I see many people asking themselves what kind of training and studies they need to have to become facilitators. Within my practical experience as a facilitator of co-creation and innovation processes, it seems to me that it takes a combination of soft skills - active listening, empathy, self-expression and communication skills - with technical skills - conflict mediation, problem-solve technics, art of asking questions, etc.
I also believe that everything should start from the mentality of truly believing in the systems response, sincerely respecting that every human being has the potential and the ability to use multiple intelligences to serve the group of people in front of them at that moment, in the face of that proposed challenge.
Facilitation is about knowing how to deal with people, their behaviors, ways and abilities and building processes that make the best use and combination of this rich material to achieve the desired answers and results to any type of challenge.
The Association for Talent Development defines facilitation as “the act of involving participants in the creation, discovery and application of learning insights”. Facilitation is an essential tool to bring the necessary structure to work together.
In a world that can be seen as increasingly fragmented and chaotic, leaders who can build participation, alignment and meaning are not only finding more success, they are also standing out amidst the homogeneity of discourses of performatization of work. Facilitation skills is still a superpower that passes under the radar of leaders and managers, unfortunately.
One of the possible reasons, perhaps, for this to happen is the misunderstanding built in which facilitation is associated with post-its, flipcharts, colored pens and idea parking lots. If we define facilitation as "the act of engaging participants in creating, discovering, and applying learning insights," as the Association for Talent Development (ATD) defines it, to make collaboration easier, then any leader would be required to acquire some level of facilitation skills, isn't it?
Facilitation = facilitate thinking, feeling and action
Leaders who understand how to invite people into a participatory environment and use the group's energy to innovate fit well in today's context. With the world calling for more inclusion and equity, tomorrow's leaders need to be facilitators.
When leaders understand how to design, drive, and use the process, they can provide their team with clear process steps they can use to solve problems on their own. This increases the autonomy of employees and helps them create their own decision-making capacity.
Facilitation helps by providing a method to arrive at solutions without telling them what to do, but by providing the basis, the structure, so that individual and collective potential is activated to achieve amplified results.
Where do I start?
Overall, you should be good at:
Listening
Questioning
Problem solving
Resolving conflict
Using a participative style
Unbiased view
Empathizing
These skills lead to building better, high-performing teams that work together in any environment. Also, regardless of whether you are facilitating in person or digitally, there will always be physical methods/tools you can use to structure the way people will interact to create; or even which tools will serve as stimulus or support for the generation of ideas.
As a professional, you will need to develop a personal portfolio of tools (which are the activities and techniques at your disposal when designing a session) to help you design and manage the challenges you will be facilitating.
Sincera Space is the strategic & creative space that offers methods and tools that help you flow at your best. We believe that Facilitation is a super power, which can be developed by anyone and everyone. Our methods and tools help you to have structure so you can conduct conversations and work processes with your team and customers.