In organizational development (OD) and consensus decision-making, facilitation refers to the process of designing and running a successful meeting. The field of organization development (OD) has had several definitions. ... Consensus decision-making is a decision process that not only seeks the agreement of most participants, but also to resolve or mitigate the objections of the minority to achieve the most agreeable decision. ... Meetings are sometimes held around conference tables. ...

Facilitation concerns itself with all the tasks needed to run a productive and impartial meeting. Facilitation serves the needs of the group in its decision-making. It does not lead the group, nor does it try to distract or to entertain. The word leadership can refer to: the process of leading the concept of leading those entities that perform the act of leading. ...

Aspects of facilitation

• The role of the facilitator
• Making arrangements for the meeting
• Setting the agenda
• Understanding group norms
• Understanding group process

A facilitator is someone who skillfully helps a group achieve its objectives without personally taking any side of the argument. ... Meetings are sometimes held around conference tables. ... An agenda is a list of points to be discussed at a meeting, along with the order of points to be discussed. ... The word norm coming from the latin word norma which means angle measure or (lawlike) rule, has a number of meanings: A social or sociological norm; see norm (sociology). ... In organizational development (OD), the phrase group process refers to the behavior of people in groups, such as task groups that are trying to solve a problem or make a decision. ...

The role of the facilitator

See the facilitator article for details of exactly how a facilitator might run a meeting. A facilitator is someone who skillfully helps a group achieve its objectives without personally taking any side of the argument. ...

Prior to a meeting, facilitators:

• research the meeting before it happens
• find out the purpose and goal (if any) of the meeting
• establish who needs to attend
• draw up a draft agenda and design the group processes to attain the necessary results
• share the agenda with potential attendees, changing it as necessary
• ensure everyone gets fully briefed for the meeting and that everyone knows the purpose and potential consequences of the meeting

Facilitators then run the meeting, taking care that it stays on the agreed agenda and keeping an eye on the allocated time. They ensure the recording (with an agreed phraseology) of agreements. They may also note unresolved issues for later debate.

The facilitator may write up and publish the results of the meeting to everyone concerned including those who could not attend.

Principles of facilitation

• Statement of Values and Code of Ethics for Group Facilitators
• Teach them to fish: helping people "do it themselves"
• When the true leader leads the people say, "We did it ourselves"

External links

• Worldwide Network of IAF-Certified Professional Facilitators http://www.facilitator4hire.com/
• The International Association of Facilitators: http://www.iaf-world.org/
• The International Association of Facilitators Methods Database: http://www.iaf-methods.org/
• The Group Facilitation Listserv: http://www.albany.edu/cpr/gf/
• The Master Facilitator Journal: http://www.masterfacilitatorjournal.com/home.html
• For Student-Led Facilitation, visit http://www.studentfacilitation.net

References

• Janet E. Danforth (CPF, IAF Assessor for the International Facilitator Certification CPF)
• Ingrid Bens (Author); Facilitating with Ease!; Jossey-Bass ; ISBN 0787977292 (New & Revised Feb 2005)

• Sandy Schuman (Editor). The IAF Handbook of Group Facilitation: Best Practices from the Leading Organization in Facilitation. Jossey-Bass, 2005. ISBN 0-7879-7160-X

• Roger Schwarz (Author); The Skilled Facilitator; Jossey-Bass ; ISBN 0-7879-4723-7 (New & Revised July 2002)
• Ron Kraybill (Author); Structuring Dialogue: Cool Tools for Hot Topics; Riverhouse Epress(2005)
• Ron Kraybill (Author); Group Facilitation: Skills to Facilitate Meetings and Training Exercises to Learn Them; Riverhouse Epress(2005)

• Thomas Kayser; Mining Group Gold; McGraw Hill - 1995.

• Laura Spencer (Author); Winning Through Participation; - 1989.