Facilitation is a Profession and Needs Facilitation Training

I’ve spoken to numerous people who said that they were ‘facilitators’.? I generally ask them who had trained them as Facilitators and a common response was, “I learned on the job.”? If someone can self-define him or herself as a “Facilitator” without training, it’s difficult to justify calling this a profession. This troubles me given that I’ve been working hard to get organizations to view Facilitation as a profession.? The same is true of many professions – you don’t become a coach, project manager, or Scrum Master just because you call yourself one.

My concern with “I learned on the job” is that it is a hit or miss method where mistakes are perpetuated and there is no consistency – trial and error.? It demeans the skills developed by those who, through proper training, spent a great deal of effort learning their skill.? “I learned on the job” (unstructured) is very different from “on the job training” (structured).? The former lacks any obvious principle of organization while the latter is a purposeful approach.?

Let’s look at the Project Manager.? Project Managers were in the same position years ago.? This has changed due to the influence of PMI and the growth of the Project Management Professional (PMP) designation.? This has made it less likely that one would simply name him or herself a Project Manager.? Today, Project Managers receive proper training because organizations realize the importance of their skills.?

This needs to apply to Facilitators as well and through the International Association of Facilitators (IAF) and their CertifiedTMProfessional Facilitator (CPF) designation, this also will change.

Different Types of Training

Not all Facilitators are the same.? The required level of training is different.? They are:

• Practitioner
• Professional
• Master

Practitioner

A Practitioner is one who uses facilitative skills in his or her job, such as Project Managers, Business Analysts, Scrum Master, and others, who want to improve communication to achieve commitment and support from stakeholders – so needed for business success.? Practitioners need what is often referred to as facilitative “soft” skills that are not learned by trail and error, but through proper training.?

The effective facilitative skills that a Practitioner learns are applicable in business and in life.? These skills become a set of life skills that improve interpersonal and presentation skills and enhance the skills of any PMP (Project Management Professional) or any CBAP (Certified Business Analysis Professional) and add value to what they bring to the job.

Professional

The Professional Facilitator is one who focuses on facilitation as a profession.? A Professional Facilitator may facilitate a strategic plan, business requirements, team building, problem solving, decision-making, or any type of workshop.? Professional Facilitators should work towards becoming a Certified Professional Facilitator (CPF).? They receive professional recognition that gives them a competitive edge (some organizations will not hire Facilitators unless they are certified) and it brings additional credibility to their job.? Again, these skills are not learned by trial and error; these skills require more extensive training.? It needs to cover the facilitative “soft” skills as well as:

• Extensive Facilitator tools for different situations and groups.
• Additional understanding of the emotional group cycle – the good, the bad, and the ugly.
• Extensive process development and agenda development.

Like Professional Project Managers and Business Analysts, it is important for Professional Facilitators to continue learning and stay abreast of new trends and methods –required to maintain their professional designations.

Note: You will notice that I didn’t mention anything about industry content.? That is because Project Managers, Business Analysts, and Facilitators are process experts and their skills are transferable to any industry – i.e., project management, business analysis, and facilitation are the same regardless of the industry.? They are successful when they can guide their group through a facilitative process to accomplish their task.

Master

A Master Facilitator is one who has developed a high level of proficiency in the profession.? They:

• Acquire complete knowledge about the history, concepts, and techniques of the facilitation profession.?
• Are mentors to others.?
• Are versatile.? They can facilitate a wide variety of situations with a wide variety of types and numbers of participants in business and in life.

Those destined to become Masters, continue to learn through training to develop a deeper understanding of why they do what they do.

Note:? The IAF is an internationally recognized, non-profit, industry association for Facilitators.? It confers non-vendor-specific certification.

Summary

For facilitation to be a true profession, it needs to be taken seriously.? It cannot be, “I learned on the job”.? You must seek out training that gives you the effective skills necessary to perform your job successfully, and just as importantly, develop a repeatable success.?It takes effort, effective training, and continuous learning.?

What do you think about professional training?