Facilitation - Scrum

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Facilitation
Lead people and teams toward agreed-upon objectives
Home The Professional Scrum Competencies Facilitation
What is Facilitation?
Facilitation can be used to lead people toward agreed-upon objectives in a manner that
encourages participation, ownership and creativity by all involved. A well-facilitated
session can unlock collective intelligence and play an important role in providing
opportunities for people to progress and succeed. Good facilitation enables transparency
and collaboration, creates synergy and leads to achieving a collective objective.
A facilitator plays an important role in helping people to understand and achieve their
shared goals and objectives. They do this while remaining neutral and impartial.
Facilitators enable a purposeful and participative environment in which people feel safe
to engage, learn and collaborate. They encourage people to explore different
perspectives, harness diversity and leverage collective wisdom.
Facilitation Principles
The Scrum Values are at the heart of a Professional Scrum Team, guiding them in their
work, actions and behavior. Complementary to the Scrum Values are the facilitation
principles of participatory, healthy, transparency, process and purposeful. Falling back
on these core principles can help facilitators work with teams to achieve objectives
collaboratively in different situations. These principles can also help facilitators decide
which facilitation skills and techniques might be appropriate and useful. This holds true
not only when creating an energetic environment where the team is engaged and
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2/5/23, 5:54 PM Facilitation | Scrum.org
focused on achieving the objective together, but also when interactions do not go as
expected.
Participatory - Core to effective facilitation is full participation and

engagement, which enables shared responsibility in a team
Healthy - A safe environment means creating a healthy space where people

feel safe to raise differences and even conflicting perspectives while
respectfully learning from each other
Transparency - Transparency only exists when there is shared understanding
Process - Facilitation should enable a team to progress toward the desired

objective of the interaction in a way that is collaborative, inclusive and
leverages diverse perspectives
Purposeful - Well-facilitated sessions should have a clear objective that

everyone is aligned with and works toward
Skills and Traits of a Facilitator

Facilitators can come from many backgrounds and have varying levels of experience.
Great facilitators, however, demonstrate the following skills and traits:
Active Listening: A facilitator has the ability to listen actively, and focus completely on
what is said and what is not said. They lead by example, inspiring participants to both
fully express themselves and engage in active listening when others are speaking.
Encouraging Curiosity: A facilitator encourages curiosity and different viewpoints.

They are skilled in asking powerful, often open-ended questions, in order to stimulate
reflection and discussion.
Problem Solving: A facilitator is skilled at applying group problem-solving techniques.

They can help a group define a problem, reframe it as a clear problem statement and
encourage the group to consider a range of solutions to the problem.
Resolving Conflict: A facilitator recognizes that conflict among group members is

natural and, as long as it’s expressed appropriately, does not need to be suppressed.
Conflict should be expected and dealt with constructively and respectfully.
Using a Participative Style: A facilitator encourages all participants to actively engage

and contribute in activities and discussions, depending on their individual comfort levels.
This includes creating a safe and comfortable atmosphere, in which group members are
willing to share their thoughts and ideas.
Encouraging Openness: A facilitator encourages the group to be open to other

people’s ideas, suggestions and perspectives.
Empathizing and Showing Compassion: A facilitator is understanding, aware and

respectful of the feelings, perspectives or actions of others.
Demonstrating Leadership: A facilitator leads a group of people to reach their

collective goals and objectives.
Building Consensus: A facilitator is skilled in helping groups to achieve general

agreement.
Managing Time Effectively: A facilitator keeps things on course while allowing

flexibility. They focus on achieving the outcome within a timeframe instead of a strict
agenda. Overly restrictive time management can stifle good, purposeful conversations
and reflection, whereas a lack of time management can limit focus and progress.
Setting Objectives: A facilitator communicates the purpose of a meeting in a clear and

concise manner. This can be done by setting a strong overarching objective (often done
in collaboration with the team) instead of focusing on a strict agenda.
Communicating Adequately: A facilitator communicates effectively, using clear and

concise language.
Being Organized: Facilitation does not start or end with the act of facilitating a group
of people. It includes preparation and following-up on decisions that were made.
Why is Facilitation Beneficial for Scrum Teams?
Open and respectful communication will help a Scrum Team thrive as a self-managing
team. While members on a Scrum Team should talk to each other whenever they need
to, Scrum assures communication points for the team in the Scrum events. Every event
has a specific purpose and the team benefits from having these events facilitated with
the desired outcome in mind.
Any person on the Scrum Team can facilitate the Scrum events. For example, Sprint
Planning is more effective and exploratory when someone on the team, acting as an
objective facilitator, knows how to frame problems to understand how Product Backlog
Items may be valuable for customers. A Developer may be a great person to do that,
given their familiarity with the product.
Often, Scrum events don’t go as planned. Good, lightweight facilitation can help the
Scrum Teams get back on track. For example, if the Scrum Master observes that the
team continually uses the Daily Scrum as a status update instead of an inspection of
progress toward the Sprint Goal, then the Scrum Master could help team members to
focus by reminding them of the purpose of the event. This will encourage team
members to shift their focus from tasks to how they can collaborate toward achieving
the Sprint Goal.
Taking on a facilitator stance is also valuable for a Product Owner, especially at the
Sprint Review when the Scrum Team and stakeholders inspect progress toward the
Product Goal, gather stakeholder feedback and adapt the Product Backlog accordingly.
When done well, the Product Owner and Developers can learn and hear different
opinions from the stakeholders. When not done as well, the Product Owner risks
anchoring or limiting the information gathered, reducing the effectiveness of the Sprint
Review.
Learn more about facilitation techniques for Scrum events
Learn about facilitating diverse perspectives in Scrum Teams
Explore more blogs and resources about facilitation from Scrum.org
Other Resources About Facilitation

Here are more resources on facilitation techniques and to help you develop the skill of
facilitation:
International Association of Facilitators - The International Association of Facilitators

(IAF) is an international participatory organization that provides accreditation,
community, and education on the power of facilitation.
Liberating Structures - Liberating Structures are microstructures that enhance
relational coordination and foster lively participation in groups, making it possible to
include everyone.
Tasty Cupcakes - A community-run website with different games, techniques and
approaches for facilitation
Training from the Back of the Room - Training based on brain science principles
Bikablo - Visualizing Dialogue and Thinking
SeriousWork - Facilitator techniques around practice-based learning
Professional Scrum Facilitation Skills Training

This skills-building course, participants will learn how to become better facilitators to
improve interactions with their Scrum Teams, stakeholders and customers. They will
focus on how to adopt facilitation as a stance and enable the Scrum Values. Students
will address a series of common Scrum-related scenarios by applying several facilitation
techniques that they can add to their collection of agile practices. They will create and
leave with their own facilitation “plan” to improve their next team discussion or Scrum
event.
Learn more about Professional Scrum Facilitation Skills Training
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2/5/23, 5:54 PM Facilitation | Scrum.

Home The Professional Scrum Competencies Facilitation

Participatory - Core to effective facilitation is full participation and

Healthy - A safe environment means creating a healthy space where people

Transparency - Transparency only exists when there is shared understanding

Process - Facilitation should enable a team to progress toward the desired

Purposeful - Well-facilitated sessions should have a clear objective that

Skills and Traits of a Facilitator

Encouraging Curiosity: A facilitator encourages curiosity and different viewpoints.

Problem Solving: A facilitator is skilled at applying group problem-solving techniques.

Resolving Conflict: A facilitator recognizes that conflict among group members is

Using a Participative Style: A facilitator encourages all participants to actively engage

Encouraging Openness: A facilitator encourages the group to be open to other

Empathizing and Showing Compassion: A facilitator is understanding, aware and

Demonstrating Leadership: A facilitator leads a group of people to reach their

Building Consensus: A facilitator is skilled in helping groups to achieve general

Managing Time Effectively: A facilitator keeps things on course while allowing

Setting Objectives: A facilitator communicates the purpose of a meeting in a clear and

Communicating Adequately: A facilitator communicates effectively, using clear and

Why is Facilitation Beneficial for Scrum Teams?

Learn more about facilitation techniques for Scrum events

Learn about facilitating diverse perspectives in Scrum Teams

Explore more blogs and resources about facilitation from Scrum.org

Other Resources About Facilitation

International Association of Facilitators - The International Association of Facilitators

Professional Scrum Facilitation Skills Training

Learn more about Professional Scrum Facilitation Skills Training

Find a Trainer or Request a Private Class

The Scrum Guide

2023 Scrum.org. All Rights Reserved.

Contact Privacy Terms of Service TM and © Guidelines

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