Facilitation in business

Business

A business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...

, organizational development (OD) and in consensus decision-making

Consensus decision-making

Consensus decision-making is a group decision making process that seeks the consent, not necessarily the agreement, of participants and the resolution of objections. Consensus is defined by Merriam-Webster as, first, general agreement, and second, group solidarity of belief or sentiment. It has its...

 refers to the process of designing and running a successful meeting

Meeting

In a meeting, two or more people come together to discuss one or more topics, often in a formal setting.- Definitions :An act or process of coming together as an assembly for a common purpose....

.

Facilitation concerns itself with all the tasks needed to run a productive and impartial meeting. Facilitation serves the needs of any group who are meeting with a common purpose, whether it be making a decision, solving a problem, or simply exchanging ideas and information. It does not lead

Leadership

Leadership has been described as the “process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task". Other in-depth definitions of leadership have also emerged.-Theories:...

 the group, nor does it try to distract or to entertain. A slightly different interpretation focuses more specifically on a group that is engaged in experiential learning

Experiential learning

Experiential learning is the process of making meaning from direct experience. Simply put, Experiential Learning is learning from experience. The experience can be staged or left open. Aristotle once said, "For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them." David A...

. In particular this is associated with active learning

Active learning

Active learning is an umbrella term that refers to several models of instruction that focus the responsibility of learning, on learners. Bonwell and Eison popularized this approach to instruction . This "buzz word" of the 1980s became their 1990s report to the Association for the Study of Higher...

 and concepts of tutelary

Tutor

A tutor is a person employed in the education of others, either individually or in groups. To tutor is to perform the functions of a tutor.-Teaching assistance:...

 authority. This is covered in-depth in the research work of John Heron

John Heron

John Heron is a pioneer in the creation of a participatory research method in the social sciences, called co-operative inquiry, which was based on his work in 1968-69 on the phenomenology of social encounter, and which has been applied by practitioners in many fields of professional and personal...

 at the University of Surrey

University of Surrey

The University of Surrey is a university located within the county town of Guildford, Surrey in the South East of England. It received its charter on 9 September 1966, and was previously situated near Battersea Park in south-west London. The institution was known as Battersea College of Technology...

 and the International Centre for Co-operative Inquiry

Cooperative inquiry

Cooperative inquiry, also known as collaborative inquiry was first proposed by John Heron in 1971 and later expanded with Peter Reason. The major idea of cooperative inquiry is to “research ‘with’ rather than ‘on’ people.” It emphasizes that all active participants are fully involved in research...

.

Aspects of facilitation

• The role of the facilitator
  Facilitator
  A facilitator is someone who helps a group of people understand their common objectives and assists them to plan to achieve them without taking a particular position in the discussion...
  
  . (see below) The role of facilitator only emerged as a separate set of skills in the 1980s. It has similarities to the traditional Chair
  Chair (official)
  The chairman is the highest officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office is typically elected or appointed by the members of the group. The chairman presides over meetings of the assembled group and conducts its business in an...
  
   or secretary
  Secretary
  A secretary, or administrative assistant, is a person whose work consists of supporting management, including executives, using a variety of project management, communication & organizational skills. These functions may be entirely carried out to assist one other employee or may be for the benefit...
  
   roles in a meeting but goes beyond them to actively participate and guide the group towards consensus.
• Setting ground rules. Often disregarded by those untrained in facilitation, setting ground rules is a key component of the facilitation process especially in meetings convened to discuss difficult problems or for training. These rules are usually reiterated in some form at the outset of a facilitated meeting or workshop to ensure participants understand the various roles being employed and the responsibilities accorded to each. Certain aspects feature highly such as:
  • being open to suggestions
  • building on what is there, not knocking down ideas
  • allowing others space (to speak or express themselves)
  • mutual respect
  • that the facilitator does not own the topic under discussion and the identity of that owner is clear
  • rules of engagement such as time-outs and procedures that will be adopted
  • how unresolved issues will be captured and dealt with
  • Finally it is key that, during the meeting, it is clear that the owner of the topic is not expected to intervene to impose ideas beyond setting out parameters for consideration or to give insight. The facilitator in this respect owns the process of the meeting.

These are all closely associated with the idea of facilitation as a tool of (workplace) empowerment

Empowerment

Empowerment refers to increasing the spiritual, political, social, racial, educational, gender or economic strength of individuals and communities...

.

• Consulting with the client. A facilitator will work with a client who is someone in an organisation, or diverse group, who is calling them and has invited the facilitator to assist. They will try to understand the purpose and outcome of the meeting by discussing it with the client.
• Making arrangements for the meeting
  Meeting
  In a meeting, two or more people come together to discuss one or more topics, often in a formal setting.- Definitions :An act or process of coming together as an assembly for a common purpose....
  
  . The practical arrangements will be arranged or managed by the facilitator. They will also consider in detail the location and layout of the room. They will research the meeting beforehand to understand why it is being held and that all stakeholders are invited and able to attend.
• Setting the agenda
  Agenda (meeting)
  An agenda is a list of meeting activities in the order in which they are to be taken up, by beginning with the call to order and ending with adjournment. It usually includes one or more specific items of business to be discussed. It may, but is not required to, include specific times for one or...
  
  . They will understand in detail how each item on the agenda is to be tackled and how long it should take. Using specialist techniques they will allow participants to understand all the issues at stake and all alternative courses of action.
• Understanding group norms
  Norm (sociology)
  Social norms are the accepted behaviors within a society or group. This sociological and social psychological term has been defined as "the rules that a group uses for appropriate and inappropriate values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviors. These rules may be explicit or implicit...
  
  . They will not make assumptions about the way people interact and will try to adapt to the ways of different cultures and organisations.
• Understanding group dynamics
  Group dynamics
  Group dynamics refers to a system of behaviors and psychological processes that occur within a social group , or between social groups...
  
  . Whilst tackling the practical aspects of a meeting they remain aware of undercurrents, both verbal and non-verbal, which may indicate problems the group is having. The facilitator may try to assist the group in becoming aware of these.

The role of the facilitator

See the facilitator

Facilitator

A facilitator is someone who helps a group of people understand their common objectives and assists them to plan to achieve them without taking a particular position in the discussion...

 article for details of exactly how a facilitator might run a meeting.

It is important to note that the tasks and responsibilities listed below do not need to be covered by a single facilitator. The role of the facilitator is often shared by multiple people, for instance one person may arrange the logistics before the meeting, another person may keep time and monitor the agenda during the meeting, and a third person may be responsible for recording agreements.

• Prior to a meeting, facilitators:
  • research the meeting before it happens
  • find out the purpose and goal (if any) of the meeting
  • establish who needs to attend
  • draw up a draft agenda and design the group processes to attain the necessary results
  • share the agenda with potential attendees, changing it as necessary
  • ensure everyone gets fully briefed for the meeting and that everyone knows the purpose and potential consequences of the meeting

• During the meeting, facilitators:
  • monitor the agenda
  • keep time
  • manage the group process
  • encourage participation from all attendees
  • help participants understand different points of view
  • foster solutions that incorporate diverse points of view
  • manage participant behaviour
  • create a safe environment
  • teach new thinking skills and facilitate structured thinking activities
  • record (with an agreed phraseology) agreements. They may also note unresolved issues for later debate.

• The facilitator may write up and publish the results of the meeting to everyone concerned including those who could not attend.

The form of meeting

A meeting usually means everyone is together in the same room at the same time and this is the major situation in which facilitation is practiced. With the introduction of modern telecommunications the field has grown to embrace other forms of meetings:-

• Same time same place - the traditional meeting in a room with all parties present at the same time.
• Same time different place - the teleconference with either all parties at separate locations or with some in geographically dispersed sub meetings , all with audio / video connection.
• Different time same place - a meeting focussing on a notice board and poster display which allows individuals to add comments as they pass. Also, a survey using computers in a kiosk would be a "different time same place" meeting.
• Different time different place - meeting via a web link such as discussion groups, forums, blogs, and usenet
  Usenet
  Usenet is a worldwide distributed Internet discussion system. It developed from the general purpose UUCP architecture of the same name.Duke University graduate students Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis conceived the idea in 1979 and it was established in 1980...
  
  . Specialist web-enabled group decision support software exists. Wikipedia discussion pages fall into this category.

External links

• Glossary of Terms for facilitation and facilitators