2

Rijo George Thomas

SCMS School of Technology and Management
Batch 2
Facilitation

Facilitation is the means by which a person engages people into something. It is a technique
that is usually used to help people acquire, improvise or develop their skills or knowledge.
The most common example for facilitation is a discussion. Facilitation provides
opportunities, resources and support so as to achieve a particular goal or objective. In simple
terms, facilitation is guiding.

How do training, teaching and facilitation differ?

Training Teaching Facilitating

Build a skill Instruction Facilitator just helps
Applying the knowledge Presents the information Guides
Fixed Fixed Flexible
Initiates learning by practice Initiates knowledge transfer Initiates thinking process
and a learned experience
Limited to specific skills Limited to a specific subject Helps participants to
area discover
Maybe on the job Classroom learning distance

Role of a facilitator

A facilitator is a person who brings out the wisdom, knowledge, thinking capabilities of a
person or group. The facilitator guides the discussion to a specific point, preventing the
participants from getting carried away from the topic of discussion. A Facilitator ensures that
things are going in the right direction. A facilitator will always have a neutral stand. He just
guides people, initiates their thinking process. A facilitator can act like a motivator, guide,
peacemaker, questioner, listener etc.

The duty of the facilitator is to support people to think. He encourages people to participate,
bring out ideas, create a positive atmosphere, make each other understand the relevance and
the points that the other participants are speaking about. It helps the group members in
reaching a mutually agreeable solution at the end of the session. A facilitator also helps in
ensuring that the time is properly being monitored. He is responsible for conducting a healthy
discussion that lead to the desired outcome within the time limit. The facilitator focuses on
the discussion, he does not focus much on the content. The participants are supposed to bring
in contents during a discussion.

Tools
2
Rijo George Thomas
SCMS School of Technology and Management
Batch 2
 Hand signals
 Idea storms
 Paired listening
 Role plays
 Go-arounds
 Small groups

Techniques

 Assigning roles – when assigned roles participants tend to be more attentive

 Reviewing – Ensuring that the desired outcomes are achieved.
 Active Listening – Proper listening helps in guiding the discussion,
 Encouragement – Encouraging and supporting the participants.
 Proper Closure – Providing a proper closure can help in enforcing the desired goal.

Platform skills

Platform skills are generally the presentation skills that a person uses. An effective facilitator
makes use of the platform skills to handle his session. The platform skills of a person are very
crucial. It can make the discussion lively as well as dull. Platform skills include

 Voice
 Body Language
 Tone
 Eye contact
 Expressions
 Attitude
 Visual Aid etc.