Facilitative Leadership in Social Work Practice - Springer Publishing

One: What Is the Role of the Facilitative Leader?
make it much easier on everyone if others in the meeting are doing the
same things and help out by pointing out when it looks like it’s time for a
decision and action plan. Shouting, “I think we’ve got it!” always seems
to work well. See Chapter 8 for some alternatives to shouting when the
moment arrives.
Knowing Where the Group Is in Its
Problem-Solving Process
This is a bit tricky because, although the group does have a mind of its
own that is greater than the sum of the minds in the group (that’s an
assumption that can be proven wrong on occasion), the group is still made
up of individuals who process things at different speeds and quantities.
Understanding the concept of “critical mass”—when you have enough
of whatever you need to move on—is a practiced skill. Also understanding
when the group has reached an impasse and cannot move forward is
critical for the facilitative leader. Knowing how to intervene is even more
important (Chapter 9).
Performing as the Facilitative Leader
We realize that all of these attributes of the facilitative leader can seem a
bit daunting. That is especially true when you take into account that most
of us are rarely comfortable in front of groups taking leadership roles. And
most of us are rather reluctant to intervene when someone else is trying to
lead. However, isn’t that part of why you became a social worker: helping
people to overcome barriers that oppress them, to actualize their goals,
and to have better lives? We’ve just taken those principles and applied
them to your work in groups.
There are times in a group process when the facilitative leader
will have to emphasize one of the parts (leader or facilitator) over the
other. The group process has stalled. There is plenty of content in the
room, but not much action. That may be a good time for the facilitative
leader to put away her stake in the group issues and just facilitate.
And there will be other times when process is way out of control and
someone needs to firmly take the reins of the group and pull it along
for awhile. Even then, the role is never too much leader or too much
facilitator. Synergy is about the balance of the roles and the focus of the
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