The benefits of facilitation skills

I often get asked ‘What do you do?’ To answer in a way that makes sense for them I tend to ask: ‘What do you do?’, so that I can relate ‘Facilitation’ to their world. I then take something from their organisational life where a group of people will be struggling to deal with an issue, and I describe my role in that context. Now, I can’t ask you, so instead I’m going to describe a series of scenarios and use them to explain what I do!

A local authority management team and a preferred contractor are seeking to bring the contract to life (not just have a signed document as their reference point). The Facilitator works with both team leaders and helps them tease out what they want to achieve on the day. Often the aspirations are vague, and the Facilitator keeps asking: ‘What will I see when you say you “want to operate cooperatively”? What do you mean when you say: “There will be no surprises?”

Gradually, their answers become more granular and meaningful. These become the ‘Tasks’. At this stage we’re not trying to get detailed answers, instead we want an ‘agenda’ that will have meaning.

On the actual day of the workshop the leaders set the tone and express what they hope for, and the Facilitator will have designed a specific ‘Process’ to achieve each Task. With the help of the leaders the Facilitator decides on the make-up of the groups to take on each Task and will have determined what tools and techniques will help achieve the Task.

Throughout the ‘workshop’ – notice it’s not a ‘meeting’ – the Facilitator is adapting the process (offering different tools/techniques) as appropriate, if the group is getting stuck achieving an outcome. The Facilitator never gets involved IN the Task, instead they focus on designing and applying the most appropriate Process.

The relationship between the Task Leaders and the Facilitator is crucial and the style of the Task Leader is also crucial. Too interventionist and the group might feel there is no point in offering their input, too delegative and the group might feel lost and unable to navigate the Task.

In the factory there is disharmony, the engineers think the problem is ‘X’, the Supervisor is convinced its ‘Y’, Quality Control is blaming the materials, Maintenance thinks there are maintenance issues, several Operatives think they know what’s wrong – but no one asked them! Meanwhile production is stalled, output is down, and customers are frustrated. The Facilitator knows nothing! They are not experts in the production methods or machinery. What the Facilitator is an expert in is: recognising ‘Uncertainty’ – that is when the problem can’t even be clearly defined and isn’t afraid of that and isn’t looking for quick fixes.

The Facilitator has a range of ‘tools and techniques’, they can also deploy. ‘Models’ to help a group of people tackle a situation. Models are often complex and require the Facilitator to take the group through a meticulous process applying the Model to the problem.

One such Model is the well known Six Sigma, there are many others, and a Facilitator becomes an expert in knowing how to use them and more importantly when to use them. Often using elements of Models can be enough – for example in the situation the Facilitator found themselves the use of the Is-Is Not matrix (proper name Kepner-Tregoe Problem Specification Statement) was suitable to get everyone to move out of their ‘box’ and think more broadly.

The problem (and the solution) turned out to be a combination of several factors including: new materials (which were being introduced), servicing (that altered the nature of the machines), weather conditions which affected the product specification.

The Facilitator earns respect by being willing to trust the Process they have designed for the occasion and being willing to adapt to circumstances on the day.

Two Departments in an organisation (it could be in the public sector, business – anywhere) are failing to work effectively. The Managers know something is wrong and yet both Departments don’t feel that it is their fault. The Facilitator doesn’t want to know who’s to blame they’d rather focus on the issues and identify what could be done differently to bring the Departments together.

Often this kind of situation requires the use of the Process Iceberg® because the problem is probably something to do with a misalignment of the Strategic Objectives (and Values) and the Structure and high-level Processes which do not support the objectives. There will probably be ‘Systems’ which have become redundant or inappropriate. Its much less likely to be the direct fault of individual people and even if it is people-based it’s probably a misalignment of Skills and Knowledge.

By helping both the Manager and then the Staff to understand the discrepancies, the Facilitator can help the Departments to achieve a common focus. It may require a series of workshops involving different people at different times and the Facilitator will be trained and skilled in designing such a programme.

I think my definition is: someone who helps a group of people (of any size from two – to hundreds) to handle ‘Uncertainty’ by creating and designing a (bespoke) Process that will enable the group to achieve an outcome that gives hope and direction for the future.

• Facilitation can be applied in a one-off context (tackling a specific issue)
• In strategic change programmes where the organisation is managing change of direction
• Culture change where the organisation needs to act differently from the way things are currently done
• In Projects where issues often emerge and have the potential to derail progress.

Our in-depth guide on facilitation delves into the Process Iceberg, explores the role of a facilitator in more detail, and explains how to facilitate a workshop.

It’s important to see Facilitation as a means of achieving corporate goals. One Director when asked why they had introduced Facilitation into their organisation said that it was because it was crucial to achieving the business goals and to do so a selection of managers, supervisor and staff were trained in Facilitation. They fulfilled a vital role in the organisation’s corporate plan. It wasn’t anyone’s ‘day job’, rather they could be called on by any Department or team to help them tackle issues in a neutral way. It was part of the organisation ethos and practice that Facilitator’s had to be released into the role if required. It had the added advantage that managers could use someone from another department to facilitate an issue in which they might have a vested interest in and therefore not be impartial.

In one organisation, very mature in their thinking, employed staff on a temporary contractual basis to release people to facilitate the huge change programme they knew was needed. Using a facilitative approach to change can demonstrate inclusive participation and leverage diverse opinions to foster innovative solutions – it is very antidote to ‘group think’.

Applying facilitation skills can also improve meeting efficiency. A project manager who uses the tools and techniques in project review meetings and ‘scrums’ can get clarity, direction and buy-in. Facilitation is known to enhance creative problem solving. We already know of Six Sigma and more recently Design Workshops have been known to revolutionise the strategic focus of a business or organisation.

As well as ‘hard’ benefits there are also ‘soft’ benefits:

A Facilitative approach will enhance collaboration across divisions, projects, departments and between teams. Applying facilitation skills will improve group interaction. One technique alone (Feedback) can revolutionise the level of understanding between people and save people literally hundreds of wasted hours trying to gain clarity of purpose.

The traditional role of ‘chair’ is not suited to the modern dynamics of business where people represent many different specialisms. The application of the Tools and Techniques help to manage time and bring clarity and purpose.

The world is becoming less collaborative in all arenas: politics and policy making is becoming more didactic, decision making in business is often focused in one or two people, change is imposed rather than being developed collaboratively. Facilitation can have a place in enshrining the need to involve and engage people. The use of the U – I – A = O + E helps ensure a level of involvement that yields high returns in effecting change. It also provides a mechanism for devolving the implementation of the strategy to ensure all voices are heard and ideas acted upon, especially in larger or more diverse groups.

Using Facilitation can build consensus and enable the group to manage conflict in a way that is less personal and confrontational or at the other extreme – patronising. Facilitators don’t need to use their personality to navigate disagreements; instead, an array of Tools and Techniques (such as SPO and SCA) can foster an atmosphere where consensus can be reached.

Facilitators don’t take sides, instead they help individuals recognise the issues and deal with them rather than let people get bogged down in personality fights.

It is also the case that Facilitation can enhance training. My own introduction to the skills and techniques began when I was a trainer, and I could see a better way of delivering knowledge and understanding. When we see the impact of facilitation skills in educational settings and corporate training then we begin to see its immense power.

At an individual level, Facilitation skills make people much more effective in their own roles or functions. I have lost count of the number of people who have come back to me and told me how the very skills of Facilitation have accelerated their own careers.

We have in this blog focused on the internal use of Facilitators and as was pointed out the use of Facilitators across departments can have great benefits. Nevertheless, there may be occasions when bringing in an external facilitator is of real advantage. Their impartiality is sometimes critical to getting buy-in to a process and they come with no corporate baggage. However, they must be seen to be neutral – no prior briefing about ‘the difficult people you will encounter’ and ‘look out for x’! Be ready for them to challenge the Degree of Uncertainty of the Objective – they come with a detachment that allows them to challenge perceived accepted norms. They will resist quick fixes and they will be honest and real about timescales. For them tackling an Objective that is Uncertain will take three and half times longer than you would think!

It should be obvious from everything above that the Facilitation and the Task Leader are two different people. Normally a director /manager /project manager /team leader can competently manage the day-to-day things that crop up. However, in Complexity and Uncertainty the owner of the issue should focus on what needs to be delivered, leaving the design and management of the Process to the Facilitator.

Finally, we need to recognise that many people work remotely and come together online. If meetings were notoriously known to be ineffective in the past, how much more difficult is to achieve successful outcomes from online meetings? However, with the advent of online platforms that embed the same type of Tools and Techniques that are used in face-to-face events, we can achieve far greater success than would be thought possible.

Facilitation skills and the use of Facilitators can significantly benefit both individuals and organisations by improving how groups function and achieve their objectives. Achieving success is so much more difficult today as we grapple with complex issues that impact on what we’re trying to deliver. People’s specialisms which are vital to reaching sound outcomes mean that conflict, misunderstanding and conflicting agendas can negatively impact what we are trying to deliver. Facilitation provides a positive management approach which all organisations would benefit from adopting.