What is a facilitator?

Peter Senge’s observation describes the challenge many organizations face in their pursuit of synergy. An exceptional facilitator can help organizations raise their “collective IQ” to 120 and far beyond! We help organizations see their future more clearly and make progress more easily.

Our facilitators play as many as five roles, depending on the nature of an engagement:

• Group process design
  • Designing the process by which the group will achieve its objectives
    
• Group process facilitation
  
  • Tapping into the group’s wisdom
    
  • Leading the group on a journey toward:
    
    • Consensus
      
    • Action
    • Intended results
      
• Skills development
  • Giving participants the leadership and other skills they need to implement their ideas. This includes training that takes place in real time and on the spot as the process unfolds rather than in a classroom detached from the work.
    
• Organizational process improvement
  
  • Streamlining the way work gets done to:
    
    • More effectively and reliably fulfill the enterprise’s Mission
      
    • Improve productivity
      
    • Enhance morale and the quality of work life
      
• Advisory role
  
  • Providing advice, while clearly distinguishing the facilitator’s views from those of the participants, in order to maintain the integrity and credibility of the process.

A facilitator is a leader who possesses certain values and a particular style. In an article in Training magazine, John H. Zenger describes how such leadership:

• Provides visionary inspiration, motivation and direction
• Generates an emotional connection between the leader and the led
  
• Attracts people and inspires them to make incredible efforts in a common cause.

A widely-respected Chief Financial Officer said about the facilitators of Progress Consulting™ ...

What do that facilitators of Progress Consulting^TM do? It's difficult to describe. They develop trust. They develop teamwork. They raise awareness. They help us to understand the issues we face more clearly. It’s nice to know they are there. We know they can guide us. That gives the comfort to push ourselves further then we otherwise would.

As a result, we arrive at a clearer image of the job we have to do. There’s no way in the world we would be accomplishing so much in such a short time without their help.

A. S. Meneguzzi, Chartered Accountant