Facilitation is not such an easy task because the facilitator is responsible for the productivity of the session participants and directing people to achieve results, taking into account the peculiarities of their personalities and work styles. The facilitator’s task is to lead the group through the process to make it easier for them to achieve the goal. A good facilitator understands the process of how people think during mass meetings. He suggests the sequential steps that the discussion should take. It leads the conversation to the goal and helps to summarize. The facilitator must have certain skills and competencies to work successfully with groups.
The key skills of a facilitator are the ability to communicate, resolve conflicts and show leadership. Any phrase can be perceived differently depending on the pitch, tone of voice, non-verbal signs that you give to listeners. A facilitator needs to be able to communicate with people: show sincere interest in the thoughts and feelings of another person, listen carefully, be unbiased and remain neutral. During an effective group session, all participants walk at approximately the same speed and speak the same language. The ability to effectively resolve conflicts and compromise is also important, as there are situations when members of the same team have different opinions. It is necessary to take into account and listen to the idea of each participant and come to a compromise.
The method of influencing participants is leadership qualities. A leader inspires confidence, and you want to follow him. For example, these skills helped me implement a training project: it was important to resolve a controversial issue as soon as possible since our group was late with the deadline for the project. I took responsibility for myself, and my leadership qualities helped convince the participants to make the right decision. I listened to each of them, highlighted the pros and cons, and we quickly sorted out the difficulties.
Forming teams is the most desirable and logical thing that can happen to a working team, so working with a team for any manager should be one of the mandatory skills. Teamwork makes everyone more open and tolerant, teaches how to interact with other people, establish connections and collaborate effectively. A person in a team learns to show empathy, develops emotional intelligence, learns to listen, respect, and understand others. However, there are certain disadvantages, for example, teamwork may require additional time. The lapping period takes time: the work of the team is slower, especially with large team size. The whole team is experiencing some difficulties when collecting at the appointed time. Working in a team in addition to the main activity can become a serious excessive load.
It is best to come to a consensus in any quarrels so that neither side feels defeated and disadvantaged. This way, participants can peacefully resolve any conflicts. However, it is not easy to reach a consensus; it requires self-control and negotiation skills. For example, having little experience with people, I could not compromise at work when I did not agree with my colleague. Stubbornness got the better of me, and I did not listen to the opinion of my colleague and began to argue with him. Therefore, a conflict arose, and the solution of the problem was delayed. It can be concluded that the difficulty is emotionality, which must be overcome.
In conclusion, practicing the skills of a facilitator, like any other skill, requires practice. The good news is that all these skills can be learned. All groups are diverse. In working on skills, you will notice what works best for other teams and different companies. Developing the skills of a facilitator, different behaviors, and mastery of interacting with different types of personalities will help create a great result for team members.