A facilitator needs to be able to identify both types of needs to effectively meet the needs of a group. There are key aspects that can help you identify whether or not you have the potential to be a facilitator. The dance of facilitation is one of conscious agile team facilitation basic rules movement between structure and flexibility, control and release, all the while keeping our gaze fixed on the guiding star of purpose. Embrace this dance, cultivate your adaptive nature, and witness your growth as a transformative leader and facilitator.
Facilitation skills refer to the collection ability to lead and guide a group through a process or activity, helping them achieve a common goal. A facilitator is someone who helps to make things easier or possible. Facilitating with clarity demands intentional communication, distilling information to essentials, actively resolving misunderstandings, and continuous self-reflection.
The Ultimate Facilitation Glossary: 50 Facilitation Terms You Should Know (From A-Z)
Clarity is not only about our ground rules and prompts but also about the understanding shared in the room. Internal and external facilitators alike must be attuned to situations where participants might not be on the same wavelength, using different metaphors or similar words with different meanings. By pointing these out and helping disambiguate, we enable the group to reach alignment. A crucial concept we teach in our facilitation certification, from Gamestorming, is the idea of creating temporary worlds. These temporary spaces allow people to have impactful experiences, meet their desired outcomes, and realize their potential for change and growth.
They should maintain a body language that makes the group feel assured about his physical presence by facing them squarely, making eye contact, nodding , keeping an open posture and so on. He also should be able to attend to the speaker at https://www.globalcloudteam.com/ a psychological level by understanding what is not being conveyed explicitly and he should be able to pick up from nonverbal cues. Paraphrasing and repeating back what was said and asking questions reflects that he is actively listening.
What Skills Do You Need To Be A Facilitator
As we delve into these qualities, we’ll shed light on the importance of the role of facilitator and how anybody, regardless of title, can step into this role. Keep in mind that these aren’t merely theoretical constructs. They are tangible skills that, when put into practice, can serve as the keys to unlocking transformative change and lasting impact within your teams and organizations. A skilled facilitator knows how to bring the participants together based on shared interests and goals.
- In other words, people recognise the intent of someone who moderates, summarises and clarifies group discussions and actions.
- As a facilitator, you need to help set a tone for the behaviors and attitudes of the session.
- Those who come on time feel cheated that they rushed to get there!
- If you are attacked or criticized, take a «mental step» backwards before responding.
- Preparatory work can go a long way to improving the flow of a brainstorming session, a workshop, a seminar, or any kind of meeting.
- Having a skilled, effective facilitator guide a meeting will vastly improve that meeting’s outcomes!
Hannah has a Masters of Art in Leisure Studies form the University of Waterloo and a Bachelors Degree in Recreation Management from Acadia University. In her research, she focused on studying optimal learning environments, program evaluation, transfer of training, positive youth development and productive organizations. You’ll also need to think about your agenda and whether you’re on track to accomplish everything you planned. If you’re off track, call it out—chances are, they know already! Consider designing a session with structures and activities that appeal to different learning styles and personality types. It could be as simple as arranging a seating plan that is equal and fair, where everyone is on the same eye level, in a circle, and with no one’s back to anyone else.
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Although one may think that creating synergy between unknown people would be more difficult, that is often not the case. The more challenging situation is typically the second scenario where people have established working relations. Existing hierarchies, preconceived prejudices, and set expectations can stymie creativeness and lower the chance of a positive outcome.
Without it, teams might find themselves adrift, lacking direction and focus. This makes it all the more crucial for leaders and facilitators to clarify the purpose of their gatherings. At the end of the day, facilitation is more of a craft than a science. The more you do it, the more sophisticated your skills will become!
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It fosters a sense of vulnerability and nudges people to contribute more freely. Not only does clarifying the purpose give meaning to our work, but it also sets the stage for the other qualities of facilitation to come into play. Purpose also demands a degree of transparency, allowing leaders to acknowledge biases and use them constructively. In fact, by showing up in our role as leaders and facilitating through our role as leaders, we gradually shift cultures across an organization.
On the other hand, some facilitators have the take helping to push a particular agenda. In these instances, it requires a facilitator to take a subtle, light touch when steering a group to a preferred outcome without stifling engagement from all participants. These process agreements create a sense of shared accountability and ownership of the meeting, joint responsibility for how the meeting is run, and group investment in whether the outcomes and goals are achieved. Now, my job is getting hired by some of the coolest organizations and universities on the planet to train them how to facilitate really meaningful events, conversations, meetings, gatherings.
What skills do you need to be a facilitator?
Refer back to the objectives or outcomes to show how much you accomplished. You’ll want to go over these with folks as well to get their input and check that these are the desired outcomes they’re looking for. This is also where the ground rules that we covered earlier come in.
However, unchecked confrontations within group work can arise without objective intervention.Groupthink (flawed decision-making to preserve the status quo) is often a nasty side effect of conflict. A professional facilitator will only intervene when learners are getting off track or if they appear stuck. In any case, the intent is to nudge learners in the right direction, rather than tell them what outcomes they need to arrive at. Effectively engaging learners in creating, discovering and applying information often needs a helping hand—that helping hand being a facilitator. Trust and empathy are essential for building a relationship with the group.
The Ability To Listen
However, as Art of Gathering author Priya Parker brings into focus, optimal inclusion sometimes requires deliberate exclusion. This doesn’t mean permanently sidelining certain individuals but rather knowing when and where their involvement is most beneficial. It captured all of my questions for transitioning from trainer to facilitator! May i share it with my team of business leaders as we are asking them to become our internal trainers.