Facilitators’ Community

I will try to present opposing views in this blog. I have always believed that the Facilitator is a ‘neutral’ outside resource available to the organization to help it meet its goals. Johnnie Moore’s website, however, gives a different perspective which you will want to consider.

He says that the hosting model is “It’s like entering the machine, becoming a part of it and changing it by being there. In a living system you cannot enter the field without affecting the field”.

My first reaction was ‘No, no, no!”, but the more I think about it, I do ‘enter the system’ and I do ‘affect it’. I had one long term client tell me I had changed their culture. I was both flattered and horrified.

At the request of a number of clients and subscribers, I am planning to offer another session of a two-day Facilitator Training Course. The fee for the course will be $499.00. All other expenses (travel, lodging, etc.) are to be paid by the attendees. The course is highly participative and we will cut off registration at 20 people.

Once we have enough folks registered, we’ll schedule the course again.

I believe that one of the core determinants of the success or failure of a facilitation ‘gig’ is the how the facilitator defines what they’re doing and how they define their role as compared to managers, participants, etc.

How do you define ‘facilitation’?

Here’s another blog I’m quite fond of by Viv McWaters!

An interesting take on the role of the facilitator in helping the group achieve their goals can be found here at Anecdote.com.

Another interesting take on Facilitation is this look at the Facilitator at The Human Imprint.

Typical tasks for facilitators are listed at Eventyr: Process Facilitator

Interactions is a blog which discusses the various styles of consultation which I found interesting.

It has been my experience that structuring an engagement properly may be one of the most critical steps in the facilitation process. I include:

• Identifying the ‘real’ client
• Contracting with the client re: deliverables, participants, methodology, the client’s role, etc.
• Defining milestones and ‘done-ness’ criteria
• How, by whom, does the contract get changed
• Fees and contingencies

Share with us your perspective on structuring a facilitation agreement and any ‘lessons learned’.

Here’s a link to Whiteboards That Work which addresses the ‘front end’ of the process.

Too many facilitators utilize the same exercises and tools in doing their work. The result is that the participants are often weary and skeptical of approaches which they’ve used with mixed success in the past. I estimate that 50% of the work I do requires creating an approach/method virtually from scratch. What has been your experience and how do you go about fitting the methodology to the client engagement?

I found an interesting comment on Design For Civilized Society on when and how to choose a methodology.

Share with us the ‘tools’ of your trade. What exercises, methodologies, approaches, etc., do you use and why? When do you not use a particular tool?

In choosing a methodology, I am strong advocate of engaging participants ‘visually’. Check out this website for a fascinating treatment of the topic and then share your use of Tools and Methods here.

As a subtopic, share with us any tools or methods that you’ve found effective in distance or teleconferenced meetings.  I found a lot of pointers on the Virtual Events blog including a number of blogs on Virtual Events.

Teachers facilitate groups in many settings: the classroom, staff meetings, in-service training, etc. What works for you? What problems have you encountered? Share your learnings and techniques and pose questions for your colleagues.

Here’s a link to the University of British Columbia’s Teaching and Academic growth website; an excellent resource!