How do you know a good facilitator from a great one?

A facilitator can make or break a leadership team, a conference, or just a small meeting. A great facilitator can build a constructive environment and take teams to unimaginable heights whereas a poor facilitator can plunge those same teams to depths from which they may never recover. Never before, because of the Covid-19 environment and the on line meetings we have been thrown into, has the facilitating role been more important.

The definition of facilitate, is “to make easy” or “ease a process.” So what is it that separates the great facilitator from the rest?

To be a great facilitator you have to plan, guide and manage a group to ensure that their objectives are met effectively, with clear thinking, good participation, and full buy-in from everyone involved. It’s about getting committed. So what are the 7 martial arts of a great facilitator?

1.Dedication

They must be fully committed to the best possible outcome for the group. That means pushing themselves and the group to the limits and ensure the best ideas and the optimum solutions are all explored and aired. They must be dedicated to increasing the effectiveness and lives of fellow leaders.

2. Curbing Competitive Streaks

In any high-performing team, empathetic listening is not normally a strong suit and without a great facilitator, group dynamics become suspect as the loudest voice gets heard and politics win the day. Great facilitators streamline the process, guide the personalities and enable the best outcome.

3. Wear Numerous Hats

Great facilitators have normally been there before. Therefore they can wear many hats and can switch between coach, teacher, advisor, and mentor depending on the needs of the group.

4. Expose The Root Cause of Problems

Teams often skip over the real cause of problems. They make many assumptions and often gravitate to what ‘appears’ to be the cause as opposed to what is the ‘real’ cause of the problem.

Great facilitators dig deep to help the group know when they have exposed the real cause, often by forcing them to look at areas that haven’t been explored before.

5. Ensure Accountability

Patrick Lencioni will tell you that of the 5 Dysfunctions of a Team, avoidance of Accountability is the number one issue that companies struggle with. Great facilitators build in conversations and utilize tools to ensure that people feel personally accountable as well as accountable to each other.

6. Expand the Moment

As we all know, “timing is everything”. Great facilitators know exactly when to continue when to stop, and when to summarize the discussion. Everyone needs to be heard but there has to be the right balance of time for sharing of views and discussion and then finalization to agree on a conclusion and action required. Managing fine balances is the mark of a great facilitator.

7. Stay on Track

The number one reason for people hating meetings is that they don’t feel they achieve anything. We often hear people muttering after meetings, “such a waste of time”. Great facilitators ensure everyone understands the objectives of the meeting, put guardrails in place to prevent the discussion from straying off point, and ensure conclusions are agreed within the time frame that was agreed. They ensure meetings are looked forward to again.

A great facilitator is a master of all these 7 martial arts. A great facilitator will drive efficiencies, accountability, and results in many ways that are at first not noticeable, but over time will result in a stronger, more valuable, and happier organization to work in.

 

 

Photo by Austin Distel on Unsplash