Facilitation is the art of bringing people together to achieve a goal. The job of a facilitator is to guide a group of people to come to a decision or a conclusion. Businesses that experience delay in achieving of goals or repeatedly face unfulfilled goals need facilitation skills to help their employees collectively make timely decisions and work on them as a team to reach a goal.
Training in facilitation helps to master the art and craft of facilitation by developing, polishing and implementing facilitation skills during the training.
Outcome of Effective Facilitation
Facilitation if conducted correctly affects employees and through them the company. It helps a company achieve goals including:
- Timely and accurate decision making
- Meeting of deadlines
- Enhanced productivity
- Better teamwork
- Minimising of conflicts
- Building of consensus
- Healthy work environment
- Workforce targeted towards goal fulfillment
Management of human resources with the help of facilitation enables a company to fully utilise the talents of its workforce. Facilitation begins with working on a team of employees who affect the outcome of a process, and ultimately leads to the meeting of goals on time every time.
Developing Facilitation Skills
Some people are more suitable for conducting facilitation than others. Companies must choose employees who have the qualities of a good facilitator and train them in facilitation. Some of the inherent qualities in a person that can make him/her an excellent facilitator are:
- Good observation
- Active listening
- Good understanding of people and situations
- Flexibility and patience
- Good communication skills
Training in facilitation helps a person gain new skills and polish existing ones to become a pro in facilitation. A professional training course in facilitation teaches, demonstrates and assists participants to develop skill in facilitation that they can practice in their work environment immediately. The training helps in developing skills including:
- Management ability
- Communication skills
- Sense of timing
- Understanding group dynamics
- Handling difficult people and situations
- Guiding conversations to reach specific goals
- Understanding the nuances of facilitation
- Understanding intervention
- Planning
- Understanding of various models of team development
It is important that the goal of the facilitation is defined. Otherwise, the entire activity of facilitation will prove futile. A facilitator will plan, engage and guide according to the goal that is to be reached.
Facilitation is an art and a craft that is used to improve the process of achieving goals and the end result of the processes, which is the reaching of a goal. Companies develop facilitation skills to commit their employees to build cooperation for achieving a specified goal. It is a skill indispensable for effective management of human resources.