Facilitating the Design of a Campus Leadership Team

Abstract

This essay describes how we facilitated the design of a campus leadership team. What is particularly interesting about this consultative project is that both authors participated—one as facilitator and the other as participant. The facilitation included a needs assessment prior to the event, the use of structured controversy techniques, decision-making strategies, and a focus on dialogue rather than information dissemination throughout the event. We detail the challenges and opportunities we encountered, the facilitation procedures utilized, and the outcomes achieved. Finally, we address how instructional communication theory and strategies framed and informed this facilitative work.

Keywords:

• Instructional Communication
• Facilitation
• Decision-Making
• Structured Controversy
• Teamwork

Acknowledgements

They would like to thank the client and the participants of this retreat for making this facilitation experience possible.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Renee A. Meyers

Renee A. Meyers (Ph.D., University of Illinois, 1987) is a professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee

John R. Johnson

John R. Johnson (University of Denver, 1978) is a professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee