
“The Skilled Facilitator has many good tips and practical suggestions to help everybody be a better facilitator, which is the task for all of us.”
—Peter Block, author of Flawless Consulting and Stewardship