As a team facilitator, you have the responsibility of guiding your group towards a common goal, resolving conflicts, and fostering collaboration. However, you are also a human being with your own emotions and biases that can affect your performance and the team dynamics. How do you manage your own emotions and biases as a team facilitator? Here are some tips to help you.
The first step to managing your own emotions and biases is to be aware of them. What triggers your anger, frustration, or anxiety? What assumptions, preferences, or stereotypes do you hold about others? How do you react when you are stressed, challenged, or criticized? By knowing yourself, you can anticipate and prevent potential emotional reactions and biases that can interfere with your facilitation.
Understanding the stakes, and knowing the stakeholder positions before entering the environment are key. What potential obstacles could there be to communication and collaboration? How have I responded to these in the past when I found myself in the same positions? Can I empathize with those who may be frustrated with advancing their efforts?
The second step to managing your own emotions and biases is to regulate them. This means using strategies to calm yourself down, control your impulses, and maintain your focus. For example, you can use breathing techniques, positive affirmations, or mindfulness exercises to reduce your stress and anxiety. You can also use self-talk, feedback, or reflection to challenge your negative thoughts, emotions, or biases and replace them with more constructive ones.
Remembering that it's not all about you. Your focus is the outcome, and how the cooperation of all on the team can share in its success.
The third step to managing your own emotions and biases is to communicate effectively with your team. This means using clear, respectful, and inclusive language, listening actively and empathetically, and asking open-ended questions. You also need to be transparent, honest, and accountable for your own emotions and biases and how they affect your facilitation. By communicating effectively, you can build trust, rapport, and understanding with your team and avoid misunderstandings, conflicts, or resentment.
Use primary questions to get at the RIGHT follow-up questions. Approach them almost from a standpoint of ignorance, leading the reasoning and critical thinking without signaling we may already have an answer. The more that people arrive at solutions organically as a collective, the more likely those options will succeed. This also removes *us* from the equation, so we are not emotionally tied to the answers, and ownership is with the team, not an individual.
The fourth step to managing your own emotions and biases is to seek feedback from your team and other sources. Feedback can help you identify your strengths and weaknesses as a facilitator, as well as your blind spots and areas for improvement. You can ask for feedback from your team members, co-facilitators, mentors, or peers. You can also use self-assessment tools, surveys, or observations to evaluate your own performance and impact.
The fifth step to managing your own emotions and biases is to learn and grow from your experiences. This means using feedback, reflection, or coaching to improve your skills, knowledge, and attitudes as a facilitator. You can also seek opportunities to learn from other facilitators, experts, or resources. By learning and growing, you can develop your emotional intelligence, cultural competence, and facilitation competence.
Circling back to let particular individuals know their feedback was received is imperative to maintaining support from the group, and also models how to grow from counsel offered.
The sixth and final step to managing your own emotions and biases is to practice self-care. This means taking care of your physical, mental, and emotional health and well-being. You can do this by setting healthy boundaries, managing your workload, taking breaks, exercising, eating well, sleeping well, and engaging in hobbies or activities that bring you joy. By practicing self-care, you can prevent burnout, fatigue, or stress that can impair your facilitation.
As a facilitator, I must remember to role model what I want to see from others. Above all, it’s keeping things positive and listening for understanding so people feel seen and heard.