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The identifying assumptions and conclusions part is often tricky and considered the hardest in the Civil Service Examination. Assumptions are the unstated information needed to be valid for the conclusion to hold true. On the other hand, conclusions are made based on the assumptions given, so conclusion needs to agree with the given assumptions.

I will help the team to understand the purpose of this exercise and how this is going to shape the future course of action for our organisation. I will also take this opportunity to think the team big and beyond what they have been doing. Since this is professional discussion, we need to be ready for constructive creticism which need not be taken as personal cricism.

I would tell my planning team to set aside their personal interests. I would also tell them to be open, and should not fear anyone when discussing.

To start with, I will ask the participants to set the house rules for the session and will be followed by an expectation check. Expectation check will allow us to level off our expectations and be able to move forward. I will inform the participants of the flow the session and encourage them to actively participate. More importantly, I will be tell that this is a safe space and they are encourage to speak their minds, to question or even challenge ideas in a respectful manner.

Being a facilitator, firstly I will orient the planning team about all this by sharing the agenda along with a single pager document. In which I will try to communicate the purpose of the planning sessions and support require from each participant to achieve the greater good for the organization, so that I become enable and buy their interest and also prepare them mentally ahead of the commencement of planning meeting sessions practically. Later on, at the onset of the meeting, a ice-breaking session will be scheduled in which the possible aspects of discussions, talks, arguments (that will happen with the facilitator and others participants) will be communicated to them so that they keep high the tolerance level with intellectual capacity at their best and contribute with impartiality and unbiasedly. With this, I will try to design each session in such a way that before starting of each session a short introduction should be communicated so that before starting of every new session the participants will prepare themselves, develop their comfort for the discussion and make up their minds for the disagreements and hot arguments.

Instead of saying and giving instruction from my side as a facilitator, I would rather facilitate ground rules of the discussion that include respecting each other ideas and providing constructive feedbacks/ counter argument instead of blaming or attacking each other.

I would say to the team that it's important to think in terms of the entire team/programme/organisation. Ultimately being able to define what success means at a higher programme or organisation level will be a step forward for individual roles as well, clarifying misconceptions among team members about what the purpose of their role is, and hopefully in some ways actually making some jobs easier.

Two strategies to creat a conducive atmospher for the diffucult conversation will be,

1. Brief on the content of the discussion items to expand thier expectations.
2. Facilitate to set ground rules for the whole process time, by the participants so that all perispective would be respected by participants.

Two things to mention,

1. Aware the participants that the expectation during the discussion process is very high or wide and mention the say " the sky is the limit" and all ideas must be respected, if anything comes out of focus the raised ideas can be parked in place prepared for that purpose to consider the ideas in future discussion.
2. I will facilitate to produce all agreed ground rule by which the team shall be governed.

I will say in a good way, with respect and honesty, I wanted to help to achieved the outcomes.

BY LISTENING MORE AND GIVE FEED BACKS AS AT WHEN NECESSARY. WE WILL ALSO BE VERY ENGAGING

As facilitator of the Theory of Change Process, I would thank everyone for agreeing to be part of the process and remind them of the why the exercise is important to the work that we are currently engaged in and the vision of the organization as a whole. I would also let them know that the exercise would be difficult but necessary if we will attain our vision. I would lastly encourage them to put the vision of the organization at the heart of the discussion as the intention of the exercise is not be make a few people look bad but to refine the work that we do and maximize the impact we are creating, which each member of the team contributes to.

I will say this process is about to develop the organization, so conversation must be honest and realistic as well as respect each other. This is nothing to do with personal. I would like to get your trust that you all will follow my lead if great disagreements rise. Everybody can talk what they want to talk related to this matter but it has to be in framework.

I will welcome everyone to the meeting and explain how delighted I am to facilitate this very important process.
I will explain how importance of this session to the organization and everyone of us and then encourage everyone to be committed to the process. I will explain that in the process of facilitating the session, we will need to have very difficult discussions, however I encourage everyone of them to see every bit of the process as very necessary to lead us to our goal and therefore encourage everyone to be open minded

First, i would invite the Theory of Change planning team to the meeting. After they arrived and are seated, i would welcome them and explain to them the nitty gritties of the meeting. Some of the things i would specifically do include the following;

1. encourage each and everyone to be open and ready for this difficult task ahead
2. make it clear that all contributions are valid and subject to dicussion
3. i would also make it clear that everyone must be open and frank about what we will be talking about, because this affected both the project and the beneficiaries at large
4. lasty, i would suggest secret voting (in instances which call for very very sensitive decisions being made) in case some team members still won't feel safe and job secure...

First, i would invite the Theory of Change planning team to the meeting. After they arrived and are seated, i would welcome them and explain to them the nitty gritties of the meeting. Some of the things i would specifically do include the following;

1. encourage each and everyone to be open and ready for this difficult task ahead
2. make it clear that all contributions are valid and subject to dicussion
3. i would also make it clear that everyone must be open and frank about what we will be talking about, because this affected both the project and the beneficiaries at large
4. lasty, i would suggest secret voting (in instances which call for very very sensitive decisions being made) in case some team members still won't feel safe and job secure...

@bobbybatatina said in Module 3: Setting the Tone:

The identifying assumptions and conclusions part is often tricky and considered the hardest in the Civil Service Examination. Assumptions are the unstated information needed to be valid for the conclusion to hold true. On the other hand, conclusions are made based on the assumptions given, so conclusion needs to agree with the given assumptions.

true. the weaker the assumptions the weaker the conclusions, and vice versa...

once an environment is safe, people become free to talk about anything concerning the project

I think it's crucial to set expectations, as described here, and also to explicitly set ground rules that give people the confidence that this is a safe space. It's always a good workshop exercise to let the participants define their own ground rules i.e. what will encourage them to speak up comfortably - but do keep your own "cheat sheet" of critical rules, ready to add if any are missing. For example, listening openly to each person, without interruption (except if needed by a timekeeper!).

I would asked them to note down their concept in the meta-card and put together their ideas and provide the open platform to discuss on the topics to bring concrete theme.

As part of the ground rules, I will request every participant to put aside individual interest and focus on the common interest; the big picture which is to succeed as a program and meet the needs of our donors and beneficiaries. i would also request we consider ourselves as equals and acknowledge and respect one anothers opinion

Great thoughts.

I really think to create a safe space for communication as a facilitator is to also try to let the participant know that every contribution is important and you are gathered to brainstorm and not a teacher standing to teach.

First is prepare the team to expect some of the inputs in the planning that may not correlate with the strategic goal of the project and accept to do better in the planning session

A story I found really powerful was Nelson Mandela story (27 years in jail). It made me feel positive about life that whatever challenges one goes through - through dedication, handwork and keeping ones focus - its possible to achieve ones dreams ."