1

HOWIGOTSTARTEDINFACILITATION

Im
TomRomito
,a
facilitator
inCleveland,Ohio.IbecameafacilitatorwhenIrealizedthat
whatotherpeoplehavetosayismoreimportantthanwhatIhavetosay.IdiscoveredthatI
enjoyedandwasgoodatgettingthemtodothat.HereshowIgotstarted.

In1991,IwasacivilianemployeeoftheNinthCoastGuardDistrictHeadquartersinCleveland,
Ohio.IadministeredaprogramcalledtheU.S.CoastGuardAuxiliary,whichisanorganization
ofvolunteerswhoassisttheCoastGuardontheGreatLakesbyeducatingrecreationalboatersin
safeboating.Thatyear,theNinthDistrictdecidedtoholdthefirstannualconferenceof
CommandingOfficersandOfficersinChargeofCoastGuardunitsthroughouttheGreatLakes.
Thisconferencerequiredacadreoffacilitatorstomanageinputfromthepeopleattendingthe
conferences.TheNinthDistrictsoughtoutpeopleontheClevelandstafftotakeonthejobof
servingasfacilitators,inadditiontotheirregularduties.Iwasoneoftenpeoplewhoaccepted
thechallenge.

Inthesummerof1991,Ispenttwoweeksin
Washington,D.C.undergoingtrainingfrom
OrganizationalDynamics,Inc.,aBostonbased
consultingfirm.ThereIlearnedthemechanicsof
facilitatingQualityActionTeams.WhenIreturned
toCleveland,theChiefofOperationsfortheNinth
District,gotusnewlymintedfacilitatorstogether
andplannedourroleforthefirstOfficersinCharge
conference,whichtookplaceatahotelin
Lakewood,Ohiothefollowingwinter.

About100CoastGuardmenandwomenattendedtheconference.Weassembledtheminteams
oftenpeoplethatrepresentedmixedgroupsofthevariouskindsofCoastGuardsearchand
rescuestations,aidstonavigationteams,andvessels.Fortunately,Ihadalreadyworkedforthe

BuildingCapacityinYourOrganization
2015TomRomito,Facilitator,Cleveland,OH44109USA
Email:
thomasmromito@gmail.com
Web:
http://www.tomromito.com

CoastGuardforfiveyears,andIknewthejargonthatCoastGuardpeopleused.Then
we
gatheredinputfromthesegroupsusingquestionswehaddesignedtolearntheirconcerns
about
thesupporttheirunitsweregettingfromtheNinthDistrictstaff.ThisishowIlearnedto
conduct
focusgroups
.IfacilitatedmanyotherworkgroupsduringmytenurewiththeCoast
Guard,includinghumanrelationscouncils,civilianemployeemeetings,andmeetingsat
conferencesoftheCoastGuardAuxiliary.

IknewIhaddiscoveredmytruenichewhenoneofmyCoastGuardcolleaguessaidtome,
Whenyouarefacilitating,youareinyourelement.Itjustseemedsonaturalformetostandin
frontofgroupsofpeople,bringforthwhattheywerethinking,andorganizeitonflipchartpaper
beforetheirveryeyes.AnotherpersonwhowatchedmedomythingsaidheunderstoodwhatI
wasdoing.Thisishowhedescribedit:Hesaid,Yougetthemtohandtheirbrainstoyou.
Thenyoureorganizetheirthoughtsandhandtheirbrainsbacktothem.

BythetimeIretiredfromtheFederalServicein2004,Ihadalreadybegunfacilitating
workgroupsinGreaterCleveland.IwasinsomeofthesegroupsandInoticedthattheyneeded
facilitationto
managegroupinput,reachconsensus,andmakedecisions
.Itwaseasyformeto
establishmyselfasthefacilitatorofthesegroupsandhelpthembecomemoreeffective.Heres
anexample.

OntheshoreofLakeErieinCleveland,thereare
manmadeextensionsoftheshorelinejuttingoutinto
thelakecalledContainedDisposalFacilities.They
aredumpsitesfordredgingfromtheCuyahogaRiver.
By2000,oneofthem,calledDike14,wasfullof
dredgeandbecomingovergrownwithvegetation.
Manyconservationgroupsralliedaroundthecauseof
preservingthissitefromfurtherdumpingor
development.Thesegroupsformedaninformal
committeeandmetregularlytodiscussastrategy.
Theyweretotally
unorganizedandunfocused
.I
offeredtofacilitatethemandgotthemto
achieve
consensusonwhattheywantedtodo
.Theywere
amazedthatIgotsuchalargeanddiversegroupof
peopletoagreeonanything!

In2005,Idecidedto
specializeinhelpingnonprofit
organizationsdostrategicplanningandteambuilding
.
BuildingCapacityinYourOrganization
2015TomRomito,Facilitator,Cleveland,OH44109USA
Email:
thomasmromito@gmail.com
Web:
http://www.tomromito.com

Ibegantelemarketingmyselftofindopportunitiestofacilitate,andmanycametomebywordof
mouthorreferrals.Inordertolearnmoreaboutthesesubjects,Idelvedintotwobooks,
StrategicPlanningforNonprofitOrganizationsbyMichaelAllisonandJudeKayeandThe
FifthDisciplineHandbookbyPeterSenge.

Ifinetunedmystyleoffacilitatingworkgroupsanddevelopedmodelsfor
conductingastrategic
planningprocessandteambuilding
.Duringtheperiod20052014,Iconductedeightstrategic
planningprocessesandmanyteambuildingworkshopswithvariousorganizations.

MostgroupsthatIhavefacilitatedhavenevercomebacktomeforfollowupsessions.Thats
probablyanopportunityIcouldpursue.However,onegroup,BrooklynCentreNaturalists,has
comebacktomeforsixconsecutiveyears.Everyyear,theywanttoupdatethestrategicplanI
helpedthemdevelopin2008.Itsalwaysfuntoreengagethembecausetheyknowtheyrein
foralotofworkwhentheyseemecomingwithmyflipcharts,andtheyalwaysrespond
enthusiastically.Thisisagroupthatsonthemove!Ilovethattheyalwayssay,Wecant
believeyougotustoagreeonanything!

Mymostintrinsicallyrewardingworkhappened
in2014whenIconductedastrategicplanning
processfortheStockyardClarkFulton
BrooklynCentreCommunityDevelopment
Office(CDO).MeganMeister,thenprogram
directorfortheCDO,andGloriaFerris,
chairpersonfortheCommunityAdvisory
Council(CAC),askedmetohelpthemfocus
theireffortsinordertolearnwhattheresidents
needinorderto
improvethequalityoflife
in
thiscommunity.Overthecourseof12months,
Iconductedtwofourhourworkshopswiththe
CDOstaffandCAC,two
externalfocusgroups
,
anda
surveyoftheresidents
.Ialsodraftedthe
strategicplanbasedonallofthisinput.IamsoproudofthisworkbecauseIamaresidentof
thiscommunityandlookforwardtotheoutcomeitwillhave.

WhatIwouldlikereadersofthisblogstorytoknowisthatIhaveofferedalmostallofmywork
asafacilitatoronaprobonobasis.Atthepromptingofmyfamilyandclosefriends,Iamgoing
tochangethis.Ihaveengagedanexpertinsocialintelligencenamed
BetseyMerke
ltohelpme
marketmyselfasaprofessional.Iplantocontinuethiswonderfulworkinthefuture!
BuildingCapacityinYourOrganization
2015TomRomito,Facilitator,Cleveland,OH44109USA
Email:
thomasmromito@gmail.com
Web:
http://www.tomromito.com