Facilitation is a process of enabling groups to work cooperatively and effectively together to emphasise the involvement of all participants in a meaningful way.
The word ‘facilitator’ comes from the Latin –facilitas, which roughly means ‘easiness’. This means a facilitator is someone who works to make meetings and group interactions easier. Another way of looking at it is the facilitator as a catalyst for better group interactions - the facilitator is not there to provide knowledge or ideas but to make meetings and group interactions easier and help participants make better use of the knowledge and ideas that they collectively possess.
What is the role of a facilitator in participatory or deliberative processes?
In participatory or deliberative processes, the facilitators are impartial in terms of content, because they do not share their personal opinions and they should not lead the discussion. But facilitators are not neutral. This is because the facilitator is responsible for the group and allows the facilitator to care about the participants rather than remain neutral in the face of unproductive or damaging communication patterns.
Facilitators must strike a balance between individual needs and group needs. They are there to steer the conversation and to help participants get to certain outcomes within a certain timeframe - for example, to come up with a list of recommendations. They are therefore are not neutral in the process too.
In some participatory or deliberative processes, there may be a lead facilitator and table facilitators. The lead facilitator leads the whole room, by introducing activities and speakers and is responsible for the overall space and timekeeping. Table facilitators work with smaller groups of people - usually between 5 and 10 people - and will let the participants know what points to discuss and explain and guide any activities, and make sure everyone is able to contribute. The table facilitator will also often capture the discussion on a flipchart or post notes.
When shouldn’t you take a facilitative approach?
Facilitation is not always appropriate. It may be better not to use a facilitative approach if:
- The decision-making timescales are very tight - facilitation takes time
- A particular predetermined outcome from the meeting or event is required
- There is a high level of conflict amongst your participants
- Key decision makers refuse to give up power around the decision
You can learn more about facilitation, and how to facilitate a participatory process. We also deliver facilitation skills training several times a year.