Facilitation Skills

There are many positions in industry that require facilitation skills. And in light of the evidence that an active audience is more easily persuaded than a passive audience, the ability to lead discussion in a group situation is of growing importance.

Further, there are business situations in which companies need to know the deeply held opinions and beliefs of their customers or employees, and it falls upon the facilitator to create an environment in which participants are comfortable saying what they really think.

In fact, a meeting is judged to be a success if:

1. The person doing the judging got to speak
2. The person doing the judging felt that she was heard
3. The person running the meeting was judged by the person doing the attending to be efficient, effective, and fun.

Facilitation skills are rare

While a few of us may be born facilitators, most of us have to learn it on the job because we have facilitation thrust upon us by our work.

And since presentation skills are more commonly taught, we often assume that once we have our confidence as presenters we can transfer the skills to facilitating.

This makes some sense, since facilitation skills do overlap with the skills of presenting. But they differ profoundly too, and require very different attitudes and approaches.

The greatest difference is the demand that facilitators listen to their audience-in real time, on stage, for real-without disengaging to prepare their response.

Since good listening is a skill more rare than the skill of speaking, and good speakers are precious in themselves, a good facilitator is a rare treasure-one worth keeping, and one worth making.
How do we develop facilitation skills

We break it down into three key areas:

1. Managing the venue
2. Mapping the discussion
3. Managing the audience

The environment can play a crucial role in the success or failure of a meeting. Battles are won or lost before the fighting starts, and meetings are the same.

The facilitator must have a plan, and be prepared to abandon the plan. Like a jazz musician, she has a score, and must allow her participants to improvise on the theme.

Finally, the facilitator must stand guard over the discussion, and let no man or woman disturb or disrupt it with bombast, negativity, or passivity.

Contact us to learn how our facilitation skills training can be tailored for your company

Our facilitation skills training can..

• Speed your facilitators up the learning curve
• Reduce their tentativeness and make them more confident and assertive
• Improve their listening skills
• Strengthen their powers of observation
• Teach them how to connect with participants
• Provide them with planning tools to ensure successful meeting outcomes

Good facilitators are made, not born. You can develop a team of highly motivated and skilled facilitators by contacting us at 973-783-4205 or at contactus@simswyeth.com

I look forward to hearing from you.

Sims Wyeth
Tel: 973-783-4205
Fax: 973-783-0113
Email: contactus@simswyeth.com
Website: www.simswyeth.com