The Three P's of Good Facilitation.

The "3Ps" is a common approach used for facilitating meetings and is useful as a checklist when planning and undertaking stakeholder engagement. The 3Ps stand for Purpose, People and Process, as summarised below.

Purpose (the what and the why)

It is important to ensure the purpose of any meeting is clarified as sometimes the purpose of a meeting can be unclear, or assumed. Questions to ask include:

• What do you expect the outcomes of this meeting to produce?
• What do you want to have as a produce, service or agreement by the close of the meeting?
• If this meeting was a success, what would that look like?
• What are the key questions the meeting helps to enquire?

People (the who)

Any meeting needs to the right people for it to succeed. A useful acronym is "ARE IN, which helps ensure the participants have the necessary: Authority, Resources, Expertise and Information, Need. Questions to consider about the attendees include:

For the Participants

• What do you know about the people coming? Do people know each other, how well are they already connected? Who are the newcomers?
• Does anyone have any specific needs or interests?
• What do participants need to prepare for the meeting?
• Do participants have a clear WIFM (What's In It for Me)?

For the Facilitator

• Have different approaches been included to allow for different preferences for engaging and learning?
• How will the group be managed to make it safe for everyone to participate?
• Are you aware of power issues?

Process (the how)

A good process is designed to provide everyone at the meeting a chance to engage meaningfully. Questions to consider can include:

• What has been done to make the event more engaging and interesting?
• Is variety built in to the process to keep energy of the group flowing and encourage involvement?
• What is the process, before, during and after the meeting? Is the flow of the meeting logical?
• Is the space adequate for conversations and reflection?

Summary

In summary, the 3Ps (People, Purpose and Process) serve as a handy check to ensure any engagement event is set up for success. Overall, it helps serve the group and the facilitator by providing a a flexible and simple framework for planning any meeting.

Reference: Adapted from IAP2 Facilitation Process Essentials and the NZ Government Policy Project: https://dpmc.govt.nz/sites/default/files/2020-10/policy-project-community-engagement-design-tool.pdf