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Facilitation:

Facilitation as a collaborative process is a method of achieving group consensus where a third party [facilitator] assists with the consent of the group, guiding them through to a highly inclusive consensus to a problem or an opportunity. Good facilitation leans on a number of ingredients; open and inclusive listening, respect for individuals and different points of view, patience with the process, flexibility, a strong belief that synergy and overlapping goals will emerge in a committed group setting, and shared responsibility.

As a facilitator, I work as a non-coercive neutral, in a collaborative way, to enable each party or persons within each party facing a challenge or an opportunity, to better understand their own and the other's interests, concerns and realities. Based on this understanding, my goal is to help the parties negotiate a consensus or understanding that serves each party's interests better than with other options or other competing processes.

A simple comparison of competing processes follows:

	Cost	Time	Results	Client Control over Process	Relationship Satisfaction
Hierarchal Authority	low	low	poor	poor	poor
Motions/majority vote	average	average	average	average	average
Facilitation w/wo vote	average	average	good	good	good

Collaborative facilitation is often called 'participatory decision-making', and its success is highly dependent on its core values of full participation, mutual understandings, inclusive solutions, and shared responsibilities. A commitment to the process by all participants is necessary.

For examples of successful facilitation, see the link examples.

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Last Modified: Saturday, 23-Jan-2010 21:05:13 PST