Nowadays, facilitating skills are becoming more and more important. They help in the achievement of results in groups where each member’s contribution and collaboration lays the foundation for success.
Facilitation involves a set of skills, which includes listening, questioning and summarising. Although it seems easy, effective listening takes conscious effort. Epictetus once said, “God has given us two ears and one mouth so we may hear twice as much as we speak.” When the team is better informed through active listening, the ability to make better decisions is increased.
Furthermore, we can use various types of questions to provoke group members’ thinking. Leading questions should be avoided as we do not want to guide group members in a direction for which they have no genuine commitment.
Summarisation serves two purposes. When we summarise what has been discussed and if there is any deviation, the speaker will make the correction instantly. In addition, it helps other team members to further digest the paraphrased message from a neutral third-person perspective.
We can also fine-tune our communication according to group members’ learning styles, i.e. visual, auditory or kinesthetic. People of different styles have their unique characteristics and we may intentionally match their body language and voice or speak their lingo to build rapport. The “controlled” similarities between the facilitator and group members can make the team more cohesive.
In addition, facilitators are process managers. Therefore, the top priority is to encourage group members to share their views, while keeping the interactions on track.
If we can put into practice some of these skills, we are well on our way to becoming an effective facilitator as well as team player.
Source: Edited from the english@work e-newsletter by 938LIVE. Subscribe to the english@work newsletter.
