"If everyone thinks alike then someone is not thinking".

The Role of the Facilitator​

Facilitators help a group of people find common goals, design plans, and generate agreements without taking sides or presenting their own ideas. Facilitators are not consultants (they do not propose concrete ideas), advisors (they do not advise), nor coaches (they do not deal with the development of people). Their role is to organize interaction dynamics "from outside", being completely impartial. Good facilitators are skilled in various tools and methodologies, which they use according to the context.

Why is having a Facilitator an interesting idea?
Organizations are awash with meetings. Let's put aside all those that are unnecessary (we can solve that with a better Organizational Design), and go directly to the important ones: those meetings where you need to share relevant information, discuss ideas, generate plans, formulate agreements, and review actions. People who participate in those meetings are usually focused on their role/theme, and that is perfect. Someone needs to make sure the meeting itself is productive - that is, guide the interaction. If the leader (or any other person in the group) assumes this role, one of two things can happen: 1) if he is a good facilitator, the group will remain unaware of his opinions and points of view, or 2) if he wants to express his ideas and points of view, he will be a bad facilitator because he will be biased in the management of dynamics. To be very clear: you cannot ride two horses at once. Having a good Facilitator allows the Leader to relax about handling the dynamics and allows him to contribute his own ideas. It also benefits the group/team as it creates the conditions for all voices to be heard, helps to bridge differences, and, generally speaking, ensures that meetings are very productive.

What I do

I facilitate specific meetings and also processes (series of meetings).

How I do it
1. I learn about the purpose and plans of the organization.
2. I learn about the purpose of the particular meeting/process.
3. I generate a specific design for the meeting/process.
4. I facilitate the meeting/process.
5. I submit a visual record of the event.

I can be of help if you are in any (or several) of these situations

• You are a member of a Board that cannot agree and needs to move forward.
• Your team needs to focus to generate ideas, but it usually ends up dispersing.
• Important meetings end up being 90% catharsis and 10% productivity.
• There are many conflicts (latent and/or explicit) between people who need to meet and collaborate.
• You know that important issues are quiet in meetings and discussed in the hallways and you need that to change.
• You feel that the meetings you participate in could be much more productive.
• You will start an innovation/change process and need help managing it.
• You feel sick about meetings and would like to generate a more productive scheme.