Meeting, Planning, and Retreat Facilitation
Having
a designated, third-party facilitator helps all
attendees focus on the subject at hand. A
facilitator "makes easy!" She utilizes a
number of facilitation techniques to ensure full
participation, buy-in, and the use of both logical and creative
thinking.
A facilitator can see things from a
"forest" perspective. She can bypass political
and power positions to ask the difficult,
hard, or "elephant in the room" questions.
|
To
"facilitate"
is
"...to
make easier."
The
facilitator doesn't set the goals, make the
plans or resolve issues. The facilitator
makes it easier for the organization to do
so. |
When Should You Use A Facilitator?
You should utilize a facilitator whenever you have
specific objectives for the gathering and desire
full participation. Facilitators can be either
in-house, or from outside the organization.
Facilitators from outside the organization can
provide a neutral third-party perspective that is
often hard to achieve from a staff person.
Examples:
 |
Meetings - General and team meetings where ideas
will be shared or problems addressed.
Whenever there are multiple stakeholders
involved there needs to be someone to "hold the
floor" and keep the meeting on track.
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Planning - Strategic Planning and general
planning meetings are useful for Boards, Trustees, and Councils;
community organizations, project managers, and
teams of all kind to set strategic goals, schedules, and establish
work plans, expectations, and responsibilities.
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Retreats - On-site or off-site retreats
are often used to focus on strategic planning
or team-building. These are often
weekend events that include activities to
stimulate and grow creativity, communications,
and mutual trust. |
What Will I Do As Your Meeting Facilitator?
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I will work with you to develop the agenda and
the meeting objectives and outcomes. I
will often have preliminary consultations with
the participants or stakeholder representatives
to introduce myself and gain a better
understanding of issues and personalities.
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I will make use of my experience and multiple
tools and techniques to enable each participant
and the group as a whole to employ both
the logical and creative parts of their brains,
and also to keep the group energized and
engaged. |
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I will set ground rules to allow everyone to be
heard in a respectful, non-reactive way.
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I will act as a neutral third party (mediator)
if a dispute arises in the course of a meeting.
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I will look out for the good of the group as a
whole and not be attached to a particular
outcome. |
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I will listen carefully and respond in a
flexible manner to the needs of the group and of
individuals. |
What Makes Carol A Great Facilitator*?
| Experience - Over ten
years of specific facilitation experience for a
variety of groups, including state agencies,
city departments, and project teams. |
| Flexibility and Adaptability - Will monitor
the group and change approaches or focus as
needed. |
| Pro-activity - Before
using an activity, will modify it on
the basis of the characteristics of the
participants and the purpose of the activity.
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| Responsiveness - Will
make modifications during the course of the
meeting or activity to keep different tensions
(structure, pace, interaction, focus, control,
and concern) within acceptable ranges.
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| Resilience - Will
accept whatever happens (without taking it
personally) as valuable data and smoothly
continue with the meeting or activity. |
