The multiple roles of a social process facilitator

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The thing I love most about being a facilitator of group process - some like to call us social process facilitators - is that every process is different, and therefore demands different interventions from the facilitator. A facilitator has many different roles depending on the nature and demographic of the group she is facilitating, the purpose of the group, what the imagined outcomes are and the context in which it is happening.

In the last while I have engaged with an interesting and diverse array of groups and social process, and each one had its challenges, its unexpected outcomes, its surprising revelations and its moments of inspiration. I found myself in situations where I was confident and sure of myself and in a zone of (wow I am really on a roll here, I am feeling this group and they are feeling me) to (ahem this doesn't seem to be going so well, this is not what I expected, should I say something or just shut up and allow things to unfold), to (this feels like being in cruise mode - I am just taking a backseat and really just letting things flow). And so this social process facilitation is all about working intuitively and in the moment - having a well thought through plan, but then being prepared to let it go or change when it needs to) it is about being responsive, reflective, reactive. But all the while it is like a dance between you and the group - knowing when you should lead and when you allow the group to lead you - but staying connected to the group is the key to successful facilitation, as the minute you allow yourself to disconnect is the moment you will lose the group, and they will feel your lack of presence.

Now this presence thing is very challenging because as human beings, we do trend to drift at times, or think ahead about what we need to be doing, but we could miss an important moment or subtle group dynamic shift, so being a facilitator demands quite a heightened superhuman ability to constantly remain connected and present in order to intuitively respond to the situation.

As you are going about this there is also your multiple roles and identity and how they impact on the process, as we also add to the dynamic of any process, with our baggage and ways of viewing the world. I have found that in order to be a good, open and fair facilitator - you need to be nonjudgmental, see the world with a beginners mind (meaning no preconceptions), and be willing to be challenged - so definitely not defensive. This too is a huge ask as it needs a lot of personal development work and processing of own issues, in order to get clear about where your triggers might be. In my experience this has been a process of experiential learning as I have learnt something about myself from every process I have facilitated - both  affirming and constructive criticism - as one of the things I have welcomed and built into my work has been space for feedback and review from both colleagues and participants. I have also consciously attended various capacity building seminars and courses, where I was able to receive feedback as a learner.

So lesson one - if you want to be a good facilitator be open, receptive and nonjudgemental, learn to use your intuition and work in the moment! And be aware of those elephants in the room - in fact sometimes the elephant is you and you may not even realize that you may be the one holding the group back! If you can constantly be working on yourself as your own best tool and be open to feedback along the way - you will become a conscious learning facilitator who is able to tap into and use her gifts  to the benefit of the group!

  



  

Comments

  1. Lynn30 June 2012 at 19:52

    A brilliant, insightful and well written account Desiree. I'm really enjoying your reflections on your facilitation practice.

    ReplyDelete

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