General Tips

• Assume good intent. Remind others of this simple trick.
• Role model the behavior you wish others to use.
• Practice and encourage active listening/reading.
• Be as explicit as possible in your communication.
• Don't automatically assume understanding -- ask for clarification as needed.
• Build trust by doing what you say you will do. Encourage others to do the same.
• Trust is slow to be granted, easily taken away. Encourage an environment that values trust.
• Use irony and humor with care as it does not always come across online as you might have intended. You can always use emoticons to clarify! ;-)
• Think before you hit the button and a post goes up.
• Approach every contribution with curiosity, expecting surprise and wonder . . .

Process Facilitation Tips

• Make rules, expectations or norms consistent, explicit and clear.
• Provide orientation materials and paths for all new members.
• Remember not everyone thinks or perceives the way you do. Seek to understand participants' styles and needs.
• Provide ongoing (and often repeated) guidance on "what goes where" in any interaction space.
• Use recognizable names or pseudonyms (for chat and such)
• Encourage the use of personal profiles to build relationships.
• Consider cultural differences of participants .
• Help members take ownership of the interaction space.
• Use small group activities to build relationships and "get acquainted."
• Respond to all first-time participants. Welcome people by name.
• Acknowledge and reciprocate participation.
• Reply to messages that get no other recognition. Even if it is a "treading water reply."
• Use questions to encourage participation.
• Use (open-ended) questions to encourage participation. (move beyond yes/no)
• Stimulate input with positive private emails to individuals.
• Notice if someone is "missing" for long periods of time. Email them and invite them back.
• Let others know when you will be offline for extended periods of time.
• Nurture others to help host and facilitate the group.
• Encourage people to mentor and assist each other. Recognize mentors.
• Draw out the quiet members.
• Help focus the chatters.
• Don't fan the flames (or the flamers!) (see difficult situations below).
• Ask members for feedback. What is working for them? What is not? What is missing?
• Respect copyright and confidentiality. Do not repost other's postings or emails without explicit permission.
• Tip for when working in email from Sue Canney Davison: When you are technologically chalenged with incredibly tight deadlines, things are moving fast with little effective communication, write the time and the day/date of your e mail above the 'Dear so and so'so people easily understand the sequencing and when it is out of sync.

Facilitation Tips for Task-Oriented Groups

• Make purpose and task VERY clear/visible/explicit.
• Post timelines and reminders.
• Agree on process issues up front. Address as needed on an on-going basis.
• Make roles and responsibilities clear and visible.
• Use email as appropriate for notification.
• Summarize and/or index conversations of value to make them accessible to the group.
• Monitor member activity with available tools to gauge participation and alter your facilitation strategy accordingly.
• When activity levels drop, evaluate to ensure you have compelling reasons for participation: real work, learning, shared tasks, personal or professional development.
• Let divergent processes flow free. Channel convergent processes.

Tips for Dealing with Difficult Situations

• Don't be intimidated by challenges. They are learning opportunities for everyone when handled with grace.
• Help bring learning out of friction or "creative abrasion."
• Help people understand how they come across if others are having difficulty with them. Consider doing this offline or privately.
• Avoid "one-upmanship" and point-by-point defenses which usually only escalate problems.
• Use back channel email to resolve problems unless the issue involves a larger group.
• Use your administration tools (i.e., deleting posts) lightly and carefully.
• Don't assume a lack of response means dissent or assent. Seek explicit responses.

Structural & Content Tips

• Provide great links, resources and relevant, stimulating content to foster interaction.
• Label topic and conference items clearly
• Frame topic openers clearly and demonstrate the goal or purpose of the topic or thread.
• Take into account participation from different time zones.
• Explore the use of color and images as communication and facilitation tools.
• Keep "conversations" in their most logical place -- social chat in social spaces, content or action specific interaction in their own spaces or topics.
• Look for participation patterns and changes in conversations.
• Open new topics to support new threads as needed.
• Observe the rhythm of topics and close old topics as they grow dormant.
• Consider time-delimited events or topics to foster activity.
• Keep the online space free from "garbage" such as duplicate posts, or disallowed content (ie. pornograpy, advertising or whatever your group norms dictate.)
• Don't pile too much into one post. Break it up into small paragraphs or multiple posts, especially if you are dealing with more than one point or topic.
• Don't obsess about typos. Life is too short.

One for the Road...

• Facilitation is the combination of knowledge and practice. So practice, practice, practice.
• Read between the lines.
• Seek to be fair.
• Have fun.
• Use common sense.
• When all else fails, ask and listen. Again. Again.