Facilitation Guidelines pt 3

Facilitation Guidelines pt 3

Facilitation Guidelines

What facilitation principles do you live by? Here is the final part of this series offering a few more to the ones we have already explored.

get comfortable being uncomfortable

It’s not easy being comfortable in uncomfortable situations. Facilitators know that we can never really predict what will happen in the room, so we need to be able to live in the ambiguity. We need strategies to deal with the unexpected while showing ease and authenticity to the group. From unplanned distractions to secret agendas to a range of disturbing behaviors and unhelpful group dynamics, any and all of these may be present when groups gather together. It’s our role as facilitators to respond, despite how uncomfortable we may feel, we must respond with respect and in service of the group.

differences are launching platforms

Embrace challenge, accept that differences of opinions are launching platforms for the creation of new ideas. Facilitators must role model welcoming diversity of ideas and encouraging the group to reframe how they respond to challenge and perspectives that are different from their own. For a group, it is not often that this is their way of reacting to diverse perspectives. Facilitators can role model meeting each person where they are at and showing value and appreciation for all the contributions and perspectives in the room. We can help the group experience a different way of accepting diversity and how this can lead to new and better solutions.

it’s not about you, and it is about what you bring

As facilitators it’s our role to stay neutral at all times, our biases and opinions do not serve the group and should not enter the space. The experience belongs to the participants, they do the work, they explore the challenges, they create the solutions. We should not do anything for the group that we would not ask them to do themselves. In handing over the challenges to the group, with the right support, they will almost always create something that they feel passionate about. It’s our role to serve them and to support them in reaching a shared outcome that they have all shaped and can buy into. While it’s not about you, what you bring to the room does matter, your energy, your mindsets, your attitude, your presence, your authenticity all influence the group and their capacity to be successful.

Written by Tricia Conyers, Founder Island Inspirations Ltd., INIFAC Certified Master Facilitator, and Certified Virtual Facilitator

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