Facilitation

Facilitation is the use of an impartial third party to act as a moderator for group meetings. The facilitator manages the meeting and discussion process but has no decision-making authority. Facilitation is similar to multi-party mediation, but more general in scope.  Facilitation may be used when there is a conflict or disagreement that needs to be resolved or when there is no substantive conflict but the group has numerous issues to discuss and needs assistance organizing and pacing the discussion. Facilitation may also be used to help newly established groups develop effective team dynamics or where disruptive interpersonal dynamics are limiting a group’s effectiveness.

The Facilitator’s Role
• The facilitator does not make content decisions for the group, but will manage the discussion process.
• The facilitator uses active listening skills—such as summarizing, paraphrasing, and open-ended questions—to assist the participants with articulating and clarifying their ideas.
• The facilitator will keep the group focused by setting time guidelines, redirecting the group when it digresses, and maintaining a “parking lot” of ideas to return to later.
• The facilitator will manage conflicts and disagreements to keep the conversation productive.
• The facilitator will identify and clarify assumptions so that the group can discuss them openly and productively.
• The facilitator will keep track of the discussion, recording ideas and decisions as they occur.