5 Reasons to Hire an External Facilitator

While every meeting doesn’t require an external facilitator, there are times when bringing someone from the outside in to guide your team through a process results in a more productive meeting with better results.

Hiring a facilitator allows leadership to dive into the process instead of drive the process. An external facilitator allows you to participate in the process. When you facilitate your own meeting and processes much of your energy goes into planning and leading. It’s difficult for you to be present as a participant when you are focused on leading the meeting.

Hiring a facilitator creates a level playing field where the participants’ input feels heard and considered. External facilitators eliminate the perception of hidden agendas and politics. When managers or project champions facilitate meetings, they can be perceived as steering the process to pre-conceived outcomes. Participants may not fully participate if they think the outcomes are set and they are there, not to offer their best thinking but to agree with “the boss.” Whether true or not, the perception hinders the process.

Hiring a facilitator brings the right tools for the situation. External facilitators bring specific skills and experience to the process. – Quality facilitators continually develop their competencies and skills through ongoing training. Hours of direct facilitation experience ensure they know how to deliver the desired outcomes and adjust to unexpected situations.

Hiring a facilitator leverages conflict to produce powerful results. External facilitators manage conflict in healthy ways to take advantage of the energy and reach outcomes everyone can buy into. Conflict often feels unproductive. Resolving the conflict may seem like the right thing to do but you may be missing an opportunity. Healthy conflict can create positive energy that drives the team to innovative solutions that everyone can support. Facilitators know how to manage conflict and use it to move the process in positive directions.

Hiring a facilitator keeps your meetings productive and on track. External facilitators guide the process to avoid unproductive “rabbit trails” and diversions. Meetings often go off the track due to distractions and pursuing themes that are off-topic. Often these diversions are unproductive but there are times when they can lead to better results. Experience facilitators know when to allow for these diversions and when to redirect the conversation back in a more productive direction.?

Facilitating your own team is challenging in the best of situations. Many leaders are talented facilitators. This doesn’t mean that facilitating your own team is the best choice. Think about the importance of the outcome of your next meeting and if bringing in an outside facilitator may lead to a more productive process and a more powerful outcome.

Let IntoWisdom guide you to the right process and facilitator for your next meeting.?