The What, The Why, The How
By Michael Wilkinson, CMF
Managing Director, Leadership Strategies, Inc.
Last month I had the opportunity to facilitate a training session for 120 HR professionals from one of the major insurance companies. The session, The Seven Separators of Great Facilitation, is one of our marquee programs designed to have participants understand and practice seven skills we find essential to excellence in facilitation.
Masterful facilitators...
1. Establish and maintain a high energy level.
2. Ask starting questions that draw a vivid image.
3. Have a full toolkit of follow-up question types.
4. Recognize the "power of the pen."
5. Carry the group through the process.
6. Prevent and resolve dysfunctional behavior.
7. Design customized processes to address the need.
(As an aside, the room was shallow and very wide, so the 16 tables were two-rows deep and extended across the width of the room. Since I don't believe in facilitating from a stage, I probably got in a 5-mile walk by the end of the day!)
Despite the room dimensions, the session was well received. At dinner with the sponsor following the session, she made a comment that provides a key insight into facilitation in action.
"Michael, in our organization, people think facilitation is what you do when you record on a flipchart and distribute the notes for review. But you showed them and modeled for them the behaviors of a facilitator. We don't often give people the behaviors." -- Session Sponsor
As I reflected on her comment, I realized how insightful it was. See, the Seven Separators is designed to give participants details on what to do, how to do it and why to do it, and provide them an opportunity to practice the techniques. The sponsor was underscoring the value of giving people the behaviors - the how to do it. Let me give you an example...
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