What is facilitation?

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Have you ever felt a sense of dissatisfaction after a workplace meeting or a community gathering? The cause of this feeling might be that you couldn't express what you wanted to say, the purpose of the gathering was unclear, or it simply ended in a heated argument or clash of opinions. In other words, it was not effectively facilitated.

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By having a facilitator in such situations, meetings or gatherings can be transformed into meaningful events that achieve their objectives, giving participants a sense of purpose.

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• I provide facilitation support for gatherings, meetings, discussions, and dialogues involving people with various personalities and attributes.

• Facilitation can be conducted in person at community lounges, meeting rooms, classrooms, and other settings, as well as online through tools (e.g. Zoom).

• The duration of the facilitation can vary from 60 minutes to several days, depending on the type of events to be facilitated.

• In a free consultation session, I will hear from you about the kind of facilitation support you require for your specific gathering. This serves as an opportunity for you to assess whether having a facilitator is an effective intervention.

• Once you decide to engage me as a facilitator, I will conduct interviews with you and, if necessary, with the expected participants of the gathering to select the facilitation process and tools.

 

As a facilitator, I primarily work with clients who are involved in various types of gatherings, including:

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• Any gathering of people, from an international organisation, non-profit organisation, education institution, volunteer group and community group where persons work to achieve a common goal.

• Gatherings with diverse participants or members from different cultural backgrounds and value systems.

• Regular meetings, annual retreats, project evaluation meetings, organisation-wide mission and vision review, and sessions for reflecting on current activities and setting goals for the next period.

• Group dialogues and brainstorming sessions on specific topics, issues, or challenges.

 

A facilitator plays an important role in designing and managing the space where people gather. This design encompasses not only the physical "space" but also the selection of the most suitable tools and processes for the gathering's objectives.

While hosting or moderating is often a part of a facilitator's role, their responsibilities extend to various areas. For example,

in this video, the facilitator's role is explained as that of an architect, pilot, and guide:

 

I received facilitation training from pioneering organisations in the facilitation profession, such as The Canadian Institute of Cultural Affairs (ICA Canada) and ICA Associates. I am a Certified™ Professional Facilitator by the International Association of Facilitators (IAF), a global organisation of facilitators. The IAF has established a set of core competencies for facilitators, including 'Create Collaborative Client Relationships' and 'Guide Group to Appropriate and Useful Outcomes'.