The Art of Facilitation

Written by: Pernille Brun, Strategic Advisor,?Founder of Momentu, a Danish Business Consulting Company and CEO at getsession.com

Introduction

Imagine sitting in an open working space, watching two different meetings going on at the same time in two different rooms. Or imagine watching two different online meetings taking place at the same time - in two different online meeting rooms.

In one room you witness a facilitated process taking place. In another room, there is a more directed, one-way teaching process taking place. Both groups are working on the same topic: They are evaluating their last assignment and preparing for the next one. What do you notice??

In the facilitated process room, you notice a lot of talking, debating, discussion going on. In the ‘teacher-led’ process room, people look at the person standing at the whiteboard or sitting at the end of the table (or talking one way through the computer screen).

The vibe in the two rooms is probably very different. In the facilitated process room, the energy might be high, diffused, maybe even confusing. In the ‘teacher-led’ process room the energy is probably more focused, directed one-way, and maybe less engaging. Where do you prefer to be? What process do you think you learn the most from, in terms of evaluating the last assignment and preparing for the next thing coming up??

First of all, it probably depends on who you are as a person. Do you prefer the structured, conventional, well-known process of being led/told/taught? Or do you prefer the less structured and more messy alternative where everyone is encouraged to talk, engage, and think out loud? Secondly, it also depends on the skills of the facilitator. Facilitation is a skill to be learned, like everything else. Skilled facilitators know how to make people feel safe and comfortable during the process. They have a high level of emotional intelligence and a good sense of group dynamics. Let us take a closer look at what facilitation is, why it might be worth considering facilitating more in your day to day operations in your organization- and last, but not least, what it is great facilitators do.?

What is facilitation??

Facilitation is the art of helping, improving, or making something easier - in a system or for people. You might for instance help others have a talk about an important topic, make a decision or “give smooth birth” to the development and/or design of a product.?

One definition of facilitation is:?

“The art of skillfully leading people through a process which enables them to make progress and succeed”.

When you facilitate, you thus help people stay on track and get through all important aspects of a process, without you “taking over” the process.?The difference between teaching and facilitating is based on how much the facilitator tells, directs, and gives answers as compared to how much she guides, asks questions, and helps people find their own answers.??

It is a fine line, of course, but the art of facilitation is really the art of making a journey smoother for someone, without being very direct or having the facilitator be the sole center of attention. Great and skilled facilitators are often quite invisible, even though they actually do a very hard job in the background. In fact, the word “leaders”, in the following quote, could just as well be replaced with facilitators:?

“When the best leaders work is done, the people say ′we did it ourselves"?

(Lao Tzu)

When skillfully practiced, facilitators make all people involved in the process engaged, enthusiastic, and feel involved - which in the end secures a better outcome and better commitment to the outcome of the process.

Why facilitation?

The reason why facilitation is important in a modern work-life, is based on some underlying facts about our current work-life, how we best learn as human beings as well as how much we gain in terms of commitment, outcome, and buy-in to the end-goal of a process, as mentioned above.?

First, let us look at some of the underlying facts of our modern work-life, and why facilitation - rather than traditional “telling, ordering, controlling and teaching” - is a better way of meeting these requirements.

In an age of fast changes, discontinuity, and uncertainty, traditional wisdom based on past experience is rapidly becoming obsolete. Therefore, we cannot “just” transfer knowledge. It is important we learn to think for ourselves, make our own judgment, critically evaluate and question whether we are taking the right approach or not.?We cannot base our judgments solely on prior experiences, since what worked yesterday might not work tomorrow. This ability, to be able to question the status quo, critically question what is going on and how we do things, is something that needs to be nurtured, trained - and role-modeled. When what is happening at meetings is more facilitated than educated, we get people to think for themselves, take a stand, make up their mind - and in the end take responsibility for future actions. If people are only TOLD what to do, their learning process is only extrinsic. By asking people to think about and question what they are presented with (for instance content, facts, numbers, opinions), the way is paved for critical thinking and processing and for intrinsic learning to take place as well. This might come in handy when something takes place in the organization that is no longer of value to the organization, its employees, or the surrounding community, and where you want people to challenge, come up with new suggestions, or put concerns forward.

Modern organizations and leaders know that self-engaged, empowered employees, who take initiative, show passion, and engagement, are the most valuable. Self-engaging employees are the ones who think for themselves, improve things, come up with better ways of doing things, and find new solutions to old problems. What modern leaders might not know, though, is how important it is for them as leaders and organizations to nurture this behavior. Gary Hamel - a well-known American management consultant, business thinker, and Professor at Stanford School of Business - talks about how leaders can demand employees to show up at work with a certain level of competencies, diligence, and obedience. But leaders need to EARN the passion, initiative, and creativity of their employees. And they earn this by creating an environment, where people are encouraged to speak up, dare to admit faults, and valued when they bring their ideas and passion forward. By introducing a lot of facilitation in your meetings, on 1:1′s, and when you work on larger projects, you nurture this behavior.?

Who

Above it is mentioned how leaders can be the facilitator when using this way of leading people through meetings, processes, and in 1:1′s. Facilitation for sure is a great skill for any leader to learn, but other people in the organization can benefit from using facilitative skills as well. In fact, any person involved or in charge of leading a project, meeting, steering committee, or team can benefit from using facilitation as a method to make people engaged and talk at a deeper level about a subject or in developing a method or a product.?

The employee who single-handedly wants to gather input from team members can also use this way of engaging colleagues, to get more honest feedback and a wider area of ideas for solutions going forward.?

The people involved in onboarding employees right from the start of an employee’s journey with a company can very well use facilitation, rather than teaching and telling, as a method to engage new employees in discussions around the content, they are introduced to. If facilitated well, onboarding programs ensure that employees right from the onset of their journey with the organization will understand, that questioning and engaged participation are valued - maybe even requested - skills, and that their opinions, thoughts, and ideas are needed and wanted.?

If you face a very difficult topic, it is, of course, also possible to engage with a trained internal or external consultant to facilitate the process. Sometimes this is the best solution, especially if everyone involved in the process has something “at stake”. It can be hard to both be fully present and engaged in the process, contribute with one′s viewpoints, and at the same time act as a neutral, professional facilitator. In order to keep the overview, the facilitator must stay “above the water” and not get too caught up in the content and the process itself.?

How - what great facilitators do

Great facilitators ask a lot of questions! With the end-goal in mind, they enter a meeting and a process with an open mind, curiosity, and the willingness to build on what is happening at the moment, rather than sticking to the plan by all means. When a person facilitates, there is always an agenda and something that even the facilitator would like to get out of the process. But the process itself might look messy if one does not really know what is going on. The facilitating process is known by being involving, open, guided, rather than steered, controlled, and closed. This might sometimes feel a bit uncomfortable for people who like structure, clear guidelines, and answers. Therefore, it is a good idea if the facilitator starts the meeting, which is to be facilitated, by explaining her role. It can for instance be explained like this:

“My role today is to facilitate us through this process. I will not come up with answers to questions, neither will I necessarily tell you what to do. Instead, I will make sure that everyone is heard and listened to, that we cover all the items on the agenda, and that we end the meeting on time. I will also guide you in another direction if I feel that might be the right move for us to make in order for us to get all the perspectives needed and still end on time. You will experience me asking a lot of questions and I will also ask you to try your best to stay open and curious. Any questions so far?”?

Great facilitators are prepared to make changes where necessary, for instance in terms of how directive they are, how much content they cover and when, how many breaks they suggest, even in how they communicate and what they communicate, when.????

?A great facilitator engages people. In order for the best learning to take place a person needs to be engaged properly. By asking people to engage actively in discussing issues and trying out new ways of doing things, the facilitator makes room for people to learn at a whole other level. When people - in a gentle way - are encouraged to reflect on how they are thinking, behaving, and relating to the content and other people, as well as experiment with new ways of doing things, they for a moment might feel out of their comfort zones. But that's ok. This is usually where the best learning takes place.?

The facilitator stays open if people for a moment want to challenge the facilitation approach and ask for answers and for the facilitator to tell people what to do. Instead, she guides the process and directs the responsibility back to the participants. If someone challenges and would like answers the facilitator can ask:?“What do you think we should do?”. This might provoke some since they might think the facilitator herself is trying to avoid taking responsibility. But the facilitator IS taking responsibility: For the learning process, for challenging people to think for themselves, and for people to not only expect others to come up with solutions and answers but also put solutions forward themselves.???

The facilitator's constant focus is on the process. She is paying attention to what is happening now and using this information to intervene in a manner that will further the kind of learning needed for solutions to be reached and for people to take responsibility and learn something new. A crucial role for a facilitator therefore is monitoring the learning atmosphere. She will ask herself ever so often: “What is the energy level in the room right now, and is this beneficial for what we are trying to accomplish?”. The facilitator does not just mindlessly go through content, because “it is there”.?She will assess whether more or less information - right now - will be helpful. She will also assess whether a change in direction of the communication/conversation itself is needed. Sometimes participants can get caught up in their own ideas, own way of thinking, or in talking only about the root causes of problems. This is not beneficial if you are trying to establish an atmosphere of openness, where people build on each other′s inputs, find solutions to problems, and move forward together. Therefore, the skilled facilitator will pivot the conversation, if it for too long is going in the wrong direction - as illustrated with this picture:?

To figure out when to do what (when to ask a question, and when to tell, when to take a break and when it would be ok to just go on, or when to change the direction of the conversation), the facilitator needs to be present and mindful. Timing and presence in the moment is a prerequisite for any successful intervention, including facilitating.?

In order to make sure the process stays on track and that people are staying open and engaged, breaking routines with exercises and “games” (which also contain a learning point) might be beneficial. This can re-energize participants and make them take in the content in a new way. By introducing exercises, facilitators might also build up trust amongst participants, which is a fundamental prerequisite for the mind to dare to challenge the status quo, opening up to new perspectives and taking in new learning in general.

In the literature list in the end of this article,?you find books with ideas for activities, for example, Paul Z. Jacksons book: 58-1/2 Ways to Improvise in Training: Improvisation Games and Activities for Workshops, Courses, and Team Meetings. (This is a really great book!). You can also look online to find inspiration.?

To wrap up, here is a list to remind you of what great facilitators do. They:?

• ...ask a lot of questions!
• ...make sure everyone is heard
• ...stay present and mindful
• ...improvise
• ...keep content relevant and make sure what is delivered is useful to the audience
• … adjust communication about content and topic to meet the participants “where they are”
• ...change the direction of the communication, if participants are getting “off the trail” or are going in an unconstructive direction
• ...very often ditch the traditional presentation. People learn in different ways ...
• … might change the room layout and ask you to stand up or even sit in a circle or play (relevant) games
• … are emotionally intelligent, attuned to and aware of group dynamics and when to bring this to the attention of the participants

A note about tools

In this article, I have so far mainly focused on the benefits of facilitation and the skills and personal competencies of the person facilitating a process. On top of understanding the purpose of facilitation as well as having the right skills as a facilitator, the right tools also play a role in whether the facilitated process becomes successful or not.?

For instance, using pictures, post its and flipcharts or maybe even visual drawings made on the spot, have been widely used facilitation tools for in-person workshops and meetings. Now, when a lot of meetings have moved online, we also need to consider other methods of engaging people. For instance, the facilitator might introduce people to one of the following tools:

• Visual sharing boards, like Google Jamboard, Ideanote, or Mural
• Content sharing through tools where everyone can collaborate on and see each other’s documents (like google drive)
• Online visual boards to keep track of progress, like Trello, Asana, or Basecamp
• Or as simple a tool as to use the chat much more active during online meetings

In the future, we will probably see many more online tools for facilitation. Just remember that the basic skills of the facilitator, leading people through the process, whether online or face to face, are still the same and still important.?

I sincerely hope that this article has given you insight into what facilitation is,?why it is an important method in any modern organization, and what a skilled facilitator does. If you want more facilitated meetings and processes in your organization you have to go ahead and try it out yourself. It pays off - with engaged and “thinking for them-selves employees”.???

Good luck from Pernille Hippe Brun