If you are the manager of a team or chairing a meeting, you may well lead the meeting or project to move in the direction you want them to go and seek to influence decisions to meet your personal purposes and goals, this is not facilitating. Training also differs from facilitation in that the trainer takes the lead role and in many ways can dictate what the learning objectives and learning outcomes are and drives the communication process to achieve that process. So, we have defined what facilitation is NOT, so what is it?
At one level, a facilitator is a person who makes things happen, for example an organizer or management service provider. However, a business facilitator is a person who is a facilitator, that is, someone who gives others the ability, the means, or the opportunity to find their own solutions to problems or issues. They can also be a catalyst for developing strategies or implementing organizational change. Facilitation is an acquired skill, and the ability to facilitate effectively improves more and more with experience.
A facilitator is a good organization regarding meetings, developing agendas, keeping records of discussions and interactions, effective time management, and effective communication, especially of specific actions that are required with responsibilities and deadlines. . They should be able to define and sometimes bring the group or meeting back to the goals and objectives of the interaction and the planned results. They need to allow others to communicate respectfully and also to be able to understand human interactions and how conflicts can be resolved. They should be able to help everyone to make an active contribution to the discussions and use a series of questions to stimulate discussion and help the participants reach appropriate conclusions. Facilitators must be able to intervene effectively and, if agreement cannot be reached, help individuals or teams to understand the reasons for differences of opinion and the options available for seeking consensus. In summary, facilitators must be good communicators, flexible, able to think quickly, sensitive and impartial; Okay, do you fit the bill?