Facilitator Skills

Facilitator Skills Overview

A good facilitator could mean the difference between a successful group session and a failed one. For this reason, it is vital for any person who holds the responsibility of facilitating a group of people to learn and acquire facilitator skills. There are several characteristics that make up facilitator skills, and these include: communication, self-confidence, questioning techniques, conflict management, rapport building, active listening, and data management. But aside from these, there are other things that a person must know about in order to become an effective facilitator.

This section discusses in detail all the essential information you need to know in order to develop facilitator skills. It discusses the skills that constitute facilitator skills, and in addition, it also talks about other important aspects needed for a successful facilitation such as intervention techniques, how to set rules and agenda for the group, how to create synergy among the group, icebreakers to use, and even how to plan and prepare for an event that requires the need to facilitate the people in attendance.

Training Objectives

By the end of this self-paced training, you will be able to:

• Learn and understand the concept of facilitation
• Know the roles and responsibilities of a facilitator
• Understand and develop the core facilitator skills, which are: building rapport, active listening, effective questioning techniques, and data gathering
• Find out how to set rules and guidelines, which is important to ensure a smooth flow of activities.
• Determine the techniques used to help you facilitate a group of people successfully.
• Learn about the important methods used in order to maximize the objectives of any group session or gathering

Target Audience

This training program is helpful for job responsibilities that include facilitating meetings, workshops, conferences, business get-togethers, trainings, and brainstorming sessions. Such situations require effective facilitation skills in order to carry out your objectives successfully.

1. Facilitator Role and Responsibilities

   Facilitation is a task that requires leading a group session in a smooth and organized way.  Often in a seminar or convention the person who leads the event is called a facilitator. But this role is also carried out in other aspects.  One example would be a member who is in-charge of presiding the meeting is doing the task of a facilitator. In

2. Characteristics of an Excellent Facilitator

   The role of a facilitator is not that easy if you think about guiding the group throughout the whole process to achieve a smooth and productive result of a discussion training session or team activity. The facilitator guides the participants to a learning journey” in discovering their own experiences and exploring those of others

3. Facilitator Core Skill 1: Building Rapport

   In order to effectively reach out and work with the team members a facilitator has to learn the fundamental skill of building rapport. That is the need to create and maintain empathy or a sense of connection with the members. Building rapport is not done the easy way; people have different ways of establishing it with other people. There are those

4. Facilitator Core Skill 2: Active Listening

   In any aspect of communication listening is an integral part of the whole process. Basically we listen to understand and comprehend the message that the speaker is saying. But this becomes a challenge to many of us since we tend not to make use of good and effective listening. According to statistics we listen to only about 25-50 of what we hear

5. Facilitator Core Skill 3: Effective Questioning Techniques

   In any situation questions are asked for varied purposes and one of which is to check for comprehension. Some people ask questions for clarification. Some ask to obtain answers or information. Asking questions is a skill that every facilitator should develop and master. The questions that facilitators ask to the participants may bring a dramatic change

6. Facilitator Core Skill 4: Data Gathering

   One of the essential skills and core responsibility of a facilitator is to record the data and output gathered in the course of the discussion and making sure that they are being acted upon. For recording and note-taking to be successfully done the facilitator has to know and be clear about what needs to be recorded how to record it and who will

7. Creating Synergy in Facilitation

   Teamwork is a fundamental value that every facilitator must promote to all participants in every facilitated session program or workshop. In order to achieve the objectives of the group they have to share common interests and perceptions. Depending on the kind of facilitator that manages and directs the group the participants can easily attain their

8. Facilitation Ice Breakers

   Many facilitated sessions start with an ice breaker. This technique can be an opener for a workshop or seminar and effective way to start a team building program. Participants engage in interactive and fun activities before getting to the main course of the discussion. Ice breakers also allow people to get to know each other and help them work together

9. Facilitation Planning and Preparation

   Facilitating an event or a workshop is a huge task and an important role to take. If chosen as a facilitator for a particular group activity or organizational event realize that you have the potential to carry out the function because the management sees your abilities and skills in facilitation. So given the facilitation skills you have and your

10. Group Discussion Facilitation

    In a facilitated discussion the group seeks to arrive at an agreed decision after all viewpoints have been entertained. The facilitator does not make the decision because this is not his responsibility. The role of a facilitator when it comes to decision-making is more of assisting and leading the group to achieve a common understanding of the issues

11. Facilitator Intervention Techniques

    In a group discussion the primary role of the facilitator is to manage the traffic or flow of conversation keeping the interaction smooth by guiding and controlling who speaks when. At the start of the session the facilitator should establish the ground rule for the discussion part and review the guidelines before the discussion starts. In order

12. Setting Facilitation Rules and Agenda

    A very crucial part in the preparation for your facilitation role is setting the guidelines or ground rules.” Since the primary function of the facilitator is to ensure smoothness and to make the entire process easy establishing the ground rules will help in governing the group and the interaction of each participant throughout the course

13. Creative Facilitating Techniques

    Many facilitators get to use at least one type of visual aid to help them in their facilitation task. Visual aids enhance the learning process of the participants and increase retention of the grasped knowledge during the discussion. When planning to use any visual aid the material should be prepared ahead of time. During the preparation stage of

14. Focus Facilitated Discussion

    Perhaps one of the most challenging functions of the facilitator is to keep the entire process on track from the onset until it culminates to the closing part of the event successfully. Probably time is a major factor in staying on track. But the flow of the discussion is another factor to consider as well as the type of participants present

15. Facilitator Tips

    Every participant who joins a workshop or program expects a facilitator to be professional at all times. This person should be an expert in the given role. This is what every facilitator needs to uphold and demonstrate. Keeping a professional demeanor is not just about faking it for as long as you can but making it a true and natural reflection