Group Facilitation Skills

Meetings are important activities in the corporate world where the employees interact with each other, keeping in view a particular agenda. The meetings are, however, not limited to corporate houses. Any group which is formed with a certain purpose need to have meetings. Now, to conduct these meetings effectively, need of a facilitator arises. Facilitator is a person with neutral views on the topics of discussion. A fair and open way of seeing problems is helpful in fulfilling the purpose of the meeting.

Effective Group Facilitation Skills

Communication is one of the effective skills of facilitating meetings. It helps clear doubts if any and also explains what has to be done, quite effectively. The facilitator should first build a strong rapport with leader of the group and together set objectives with mutual agreement. This helps in moving towards the goals with ease. The support group facilitation skills are no different than those required by facilitators working in small businesses, corporate world, etc. One should make use of the various facilitation tips and techniques. Let us have a look at facilitation skills that one should possess.

• At the start of a meeting, one should explain the purpose/objective clearly. A proper review of the agenda follows next; each of the member should then be allocated with responsibilities.
• The facilitator should communicate about his/her role to the group. Members of the group cooperate and add valuable inputs during the course of discussion, only if they become aware of the exact nature and purpose of meeting being conducted.
• Presentation is very important during the process of communication. Topic of discussion is understood quite easily if the facilitation has good presentation skills.
• Keeping a clear record of the details of a meeting also is one of the responsibilities of facilitators. It its thus one of the important meeting facilitation skills and helps take decisions with ease.
• A facilitator should bring out the best in people. He/she must draw out the team members' opinions and thoughts pertaining to the objective.
• Reticent members need more space and time to express themselves. A facilitator needs to have the skill to communicate with them effectively in order to draw attention.
• Making observations about individuals of a particular group taking into account the group dynamics is also one of the responsibilities/skills possessed by facilitators.
• A facilitator should be a good listener.
• There are chances that a group leader wants to disseminate a hidden agenda by means of/through the facilitator. Job of the facilitator is to maintain transparency in the happenings of a meeting and also to provide everyone with and equal opportunity to express his view. It is therefore, advisable not to promote any kind of hidden agenda.

Group Facilitation Skills Training
The most important thing to become a good facilitator is to understand the stage of development of a group. The objective this training is to prepare an individual in a way that he/she is able to maximize contributions made by members of a particular group. A self-assessment questionnaire is completed by participants of the facilitation skills training program. It is helps them identify/decide the style of facilitation. Effective facilitation techniques are taught to the participants. Group discussion also is an important part of this training program and the participants are allowed to handle various topics during these sessions.

The training includes preparing an individual to play a role as facilitator. The skills which need to be possessed by facilitators are enlisted in the article above. Information presented above, brings us to a conclusion that a facilitator should not just be a good orator but also an excellent listener.