October 10, 2014

Good qualities of a facilitator for a workshop/SHG meet/Hangout session

A good facilitator always keep in mind the GROUP PROCESS.He always strive for the best output of the discussion taking into consideration the point of view of all the participants rather than going along with individual point of view.The facilitator assures that the equal division of bread and every member get his/her loaf of bread without fail.

Some times, in quest of of making it work, the facilitator tries too hard and finally it ends up with all the talking done by facilitator itself and most of the members feel disappointed with all their words remaining in their mouths only which they wanted to speak.
For a stammering related workshop/SHG meet, it can be very dangerous.Such a facilitator slowly but surely can kill the community in an extended period of time.new members will not join anymore and the old ones will also start looking for alternatives.Because for a person who stammer, the most important expectation from any such event is to get adequate opportunity to speak.
Fellow stammerers will listen to your story and will admire you for all the hard work you have done and doing for your speech, but, their ultimate pleasure and satisfaction lies in the process of speaking and expressing their self.
They just want to speak out loud and get rid of all the burden of unspoken words they have treasured due to their fear of stammering in the outside world.
So, anyone who is chosen as a facilitator is supposed to be a person who have already experienced all this and is supposed to behave accordingly.
A facilitator should speak effectively and spread all the relevant information in minimum words and let the members do enjoy all the juggling of words among them.He/she should understand the fact that he/she is not a host, rather he/she is more of an silent observer who will make sure the member enjoy the event complying to the standard mutually agreed guidelines.

I am writing it because in my initial days of facilitation/co-facilitating TISA events, initially I do used to make such mistakes unintentionally.But, after getting direct/indirect feedback from the members and observing by myself, I have understood that lesser a facilitator speaks, more efficient he/she becomes.
So next time you go for facilitation of any communication workshop or SHG meet or Hangout session; just explain the mutually agrees guidelines to all the members in minimal and let them enjoy the discussions and observe them silently :-)



3 comments:

Satyendra said...

Very true. Good facilitator remains invisible and still manages to get things done... It is a fine art; comes thru constant practice..

ABHISHEK said...

You have expressed the unwritten laws very well..

kumar kundan said...

Agree.
Facilitator should just make sure he makes 'speakers feel easy' and don't get actively involved.
Good write up Ashish bhaiya.