Step 3 - Handbook
A step by step guide for the facilitator

CONTENT CREDIT
Satu Rekonen
LOGO CREDIT
Joel Meneses
GRAPHICS & LAYOUT
George Atanassov
The Noun ProjectThis document was lastmodified by George Atanassovon
01 Dec 2015 @ 09:41

HOW TO SCHEDULE THE SESSION
An example of a seven-member team
Length of the session between ca. 2h 20min. to 2h 55min

PART I - INTRO: 10 -15 min.
•Welcome the participants and lay down the rules•Explain why we are here•

Warm-up round•

Explain the process•Hand out the forms

PART II - WRITING: 35-40 min.
•Instructions for writing the feedback•

Providing the time for participants to write the feedback (two forms: about myteammates, about our team)PART III - SHARING: 30-35 min.
•“Like”s round I: Sharing the individual-level “like”s
BREAK: 5 minutes

PART III - SHARING continues: 40-50 min.
•“Wish”es round I: Sharing the individual-level “wish”es (30-35 min.)•“Wish”es round II: Sharing the team-level “wish”es (10-15 min.)2015 ILIKEIWISH.ORG

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HOW TO SCHEDULE THE SESSIONPART III - SHARING continues: 10-15 min.
•“Like”s round I: Sharing the team-level “like”sPART IV: REFLECTION: 10-15 min.
•Promises and feelings
NOTE:The length of the session depends on how active the team is and on how
easily it gets to a deeper-level of discussion and reflection. The longer or more
intensively the team has been working together, the more they usually haveto discuss and share and more time should be reserved for the session.

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SATU.REKONEN@AALTO.FIFACILITATOR’S CHECKLIST

1. Welcome & rules

Ilike7. “Like”s round I

Tip: Make people feel welcome andcomfortable. Ask participants to turnoff their phones and be present both
physically and mentally during the session.

Everyone will share their “like”s’
to one person at a time. Continue
until all individual “like”s’ havebeen shared.

2. Why are we here?

8. Break

Tip: “So we are putting timeand effort on right things, bothindividually and as a team.”

If you like, have a short brake.
Make sure everybody will be backon time.

3. Warm-up round
Tip: Ask everyone to tell few words aboutthemselves and what are their feelings
regarding the session. Write down
people’s names on “Facilitator’s namelist”.

4. Explain the how
Tip: The session has three parts:
writing, sharing and reflection.
Only one talks at a time.

5. Hand out the forms

Iwish

9. “Wish”es round I
Everyone will share their “wish”es to
one person at a time. Continue until all
personal “wish”es have been shared.

IwishIlike

10. “Wish”es round II
Everyone will share their teamlevel “wish”es. Continue until all“wish”es have been shared.

11. “Like”s round II

1. Notes About My Teammates
2. Notes About Our Team
3. Notes About Me

Everyone will share their teamlevel “like”s. Continue until all“like”s are shared.

6. Que the music

12. Promises & feelings

If you have some nice relaxing
music now is a good time to play it.

Everyone will share their feelings
regarding the session and choose things
they will try to make an impovement to.

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SATU.REKONEN@AALTO.FIFACILITATOR’S NAME LIST

NB! Ideally you will sit in a circle
If you need you can add more people. This works for eight + one facilitator. Write thenames of the participants so you don’t forget them.

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PART I - INTRO
1. Welcome the participants and lay down the rules•Make the participants feel welcome, let everyone to choose their place and allow sometime for settling down. Ensure that the atmosphere is calm and everyone is present
both mentally and physically before starting the session.

•Ask the participants to turn their mobile phones on mute and express a wish thatneither mobile phones nor laptops would be used during the session (this applies also
to the facilitator). It is important the whole team would be as present as possible during
the session.

•Tell the participants that everything discussed during the session is confidential andwill stay between the participants and the facilitator.

2. Explain why we are here

1
“Innovative projects call for individual and collective creativity,
which requires an atmosphere where team members feel safe to share
their ideas, thoughts and doubts related to the project.”
The level of participation in a team depends on how freely people
can and are willing to share their unique information and point ofviews.

2“Without feedback people might not know whether they are doingthings right or doing the right things”
The risk is that the team’s behavior starts to build on assumptions. If
these assumptions are never spoken aloud, efforts may be focusedand energy spent on things that never existed in the first place.
Except in one’s own mind.
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PART I - INTRO

3“Although recognized as important, putting aside some time andeffort to systematically provide feedback among the team is easily
neglected.”That is why supporting structures, such as these facilitated feedback
sessions that force the team to take the time to concentrate on teamissues are needed.

3. Warm-up round•

It is a good idea to let the participants say something before they start writing theirfeedback. For example, ask everyone to say few words about themselves / their day/ their week, and what are their feelings regarding the session. Some people may
have doubts and fears regarding the sessions and it is important to let them out atthe beginning. The facilitator should just thank for the shared feelings and not start
defending in case some more negative feelings are brought up. Being nervous about
the forthcoming session is very normal.

•If not known in beforehand, write down the names of the participants to “Facilitator’sname list”. It is important to call people by their names in order to make the session
more casual.

4. Explain how the session will proceed•

The session will consist of three sections: writing the feedback, sharing the feedbackand reflection. Most time should be used for sharing the feedback.

•First, the participants will write feedback to all team members present (form: aboutmy teammates) as well as to the whole team (form: about our team).
NOTE:The forms will be used only to assist sharing the feedback; these forms will
not be shared to teammates.

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PART I - INTRO•

After the writing-part each of them will provide and receive both positive andconstructive individual-level feedback as well as provide both positive andconstructive team-level feedback. How this will be done, will be explained when theteam is starting to share the feedback.

•The session will end in reflecting on the feedback received, which is why writing down
notes (form: notes about me) during the session is recommendable.

5. Hand out the forms•

Hand out the forms (three forms: about my teammate, about our team and notes
about me) that you printed in Step 2. Provide also pens and writing-tablets to theparticipants.

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PART II - WRITING
6. Give the following tips for writing the feedback•

Everyone will start writing their “like”s and “wish”es for each member present as well
as for the whole team (forms: about my teammate and about our team).
NOTE:If some team member is missing from the session, the members present
will not write nor share feedback regarding her/him. It is important thatthe feedback is shared and discussed openly and only regarding the people
present.

•“Like”s refer to the strengths seen in a team member / team / oneself where as “wish”esrefer to the potential seen in a team member / team / oneself that has not yet been
fully utilized. “Wish”es are at least as important as the “like”s as they are the ones that
help us to develop.

•Offer a few examples on what kind of feedback could be written.
EXAMPLES:“I like that you listen to everyone’s point of views so carefully and take into
account how others are feeling.”“I wish that you would share your own ideas more courageously, I’m sure wewould benefit from them.”•Tell the participants about how much they have time to write the feedback and callwhen they still have half of the time left for writing and again 5 minutes before thetime is up.
EXAMPLE:

Spend approximately 5 minutes per person to write the individual-level
feedback. Spend another 5 minutes to write the team-level feedback.
Thus if there are five participants then everyone will be writing the feedback
to four team members, which gives 20 minutes plus 5 minutes for the teamlevel feedback, resulting in approximately 25 minutes altogether.

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PART II - WRITING•Tell the participants to lay their pens down on the paper once they are ready withwriting the feedback. However, ask everyone to stay quiet until everyone is done sothat no one will feel rushed.

7. If possible play some background music•

Experience shows that people feel more comfortable writing the feedback when there
is music played on the background. It seems, that it is easier for the participants to diveinto writing the feedback when music is playing on the background.

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PART III - SHARING
ROLE OF THE FACILITATOR
The most important role of the facilitator is to make sharing feedback among the teameasier for its members. The facilitator is the one providing the frame inside where theteam feels safe to share their thoughts on how the team is doing. S/he needs to ensure
the session is proceeding as it should and everyone is behaving accordingly. During thesharing –part the facilitator should stay neutral and on the background and be sure
not to share his/her own opinions or point of views, regarding the team members, theteam, or the feedback provided.

8. Sharing the “like”s for the team members•Start with the “I like” –round. Now everyone will share their “like”s always for the sameone person at the time.
EXAMPLE:

Everyone will share their positive feedback to Nick first and then move on
clockwise to Sarah etc.
•Instruct the participants to provide the feedback directly to the person in question bylooking at him / her and asking them to provide the feedback in the form “I like thatyou”, to make it more personal and informal. Sometimes, the participants start to lookat the facilitator while providing the feedback. If so, the facilitator can gently direct theone who is providing the feedback by showing example and looking at the person towhom the feedback is meant to.

•Remind about the form notes about me, to where people may write down the feedback
they receive. It might make listening the feedback easier to some people as they can at
the same time do something else as well.

•After each “I like” –round, give the person who received the positive feedback an
opportunity for an “I feel” moment: if desired, s/he can comment on and share his/herthoughts about the feedback received and compare it with what s/he sees as his/herown strengths. Note that, this should only take place after everyone else has shared
their positive feedback. The “I like” –round should not be interrupted in any point.

GOOD TIME FOR A SHORT BREAK

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PART III - SHARING
9. Sharing the “wish”es for the team members•

It is a good idea to remind the participants to share their constructive feedbackby always starting with “I wish”. This ensures that the feedback will be given in aconstructive way, which is the goal. Remind again about the form notes about me, towhere people may write down the feedback they receive.

•The “I wish” round will proceed the same way as did the “I like” round: Everyone will
share their “wish”es for one person at the time. You might want to change the orderin which the feedback is shared so that the same persons are not always the first ones
to receive or provide feedback. If you were moving clockwise during the “I like” round,
now change to move counterclockwise with the “wish”es.

•It is especially important with the constructive feedback to give an opportunity forpossible clarifications and ensuring that the person receiving the feedback understoodit the way it was meant to. Hence, again give everyone an opportunity for an “I feel”-moment: the person who received the constructive feedback can comment on or
share his/her thoughts, ensure s/he understood what was said and compare thefeedback received with the potentials s/he recognized in her/himself. Note that, thisshould only take place after everyone has shared their constructive feedback. The “Iwish” round should not be interrupted in any point.

10. Sharing the “wish”es about the whole team•After sharing the individual-level “like”s and “wish”es, it is time for sharing the “wish”es
about the whole team (form: about our team). Now, the team-level “wish”es will beshared one person at a time.

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PART III - SHARING
11. Sharing the “like”s about the whole team•

It is important to end the sharing part with positive feedback. After each member hasreceived and provided both positive and constructive individual-level feedback andshared their team-level “wish”es, it is time to share the team-level “like”s.

•Now, everyone will have the possibility to share their “I like”s about the whole team(form: about our team).

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PART IV - REFLECTION
12. Promises and “I feel”s•

The last part of the session is to give everyone an opportunity to share their feelings
regarding the session and to give a minute to reflection the “wish”es they received
from their team members as well as the “wish”es provided for the whole team.
THE ONE WHO IS READY FIRST CAN START SHARING THE
FOLLOWING THREE THINGS

1
Choose one thing from the constructive feedback received fromtheir team members as the main target for development.

2
Choose one thing from the wishes shared for the whole team thatyou will try to affect and make an improvement to.

3
Reflect on the session. How did it feel? What kind of ideas andthoughts did it bring up?

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