1. Facilitating Rent Rite Classes
Amy Greer

2. Agenda for Facilitating Rent Rite Sessions: 10/19/16
By the end of today’s meeting, we will have an understanding of the tools we can use in Rent Rite sessions so that we can facilitate an effective learning experience for our participants.
Today’s agenda:
10:00-10:05 - Introduction and housekeeping
10:05-10:20 - Orientation to this session, agenda, goals, & ground rules
10:20-11:20 - Learning some facilitation techniques
11:20-11:30 - Q&A and session feedback

3. Stating Desired Outcomes for Each Session: “What will we walk out with
Products:
A list of
A plan for
A decision on
An agreement on
Knowledge:
An awareness of ___ so that we can ___
An understanding of ___ so that we can __________
Helping people see ahead of time that the process you are leading them through will actually lead them somewhere helpful.
*Techniques from Interaction Associates, Inc - Essential Facilitation

4. Setting a Classroom Agreement or Ground Rules
Listen actively
Speak from your own experience
Don’t be afraid to respectfully challenge each other through questions, though make sure to focus on ideas and not level personal attacks
Participate to the fullest of your ability
Instead of invalidating someone else’s story with your own spin, share your own experience while understanding that multiple realities are possible
Goal is not always to agree but to gain a deeper understanding
Be aware and conscious of your body language and the messages you are sending
There are no stupid questions. If you are wondering, someone else is, too
Understanding the sensitivity of the topics you are asking people to discuss
Recognizing that there are many kinds of discrimination in housing - some people’s previous rental experiences may be very different from others
Creating space for the lived experience differences

5. 2016 West Houston Leadership Institute.
Everyone walks into a space with a worldview and lifeworld that impact their assumptions/perceptions
Everyone has bruises - sensitive points that cause them to react more quickly and bigger
One person’s worldview might challenge another person’s - navigating difference, refer back to ground rules, and using the upcoming tools

6. Prevention Tools - Getting People Right in the Space
Desired Outcomes for the session - help them see why today matters
Agenda for the session - help them see where they will be headed today and when; ask for any needed clarification and get agreement
Roles - help them see who is influencing their experience, your role as a facilitator and their role as full participants
Ground Rules - create and then continue to remind participants of the rules you agreed on; help them see how you will go about your work together
*Techniques from Interaction Associates, Inc - Essential Facilitation
“I would like to make sure we can all agree on how we are going to work together and where are planning to go together today…”

7. Techniques for Listening as an Ally
Bracket - Setting aside your own advocacy, argument, POV, or judgment and become curious about the speaker’s POV
Reflect - confirm understanding by repeating the speaker’s exact words
Paraphrase - Rephrase using your own words to confirm the speaker’s meaning
Perception Check - Deepen your ability to support and empathize by check out “your belief” about what the speaker feels or thinks
Open-Ended Questions - Probe for further information by asking a question that requires more than a 1 or 2 word answer
Body Language - Increase comfort level of the speaker by using your body - eyes, torso, arms - in a way that is congruent with your words
*Techniques from Interaction Associates, Inc - Essential Facilitation

8. Exercise: Listening as an Ally (Approx 15 minutes)
Choose one of the following and fill in the blanks:
Right now, I am feeling pretty _________, and I really wonder ____________.
I want to tell you about (name of person). I often feel __________ about him/her.
I think one of the biggest problems in the world is ____________. I think people who don’t pay attention to this problem are _____________.

9. Interventions - When s*%t gets real
Boomerang - Returning the question to the group
Regain Focus - “Just a moment, one person at a time”
Ask/Say What’s Going On - Naming something that isn’t working and getting it out in the open
Enforce Ground Rules - Roll back to what you agreed on at the beginning of the session
*Techniques from Interaction Associates, Inc - Essential Facilitation
Purpose of these tools is to:
Hear what people are saying
Have individuals take responsibility for their own behavior
Move toward a successful outcome
Regain focus - if people are having side bar conversations or talking over each other in a nonproductive way
Ask/Say - when you send something is off in the room and you can identify it. I sense people are frustrated. Or, It is very silent in here. What does the silence mean? If you name it, it can be addressed. If it goes unnamed, it goes unaddressed and assumptions are allowed to stand.
Accept/Legit/Defer - how to help mediate the person who pulls the group off course. Restate the person’s beef and say - that is okay. You may be right. Would you be willing to hang in there through this segment and see what happens? Or ask, I hear your concern. Would it be okay if I write in the “Parking Lot” and we address it at the end of the session?

10. Interventions - When s*%t gets real, cont.
Accept/Legitimize/Defer - Acknowledging someone so they feel heard, but not allowing it to detract from the work
Use Body Language - open palms, open stance, standing up/sitting down
Use Humor (*my personal favorite, when appropriate)
*Techniques from Interaction Associates, Inc - Essential Facilitation

11. Putting Intervention Tools into Action (10 minutes - time permitting)

12. Class Evaluation Tools
Plus/Delta
What worked? (+) What could be changed/improved ?
Tool to build continuous improvement
Minute Papers
Half-sheet of paper handed out or online survey
2-4 questions
Tool to understand if and what students are learning
Have you used other tools?

13. Minute Paper Sample Questions
What are one or two most significant meaningful or surprising things you have learned during this session?
During today’s class, what idea(s) struck you as things you could put into practice as a renter/tenant?
What relationship did you see between the topics discussed in today’s session and your previous rental experiences?
What question(s) are you left with after today's class session?
Is there anything you did not understand?

14. Minute Paper
What lingering questions do you have from today’s session?
Is there anything you did not understand?
What is one tool/skill/idea do you think you could implement right away?

15. Q&A