How to moderate effectively

CONTENT

I.Introduction

II. The Moderator
1. What does a moderator need to know ?
1.1. Communicational skills a moderator needs
1.1.1. Active Listening
1.1.2. The technique of questioning
1.1.3. The flash technique
1.1.4. The feedback technique
1.2. The emotional and affective side of information
1.3. What does a moderator do ?

III. How to plan the moderation
1. What are the criteria for the discussion members ?
1.1. Building a group
1.2. Characteristics of a good discussion group
1.3. Rules
2. What is necessary for the technical preparation
2.1. Location
2.2. The use of visual aids

IV. The moderating process and the moderating cycle
1. How to lead the group through the introduction
2. How to lead the group through the working process
2.1.Collecting
2.2.Choosing
2.3.Working
2.4.Planning future steps
2.5.Psycholochical tasks of the moderator during these processes
3. How to dismiss the group

V. Conclusion

VI. References

VII. Bibliography

I. Introduction

Today´s growing industry requires more and more communicative skills. Especially in companies which are receiving such an complexity, that decisions without a leaded group discussion are becoming impossible. It is necessary to hold conferences because they are increasing the motivation and the ability to work as a team. Working out problems as a team is also more convincing for the affected group.

Conferences require a leader, a moderator, who should not be the highest person of the company, but a specialist for methods and processes.¹ (J. Seifert 1995, p. 18) His task is it, effectively to lead the group through a conference or discussion. As a moderator he has to have a knowledge about methods of leading a group as well as knowledge how to lead the group on the basis of emotions. The work of the moderator is successful if all of the group members are satisfied with the result of the conference.

The main task of the moderator, is it to use and activate the Know-How and skills of the group members. He has to include every single member and every single opinion, which is the hardest part of moderating a group. For that reason it is reasonable necessary to have a well skilled moderator in order to have a effective and successive conference.

In this dissertation I will describe the tasks of a moderator, how he has to prepare for a moderation, which scientific methods are important, how to handle conflicts within a group and also about setting rules in a conference in order to make it successive and satisfactory for everybody.

The dissertation is written to get a clear picture of how to moderate effectively a conference, by explaining and visualising what a moderator is, what his tasks are, how he has to lead a conference as well as what he can learn from conferences

II. The Moderator

The moderator is the person, who leads a group through a discussion, in order to get an effective solution, which satisfies all affected people. He is the one who gets the members back to the subject when they got lost in a discussion. He can be a member of the project group as well as a neutral person. The moderator is not a specialist who once studied his subject, but more one who gets more and more knowledge by the number of hold moderation.

1. What does a moderator need to know?

Certainly as a moderator he has to have communicational skills as well as psychological skills in order to lead a conference. For finding a satisfactory solution and to get all members involved he has to have the skills I will explain in the following paragraphs.

1.1. Communicational skills a moderator needs

In order to moderate a group effectively the moderator has to have communicational skills, as well as special techniques for moderating. He has to be able to use non- verbal communication in a positive way as well as handling his intonation. He should not present to the group but leading the group, which means that he should not be speaking more than 15-20% of the overall discussion, and having the ability to listen to the group members.

It is important for the moderator to show that he is certain about what he is doing. He has to let go of his own daily dialogs and problems in order to be concentrated on the task as well giving a certain and friendly impression. This is real important because “you never have a second chance to make a good first impression”(A. Thiele. 2000 p.76)² When a moderator is giving the group the feeling that he can not be trusted or he is uncertain, he will not be able to lead the group to a result. Trust can be build through holding eye-contact and having friendly and open gestures

1.1.1. Active Listening

Most important for a moderator is to listen actively. Schulz v. Thun said that he has to listen on three levels. First of all he has to make clear to the group members that

he is listening by showing them his attention. Secondly he should listen on a content level, by summarising what was said to make sure that he as well as everybody else understood. The last point is to listen on an emotional level, which means that the moderator has to verbalise his assumptions about the feeling the speaking person has. The result of active listing is, that the moderator gets a better overview of the

opinions after he put himself in the members shoes³. (Schulz v. Thun 2000, p. 70 ff.)

Another point of importance is that the group members get a feeling that the moderator is interested in the subject and in every single opinion, which motivated them to work effectively.

1.1.2. The technique of questioning

This technique is the most important instrument for a moderator. By using it effectively he can lead the group through the discussion in an organised way. He can use questions in a visualised way where the group members can just add their answers on a flip chart for example. Another way is to use verbal questions, to get the discussion started. If the moderator is questioned by the group members it is preferable to ask the other group members back, in order to include every member and every opinion.

1.1.3. The flash-technique

The use of the technique is good to summarise at a certain point of discussion, and to get information about the point of views and feeling within the group at this point. It also can be used in two different ways, visual and verbal. A good method for the visual flash is the usage if the MODERATIO-Board. The moderator is visualising the question and the members are asked to stick answers on the board with card the moderator handed out before. It is important for the verbal flash, that every group member is just asked to give a short statement, for not ending up in a discussion.

The flash technique can be used at any time of the discussion, when the moderator thinks it is necessary to see the different points of view.

1.1.4. Technique of feedback

Feedback is used when an information for one member or more is necessary, because his/her behaviour is affecting the moderation process negatively. This can be the case when somebody is whispering, reading other things, is sleeping or

leaving constantly the room. The other group members are asked to express their feelings about the behaviour of the member, which should point out his disturbtion and to settle or even remove it.

1.2. The emotional and affective side of an information

At every moment humans are communicating with one another they are communicating in two different ways simultaneously. On the one hand they are saying something about what they are just discussing, on the other hand they are always saying something about themselves and the others.

For that reason also a moderator always has to act on two levels, on the emotional and the affective level. The affective side is showing the content of the subjects talked about and the emotional side is showing how the person himself is feeling and/or how to see the relationship to the affected person.

Josef W. Seifert invented a model of an iceberg showing those two levels. The seen part of the iceberg is the affective or open side, while the part which is hidden underneath the water is the emotional side of an information.

The often heard phrase “stay with the facts” is actually impossible, because it is suggesting not to act emotionally. This is not possible in real life. The emotional side of an information is always shown through gestures and intonation so that it is not possible not to communicate on a emotional basis as well as on a affective basis.

Communicative Iceberg

illustration not visible in this excerpt

[...]

¹ Josef W. Seifert. (1995). Gruppenprozesse steuern

² Thiele,A. 2000. Die Kunst zu überzeugen

³ Van Thun, S. 2000. Miteinander Reden

⁴ Josef W. Seifert. (1995). Gruppenprozesse steuern