Do You Need A Facilitator?
Facilitation is a skill that focuses on upgrading the process of meetings in order to improve the quality of the meeting results. A trained and experienced facilitator understands meeting dynamics and brings to bear techniques to ensure the meeting leads to the desired outcome. She or he is responsible for harnessing the group’s energy and setting it to work on a given task.
It makes sense to have staff trained as facilitators. And sometimes it makes sense to bring in someone from outside the organization. A professional facilitator can help a team or organization move forward productively, whether on a single topic or a strategic plan. Typical instances where a facilitator can make a big difference include:
• If you are scheduling a strategic planning “retreat” to decide where your
company, organization or department is going over the next three to five years
• If you want innovative thinking on a recurring task
• If critical meetings go on and on without a decision
• When you have lots of ideas but can’t get them to solution stage
I’ll have more on this topic in the next post.