3 things that Beginning Facilitators reminded me of…

I spent the last 2 days coaching beginning facilitators and this blog is a collection of what that experience reminded me of, for process facilitators, not least myself.

1.  Pre-work, Pre-work, Pre-work

Spending time thinking about the intended outcomes of the meeting and to design an appropriate process that would deliver the outcomes is essential.  More often than not, a lack of clarity about the aim of the meeting and what it is to achieve creates no small amount of challenge for the facilitation of the meeting itself.  The importance of putting an agenda and an overarching question on flip-chart paper together is not to be under-estimated.  They act as powerful reminders and points of focus throughout the session.

2.  Facilitation tools and not rituals

Ground rules and parking lots are not just facilitation rituals.  Several groups during their post-practice debriefing had commented that they found it difficult to manage over-enthusiastic or disruptive individuals in their respective sessions.  These were the same groups that did not draw the group’s attention to the agreed ground rules when disruptive behaviours erupted.  When I highlighted this during the debrief, there were clear moments of epiphany!

Likewise, the parking lot is meant for containing group outputs that may not be salient to the meeting’s purpose, but are still important enough to be raised.  Parking lot items are not meant to be parked and forgotten, and facilitators should highlight this at the close of the session to the group.

 

3.  Facilitating Fruitful Outcomes

This brings us to what process facilitators are hired and paid good money (at times!) to do – help a group achieve its outcomes.  It’s easy to get into that deceptive logic that whatever outcomes we arrive at the end of the day were what the group was capable of achieving, because, well, facilitators are to be neutral.  (So if the group was contentious and divisive, then good for (or is it more likely that it’s good luck to them…)

While it is true that facilitators are neutral in the content domain, we do have the duty of encouraging the best to emerge in the group.  For that to be authentic, we need to first believe that the group has the ability and then for us mirror that confidence back to the members of the group.  Regardless then of the outcomes, as facilitators, we would be able to look back on that experience and say with full conviction that we did our professional best for the group.

Noel E K Tan

Facilitation and Midwifery

What is the essence of facilitation?  A metaphor that has been used to describe it, is that of midwifery (McMorland and Piggott-Irvine, 2000*; Kristiansen and Poulsen, 2005**).  While metaphors are never fully fitting the items they are used to refer to, when unpacked, they can reveal much.   The midwife’s role is to assist in the preparations for birth such as care for expectant mother, the delivery of the baby and the immediate post-birth care of the infant.  There is much similarity between the facilitator and the midwife, and I’ll be elaborating on a few key points of convergence below.

1.  The midwife is the process expert

The midwife has 2 levels of knowledge; that of knowing what expectant mothers go through and that of knowing how to help them.  On the other hand, the mother is toggling between new knowledge about the do’s and dont’s and also enlarging her own capacity to undertake certain common-sense ‘nesting’ actions.

Quite similar to the midwife,  the facilitator arrives in the group situation with a good understanding of group dynamics and a repertoire of process tools to help the group arrive at desired outcomes.  The group may well possess domain knowledge and functional expertise for the issue/s at hand, but will require the assistance of an external facilitator to help the group to find common ground as the basis for their collective action.  For instance, the facilitator can bring to light group blindspots and individual assumptions can be clarified by the facilitator, for the purpose of team learning.

2.  The midwife is NOT the mother

That the mother is the care-giver of the child speaks volumes also of the responsibility of the group for the emergent outcomes.  The midwife and the facilitator are respectively responsible for the safe birth & emergence of the outcomes that the individuals in the group are essentially at peace with.  Conversely, the long-term nurturing of the child and development of group outcomes to their rightful end, are the tasks of mother and group respectively.

Underlying this division of labour is not merely that of expertise but the truth of ownership.  The true mother, just like the one in the tale of Solomon and the 2 mothers, who was willing to give up her baby to her rival rather than see it cut up; will be the one who instinctively protects and has the child’s well-being at heart.  In the same vein, because the processes employed by the facilitator allows the group to develop common understanding and perspectives, the solutions engendered belong to the group, not the facilitator.

3.  A good midwife is an empathetic one

What makes a good midwife is not just her head-knowledge.  Rather, for all mothers- and fathers-to-be, the midwife is a vital source of support and empathy, given her knowledge of the birth process as well as the anxieties of all expectant parents.  The fact that the midwife has no stake in the child’s future development and that she does not feel the birth-pangs one bit, does not preclude her from wanting the best start in life for the baby.  A good facilitator is no different – he needs to have the same qualities of compassion and understanding for the group, as it members struggle through the process of ‘birthing’ eg weathering conflict in order to reach a fruitful outcome.

Another important aspect of the role of both midwife and facilitator is the calm they can bring to their respective situations.  Based on a blend of expertise and centredness, they both offer a calm and clarity of mind that can only soothe the nerves of both the mother-to-be and the group.  That calm can raise the confidence of those involved directly in the birth that all will turn out well.

As a facilitator, I have seen the power of metaphors that help individuals arrive at a shared understanding, far quicker than long speeches do.  I have come to realise that the midwife metaphor best describes my role in helping groups bring to life their ideas, strategies, new perspectives, learning and sense of identity.

Noel E K Tan

* McMorland, J; Pigott-Irvine, E. (2000). ‘Facilitation as Midwifery:  Facilitation and Praxis in Group Learning’ in  Systemic Practice and Action Research. Vol 13, no 2. pp. 121-138.

** Kristiansen, M; Poulsen, J, B. (2005).  Midwifery and Dialogue in Organisations:  Emergent, Mutual Involvement in Action Research.  Mering:  Rainer Hampp Verlag