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"Getting to Agreement"

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Facilitation

What is Facilitation?

Simply put, according to the dictionary definition, facilitation literally means "to make easy or easier" and is a process designed to assist a group of people to reach their own decision and outcome.

However, facilitation can achieve far more than just keeping a group on track during meetings with their agenda and note-taking.  Facilitation can:

"Organisations that have learned how to think together and that know themselves are filled with intelligent action." - Margaret Wheatley

Whilst facilitation is certainly not limited to resolving an existing dispute, it can be an effective process for discussing major issues that may erupt into a conflict and as a way of preventing future disputes by guided discussion. 

What are some of the benefits of Facilitation?

How does Facilitation work in practice?

Whilst each situation is different, most commonly an organisation or group of individuals face a problem or task which may involve the reconciliation of competing interests or viewpoints.  The situation may involve a number of individuals, organisations or groups.  One of these parties engages a facilitator who assesses the background of the situation via a number of different methods, establishes group goals and issues and designs a suitable process to assist all parties in working constructively and collaboratively towards a successful outcome. 

The facilitator's role is to guide the participants through the process.  The facilitator is:

"Through sharing our thoughts, we inspire one another, share visions and create the future. We discover common values and build commitment. By thinking through and analyzing how, we determine how we can do things together." - Ruth Hild, The Art of Facilitation

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