Contributed by Betsy Kosier, MA JD
President/Owner of Interaction Alliance
Connecting People, Process & Purpose
A dictionary will tell you that the word facilitate is a verb that means to make things easier, facilitation is the act of making things easier, and a facilitator is someone who has taken on the responsibility for making things easier, such as managing a meeting or group process, navigating the pace and progress of a project, or even helping to overcome communication challenges. We have all heard and used those words, yet their meanings may vary depending on their intent.
In the generic sense, most people facilitate in a variety of ways every day – at the office, at home and within our communities. There are those who are by nature more able than others to provide assistance and there are situations that appear to be more amenable than others to moving forward. For whatever reason, people, topics, courses of action, past experiences or other circumstances may make progress toward a goal seem unlikely. Or you may want to be part of a discussion unhindered by your day-to-day role. The advantage of a well trained, professional facilitator may be just what you need!
The specialized profession of facilitator has become quite visible; there are facilitator associations and conferences as well as organizations and consultants offering facilitation services. But what distinguishes the professional field of facilitation from someone’s untrained effort to make things easier, which may be well intended but ineffective?
Experienced, skilled facilitators demonstrate an array of characteristics that have significant value when you are faced with factors that challenge your ability to succeed. This checklist of common attributes will be useful in your search for a qualified facilitator:
• Neutrality regarding the discussion topic, impartiality to participants and consensus among participants to make use of a particular facilitator due to those qualities
• Employs organizational analysis to help you identify critical stakeholders, discern what may affect your group process and participants, and ascertain desired outcomes
• Collaboratively plans and designs a group process that is responsive to participant needs, safe for open or confidential communication, and inclusive of stakeholders
• Delivers a group process that encourages information exchange; explores perceptions and assumptions; elicits diverse perspectives; and attends to differences, conflict and power dynamics with constructive intent
• Utilizes strategies that invite inquiry, promote clarification, honor self-determination and manage impasse productively
• Listens with focus, summarizes thoughtfully and distills all information considered by participants to be important
• Fosters participant-owned outcomes without inserting opinions or other persuasive tactics, and strives to be process, not solution, driven
• Cultivates a meaningful negotiation process that engages all participants; discovers and demystifies issues; captures content; and supports collaborative decision-making, realistic implementation strategies mutually crafted by participants and closure
• In a timely manner, completes the written product you desire, which reflects integrated content and sustainable results that emerged from group discussion.
Is this someone who leaps tall buildings in a single bound? No; a professional facilitator is simply someone who is well suited to shepherd a group of any size through a customized process that tackles issues of importance, reveals a sense of direction, and overcomes the complexity and uncertainty of human interaction.
For assistance with facilitation, organizational development, training, etc. contact Betsy Kosier via http://yourinteraction.com.
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