Group Facilitation Reflection #1

My topic for group facilitation was conflict resolution. We started off by welcoming everyone back to our group session and then we explained our topic and stated why it was important. Sarah did a warm-up activity that involved asking members of the group to discuss a moment in their life where they had a conflict. Then another member in our group explained the expectations for the group and what we were planning on doing for the rest of the  session.  I think that our introduction went very smoothly.  After the introduction, I facilitated the first activity which was a conflict management style assessment. After the activity, I asked the group questions to help facilitate reflection and insight. I was adequately prepared for this activity and gave clear directions. I should have discussed more with the group about how to use conflict styles that were out of their comfort zones. In the future, I will try to discuss more specific strategies that people can use to change their behavior.  

 After the activity, we went around the room and had everyone share their specific conflict management style. By doing this, we got everyone involved in the discussion. I think everyone in our group did a great job participating by sharing their thoughts. Caroline facilitated Activity 2 and led the group discussion. Based on people’s responses, I think that the group did well processing the experience. The group members recognized positive ways that other people in the group dealt with conflict and they stated how they could personally work on their own conflict resolution skills. During the discussion, many group members compared other people’s styles to their own. This demonstrated that they could generalize the information. 

At the end, we had a brief review of what we did during the group and had each member say a positive thing about how they personally resolve conflicts. This helped inspire confidence in the group to improve upon these skills. The group was motivated to participate and contribute to the discussion. Some people in our group talked a lot more than other members, so I could work on allowing more time for people who don’t speak as much to contribute to the group. I could do this by waiting a little longer after asking a question before moving on to give the quieter people a chance to speak up. Our group did well at explaining the significance of our topic and relating it to everyday life; however, we could have used more concrete examples and self-disclosure. At the end we summed everything up within the time allotted for us and we emphasized the important points.  Overall, I had a wonderful experience facilitating this group.