From many to one-and back. An exploration of some components of facilitation

This paper examines whether and how the precepts and practices of facilitator-led group decision support (FL-GDS) can be applied to situations in which a consultant works with a single client. This ‘1-1’ perspective is used to drive an analysis of the role of facilitation in both GDS and single client situations. A model of facilitation which identifies three elements of practice-the management of process, P, the management of content, C, and the injection of substantive expertise, S, is introduced. The paper aims to demonstrate that this model has value in enhancing our understanding of facilitation in both FL-GDS and 1-1 situations.