What is the role of a good facilitator?
Want to change the way meetings work? Making them more productive, more enjoyable? Good news, it’s possible! On the other hand, there are no miracle recipes… you will need time, training and organization: #NoPainNoGain
In this article, we will talk about this developing species, the “facilitator”, its role and the inherent qualities in this profile.
The facilitator is both a mediator and an enabler. The latter has to make sure your meeting is going well as a mission.
In a systematic way, it will work from methods and/or tools adapted to the needs of the working time concerned in order for:
• Each participant to join in and respect each other
• The meeting to be organized and effective
• Objectives to be met
[Just that.]
However, before this is possible, the facilitator must upstream prepare his/her meeting… and not leave it all to chance.
According to the Facilitation blog, here are some key steps to follow:
Upstream of the meeting:
- Clarify the aim and purpose of the meeting.
- Ensure that the objective to be achieved has meaning for the intended participants and is motivating.
- Collect all the information necessary to fully understand the context and motivation of this meeting.
- Identify potential brakes to the goal. Short preparatory interviews with some target participants prove to be the most effective.
- Ensure that the right participants are invited: they are all necessary to achieve the objective
- Build the meeting steps and facilitation tools to successfully complete them.
- Communicate the agenda of the meeting to the participants (well upstream to allow them time to prepare).
The 5 essential qualities of the facilitator
