Leading through Facilitation

Not only are times tough financially and commercially but they also challenge our values and emotions. Organizations and the people in them face hard decisions in managing change.

There are essentially two opposing philosophies to making these decisions.

One emphasises the leader as the person who knows best and feels it’s her/his responsibility to tell others what should happen. Many leaders feel that, to avoid conflict and challenge from the people they manage, it’s easier and less confrontational to ‘tell’ those people ‘the way forward’.

The other approach is a quieter – admittedly more difficult but much more inclusive – way, that asks questions and engages the people. With appropriate leadership, teams, groups, stakeholders and even whole communities can be encouraged to be participative.

There’s a strong moral and financial rationale to involve and engage people who’ll be affected by big decisions. This can be brought about by effective facilitation. This skill is extremely valuable for organizations as they face ever greater challenges, tackle issues that are uncertain and handle emotions and challenges to people’s core values.

People who develop this craft of facilitation could offer organizations the appropriate approach to use in tough situations. In this way, they could add real value to organizations and the economy as a whole. Groups, presented with a facilitator who helps design, adjust and apply effective ‘process’, will find this facilitator to be highly valuable. Under this facilitator’s guidance, meetings and workshops will achieve the desired outcomes with speed and efficiency.

Across a wide range of sectors, management teams are using a collaborative, facilitative style. They’re discovering that, performed appropriately, facilitation can deliver outcomes in an effective, timely and constructive way that won’t compromise on the key issues.

If you’re interested in becoming a Facilitator, or want more information, click here.