Generally facilitation is told as following 3 bullets.
- Support team activities, and do steering to process smoothly
- Support and forward any intellectual creation activities which are done by team e.g. problem solving, idea creation, consensus formation, education and learning, transformation, self-expression and growth
- Be neutral, manage team's discussion process, inspire teamwork, and support to maximize outcome
I, as BTF Consulting, would like to work as a facilitator (who does facilitation) in my client's meetings and workshops.
In the meeting, for example, person A brings an idea-A, and person B brings an idea-B, then I as facilitator try to weave the idea-A and idea-B trying to yield "wow" idea. In other word, I work as a catalyst for weaving ideas. My client owns meeting content. I work with key person in my client and design a meeting or workshop, e.g. design process how the meeting should progress. In the meeting or workshop, I try to facilitate as designed, and adjust as appropriate aiming for their discussion goes smoothly.
Sometimes they do heated discussion, and they concentrate the discussion topic. I think it really should be because they are in the interested party of the topic. Also sometimes they concentrate side tracked topic. Result would be the meeting or workshop does not go as designed, and nothing decided at the end of the meeting or workshop.
What will happen by introducing neutral facilitator?
Facilitator is not in the interested party and does not own meeting content, so I do not get in the meeting content. Instead, I write down the side tracked topic on flip chart (I call it parking lot) and post it on wall so that all meeting members can see it will be come back again later, and then I ask them to return to main topic with agreement. (I come back to the side tracked topic later.)
The discussion content has my client's confidential information.
I make non disclosure agreement with my client. I do not leak the confidential information outside.
