"This manual has been written for the trained facilitator. It is designed to reinforce concepts and techniques learned in training of facilitators and trainers in participatory group processes. It is the rare individual who could simply study the manual and apply it. A great deal of practice and exp ... erience is needed before most of us become accomplished facilitators. If you are a trained facilitator and wish to use the methods and techniques outlined herein with a group of like-minded people who wish to experiment, you should have no problem. On the other hand, if you are going to use it with an external group who are not particularly familiar with participatory techniques, a good deal of discussion and planning is required. Above all, it is important for the professional facilitator to deeply understand the objectives of a group event. If you detect that top management has a particular agenda in mind and merely wants to transmit it to employees, or to manipulate their staff to a point of view for some unspoken reason, professional facilitators must explain that their job is not to manipulate, that VIPP methods involve true participation and that ulterior motives will become transparent in the process. It is better not to start a participatory process if those responsible are not prepared to accept a different outcome than they expect." (How to use this manual, page ix) more