Being a great facilitator is a key skill - but not everyone finds it easy. Whether it’s simply getting up in front of a room full of people, or handling difficult or challenging participants, there are lots of ways in which it can feel hard. Improving your facilitation skills will help boost your confidence and make everything feel easier - here’s how:
Remember that a facilitator plays lots of different roles
These include clarifying points, listening, observing, dealing with disputes and moving the discussion on at the right time.
What’s the agenda for the group?
You’ll make everything flow much more smoothly if everyone in the group knows what the agenda is, as well as the goal for the session.
Get excited
If your enthusiasm is infectious enough then you’ll bring everyone else along with you and this kind of energy can mean the group is more engaged.
Use eye contact to help encourage people to get involved
Non-verbal communication can be very powerful, especially in a group situation where you want people to join in. Nods and smiles can give people the confidence to speak up - and research has found that, once someone does that for the first time, they’re much more likely to keep doing it.
Be the facilitator but not the focal point
In order to avoid the participants always looking to you for guidance, or deferring to you, you may need to find ways to blend in. This could be something as simple as sitting with participants rather than standing at the front of the room.
Think ahead and take steps to head off any potential issues
For example, is there too much on the agenda or is there a participant that you know is likely to react in a certain way to some of the topics. You can’t control everything that happens but thinking this through in advance means that you’re likely to be better prepared.
Always stay neutral
No matter how strongly you might feel about a particular topic, it’s not your job to influence the outcome either way. You’re there to help the others in the group reach a consensus together - not to influence that consensus. So, it’s vital that you stay neutral throughout.
Work on being more objective
This is a hard skill to nurture but one that is incredibly useful for a facilitator. Being objective means being able to entertain all views and see each one from that person’s perspective. Guide the discussion to move it forward but leave the influencing up to those that are taking part.
Know when to focus on the detail - and when to go into the big picture
Details can be really important to the final discussion but may also significantly slow things down. It’s vital to have the skills to move the discussion on in the right way and know when each of these is appropriate.
Be self-aware and ask for feedback
It can be very useful to ask participants about their experience with you, especially how you made them feel.
Being a great facilitator is incredibly powerful - these are some of the ways that you can improve. Find out more by booking onto our Introduction to Facilitation Skills training course...