In the beginning I will write about very basic and important topics related to Process Facilitation which than build up to the workshops and tasks for everyone to do on his/her own. First thing’s first
Base
To be a Facilitator you have to remember four simple rules. They are very simple and self explanatory. Therefore, I will keep the writing short and to the point.
Rule No 1: Step Away from “Conveyor Belt”- hierarchies, linear production models and focus on “something else”. Something else means working in mixed teams and understanding group dynamic processes. I will write in more detail about team building and group dynamics in later posts.
You might have noticed that you work in a circle; wake up go to office or university, comeback home, eat, sleep and it continues. I studied the same Mathematics book that my teacher studied and was teaching for 26 years. This has to change and understanding theses basics of facilitation can bring the change to the ways of living, working and studying. This rule is here to remind you that take a look at your ways of interacting, studying, and working in groups. The change happens over time and it will look scary at first but it is not. It is the most wonderful thing that can happen to you.
Result: It will change and radically improve productivity and the way we do business (as an example) today.
Rule No 2: Learning By doing- a dialogue based and participation setting.
For the thing we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them.
– Aristotle
Learning by doing is the important rule to remember in order to become a good Facilitator. Learning by doing is all about communication and participation and by working together as a team.
- Learning is about participants exploring together.
- It’s about achieving real impact.
- It is about understand rather than providing one absolute answer.
Result: Weather you are an individual or working in a group this rule will make you a better team player and a leader.
Rule No 3: Knowledge is not given – It is taken.
This is pretty much self explanatory. No one can force you to learn, it is by choice and you have to do it on you own. Being Process Facilitator I can provide you a frame work and some key points. The rest is up to you.
- Experienced based learning promotes the development of a progressive and life-long learning approach.
- Experiencing something and reflecting on what we have experienced is the most powerful tool for learning.
- Take active part and responsibility for your own learning and influence your teams and class.
By taking responsibility in getting the knowledge for your own learning you are also responsible to share your knowledge with your peers, teammates, colleagues, business partners and so on. By this you can influence and have a positive impact on your task at hand. To become a Facilitator you need to adopt reflection. I will discuss more about reflection in the later blog posts and in more detail.
Result: Living in constant change and ’learn how to learn’ is a skill that is very valuable in every aspect of every profession.
Rule No 4: Participation and Climate
These are very important topics and rules to follow. You cannot just come in a group and sit through it. Your participation is as important as any other person in the group. Climate here means that the atmosphere in the group. There are many factors involved in sabotaging the environment of the group work. Like coming late, not communicating, not doing the task given and many more. Being individual and a group you have to think about this rule and follow it as best as you can. Because:
- Successful results are dependent on a climate.
- It promotes learning both individually, and as part of a group.
- You active participation on the ongoing process, your life long learning journey, is the key to success.
Result: Remember your behavior affects the group and you can also be affected by the behavior of your group.
To sum it all up in one sentence I can say that effective team work is the corner stone in the process to increase productivity, revenue and in finding new business opportunities and markets.
Please feel free to add comments and discussions. See you in the next post.
Imran