Achieving Efficiency When In Charge Of Dialogue Facilitation

By Nancy Moore


Being an effective facilitator for a chat will mean that you are taking people through a process with outcomes that are clearly defined. It will also require you to encourage the individuals to participate to get meaningful results. If you are a leader, you are likely going to find yourself with the role of being a facilitator. Here are the principles to help you be successful in your dialogue facilitation.

Keep in mind you are not the pilot, but the controller of air traffic. Therefore, your role is to offer guidance and control over the chat to ensure you attain the set goals. Anytime a group of people comes together, and they will not be moving at a similar pace. Therefore, it will be up to you to establish the contribution that everyone should make.

Come up with group norms. Ensure the group you are controlling takes time to discuss and establish the grand rules for how they will work together. It may be possible for these rules to be offered in advance. However, in most cases, it may be up to you to come up with these norms. It will be critical to deciding the person who will speak next, and the way conflict will be handled.

It will be vital if you major on questions other than answers. The primary purpose of your leadership should make sure that each person achieves their aspirations and also the entire team achieves its goal. Even when you feel you are experienced in the topic that you are discussing the main aim is to let the people present contribute but not to teach them what you know. Prepare some guiding questions but not answers.

Making sure you do not ask open questions will be important. The most critical thing is to make sure the people talk and bond with each other freely. Asking things like the best way to achieve a specific goal will help them discuss without going off the topic. However, you should not ask them questions that will make them give you a no or ayes answer.

Ensure you are building a strong team at the end of the discussion. All the members of the team should be ready to create a bond with each other. You could help them by asking questions that will help in making the team stronger. What you ask should be diverse so that people in the group contribute depending on what you what to get. You should also help the individuals to open up and let others know them better.

Be prepared with a starting point for the conversation. You may find groups that do not require to be prompted to begin talking. However, others will wait to be directed by the facilitator. Ensure you have something prepared that may aid in starting the conversation off.

Though it is good to encourage everyone to say something, avoid forcing anyone to it. You are sure to come across others who will talk less than the rest. Unless the job mandates them to keep speaking up, avoid forcing anyone to say something. Everyone should be free to say what they have in mind when it is appropriate. This is what will lead to a productive chat. Be on the lookout for the quiet ones and notice any body language showing they want to say something.




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