Why do I need a facilitator?
You might be developing a strategy for your organisation or planning a big project and wondering why you need someone external to help you. After all, you have lots of expertise in the room.
The reason organisations like yours ask for external support is that they get better results.
This is a common scenario: A charity is developing a new strategy. They bring together the whole senior team, trustees and some key stakeholders from across the UK to work on it intensively for two days. One of the Directors is asked to design and run the event.
Planning something like this takes time. How much time did she spend planning the sessions when she should have been attending to her important role? She came up with some interactive sessions, but could an experience facilitator have been more creative about engagement?
On the day, a senior member of staff was unable to fully take part, as she was running the event. Vital insight and expertise are lost to the process.
If an organisation is going to spend time and money bringing a group together for important discussions or decisions, not using a facilitator is a false economy. Her’s some tips on what to look for in a facilitator:
Do they take the time to understand your organisation and the aims of the session?
Is it clear to both of you the intended outcome?
Will they design a session for your organisation’s needs, or do they have a standard team away day or trustee development session format?
Do they ask about the needs of the group, making activities accessible considering personalities, culture, neurodiversity, physical and sensory impairments?
Have they made you be realistic about what can be achieved in the time? Most people overestimate what can be covered effectively in a day.
All of this preparation takes time, but it’s worth it to get the very best out of your investment in this meeting or event
If you think that I can help you make your next away day, planning meeting or strategy process more powerful, get in touch.