Are your meetings or team workshops as boring as a guided tour of a mashed potato museum?
It might not be ‘what’ you are sharing or workshopping, it might just be that you need to be a participant and not the guy up the front of the room. Let’s face it, most of us think we are brilliant at karaoke untill we watch the video the next day.
Cue music…. bring in a business facilitator!
For some reason (see research links at end of post) facilitators get results. They make it looks so easy, like James Bond dating Pussy Galore. Anywhoooo, Let’s look at the gold a faciliatator can bring to your business.
1. Facilitators don’t care
Look, they’re lovely people, just like you and me, and they have good hearts etc, but they truly don’t care about the crazy team dynamics, who stole John’s lunch from the fridge, the footy score last weekend, or the way Sally looks at Harry when they’re out for coffee.
They focus on success for your business!
It is that simple. No matter whether you need to solve a problem, organise stakeholders to make a decision, implement a large change, or sort out the mess before the suits arrive. An independent business facilitator will swoop in, sort it, and empower your team to feel like Marvel superheroes.
“Perhaps the most effective way to grab a person’s attention
is to ask them to solve a problem – Ellen Burns-Johnson”
2. Great facilitators are unicorns
“Do you feel lucky, punk, well do ya?” Since .44 magnums are illegal in most countries, find a business facilitator with significant business background, excellent personal and professional skills, creativity, and extrodinary communication and engagement skills. They’ll blow your head clean off (in the spirit of Dirty Harry). With any one of these skills, facilitators are awesome, but with all of them, they are a must have.
Forget selling your first born to pay for a consultancy who often brings their templated tools and wide-eyed graduates with enthusiasm to burn. Get yourself someone who has been in the trenches, knows the tricks of the trade, gets the best from you and your team, and delivers value.
Take me, Deb Field, for example, I’ve enjoyed a long career in large organisations in various roles. I have taken these skills and set up Qwinco (‘The Quick Win Company’) to work with business leaders to make a difference. I have been repeatedly called by CEOs, leaders and entrepenuers, to support their business. From small startups, family owned businesses, large complex organisaitons and $50m Harbour Bridge govenment projects, I have continuously proven my value. They’ve trusted me for decades because I am a gifted listener, widely experienced with extensive skills, who brings joy into the workplace. I make it look simple, like Arnold schwarzenegger saving Jamie Lee Curtis in True Lies, ‘the bridge is out… the bridge is out!! (PS if you haven’t seen True Lies, we cannot be friends!)
Imagine if you could create a bridge that would never go out. A business facilitator will simplify, clarify and solve any business problem and leave behind strong foundational structures that will never go out!
3. Facilitators make it up
If you get a paint-by-numbers business facilitator, your results won’t end up with an Archibold Prize. Results matter, right??!!
The business facilitator you need is one that will understand what you (reallly) want, and creatively design a pathway to (really) get you there. You’ll have to be open with them. It may require you to be brave and honest, even about that fact that it was you who took Johns lunch from the fridge. Busted!!
If you are not completely delighted by your business facilitator, check under the hood as they may have used a template, borrowed a set of whiteboard pens, and created their own business cards.
Do yourself a favour, contact me at Qwinco. This one action may change your bottom line forever! It has for many!
4. Facilitators stay in their lane, mostly 🙂
Facilitation is not coaching, mentoring or consulting. It is not creative problem solving or team building. However, some facilitators have these capabilities AND can change hats at any time to step into these roles when needed,
I also love a buttery chardonnay, with a rockin’ salad, after a walk with my favourite cavoodle, Sasha, on a sunny beach day. Life is good!
WHAT IS FACILITATION REALLY?
Typically, business facilitation is the art of designing and executing workshops, meetings and discussions, enabling co-design and collaboration. It is a structured approach executed with an empowered team to achieve an end result. A key factor is the participation and active involvement of the business leader.
NEVER GO IT ALONE
Facilitation is a team sport. The best solutions are never found in just one person, it is the co-creation of solutions that streamlines the problem solving process, builds engagement and gets sustainable results.
Let’s face it, if you are going to go down, take everyone with you! Even better, if you are going to succeed, you may as well have a bar full of celebrating fools rather than a quick champers at home with your partner! Let’s party!
5. Facilitation is boring
Although facilitated sessions may appear unstructured and easy, you will find every question is intentional, every step is focussed and executed with clarity and confidence. Most of your team, and even you, will not notice a great facilitator. A bit like a great football referee, they run the play and don’t stuff up the game.
The typical way it works:
STEP 1 – Meet with the client and ascertain the needs and wants. This should not be rushed. This discussion uncovers your requirements or problems, ensuring they are all identified and understood. Without this, your next steps are likely to look like the morning after an office Christmas party.
STEP 2 – Design the session. It may be highly structured or semi-structured. The design is deteremined by the number of people, the desired output, the location and the time provided. A great facilitator draws from their experience and designs an interesting, powerful, output driven session or workshop. This is definitely an artform and takes years of experience to master. The sessions are often fun and participatory. The design includes the method for each step, the tools required, the collection mechanisms for the output, and the questions required to stimulate engagement and participation. Never underestimate the importance of powerful, well designed questions.
STEP 3 – Conduct the workshop. It’s important to be prepared! Facilitators have everything ready to go the previous day and arrive early to set up the room. They ensure the client is present and ready to provide any clarifications throughout the workshop. Facilitators ensure all participants are comfortable, engaged and providing or recieving value. Greeting them as they arrive is a great first step. Moving around the room ensures no one is favoured or excluded. It keeps the pace fresh. The key focus is executing the structure, driving participation, gathering output, and staying on time. The business lead is a key particpant. They empower their team, lead by example and communicate the importantce of the session, usually in an opening statement.
STEP 4 – Document the output. Successful workshops achieve the clients desired results and produce the information needed to action, implement or move forward. Documenting in a style that mimics the collection of the output helps the client and the participants align to the output they generated.
VIRTUAL WORKSHOPS
These days, so many sessions are conducted online. The same approach works for online and in-person session, however the tools used are often different.
THE PERILS OF THE BUSINESS LEAD RUNNING THE WORKSHOP
It takes years of training and experience to design and conduct a workshop to achieve the clients desired outcomes. Most importantly, the client needs to be present and participate which is not possible if they are facilitating. The beauty of having a professional run your session is they are independant and outside the dynamics of the organisation.
Unfortunately, workshops run by the boss may have the follow outcomes:
– The team may not be willing to open up about issues or concerns
– The boss may need to participate as well as run the session, rarely works
– Team dynamics continue to play out
– A lack of experience may result in a poorly designed session
PROFESSIONALLY FACILITATED SESSIONS ARE MORE PRODUCTIVE AND ACHIEVE BETTER RESULTS
There is signficant research showing the value of professional business facilitation:
- Higher return on investment
- Enhanced participation in group exercises
- Elevated team spirit
- Better commitment to agreed output
- Superior solutions and problem solving
- Collective buy in to business objectives
- Improved clarity and confidence
- Reduced waste of time and money
If you have a problem to solve, a plan to create, a brainstorm opportunity, or a startup needing some meat on the bones, take advantage of our offer below.
What are you waiting for, click the blue button!!