Facilitation Skills

Facilitation

To facilitate means to make things easier. Facilitators, then, are vital to the growth of your CoP. Recruit members who are skilled facilitators, or consider upskilling and take some professional development courses on group facilitation.

Consider writing a role description for the facilitator. For example:

The facilitator serves as a guide, ensuring that the meeting goes smoothly. A good facilitator listens and encourages diverse viewpoints, helps the group have a substantive conversation, and moves people to action.

You may want to rotate the facilitator role each time you meet. This format helps all of your members practice their own facilitation skills, which can also benefit their respective teams or organizations. Also, consider creating a structure so that everyone is able to participate. For example, assign roles such as a connection activity starter, timekeeper, recorder, tech host, or a closing reflection leader.

Finally, if you are meeting in-person, consider providing food and refreshments, and using an inviting space and configuring the room so that everyone can see and hear one another clearly.