April 10, 2006

Dear Facilitators:

Thank you so much for taking on this important task for our public health survey!

With this letter, you will receive an Excel spreadsheet of suggested participants for your group.  We have included all the groups, so you can see who else might be contacted by another group.  These names are only suggestions.  Depending on availability and capability, you may need to substitute names or sectors.  Perhaps if a contact can not participate, they could suggest someone else who would be a good replacement. 

Your resource person has all the supplies for the sessions and will bring them to the agreed upon place.  They are also an excellent resource to help you come up with additional names for your group, and to help you contact your group facilitators.

Please complete your group sessions by May 26, 2006.

Some of you were interested in helpful tips.  Here is what was suggested at our Saturday session:

• The room set up should invite conversation.  You may want an extra chair to move around for yourself.
• An initial warm-up can be to go around the group and get a mini introduction from each participant.
• Include “wallflowers”
• Move around the room—an auctioneer technique was suggested
• Collect all disparate perspectives
• Remember that much of this is a view of Martha’s Vineyard public health from 30,000 feet.
• Find an ally in your group and trust them to give you clues as to timing etc.
• Remain flexible
• Involve the group, or someone in the group to keep the group on task.
• Use phrases like:  “I think…” or “I hear…”
• Block out more time than you think you will need.
• Some facilitators like to use an easel and large pad of paper to keep track of issues.  Your recorder is a resource and will help with this function, as well as summarizing quick points if helpful.
• The “Parking Lot” technique allows ideas to be heard even when they are not in a helpful sequence.
• Remember:  A system is a cobweb
• Silence is not always agreement.  Check in with less verbal participants.

The group may want to establish ground rules.  Here are a few that were suggested:

• Explain that everyone needs to be heard and ask that participants be respectful of each other.
• Everyone needs to be a good listener.
• Be non-judgmental.  There are NO bad ideas.
• This is not a debate.  We want to have a conversation.
• Don’t interrupt.
• Everyone is an expert
• Sometimes people need to slow down.
• ? Raise hands to be recognized to control the tendency of some to dominate.

Thanks again for your participation! –Ilene, Chuck, Chris, Matt, and Susan