5 Roles of a Facilitator

And in this article we’re going to get specific about how to foster a Co-creative culture within your team by utilizing specific communication patterns that are the hallmark of facilitation.

Does a Co-creative model solve every problem in your work life? No. But it does support consistent alignment between the team and organization’s goals, values, and objectives.

What do you think would change if everyone on your team was committed to a a co created vision, objectives, goals, and standards of work?

Consider the relief of  less scrambling to put out fires? What if team members participated enthusiastically and consistently bring quality ideas to the table? Would the systems be better and better over time? Might your team be more productive? Would you be able to hire exceptional people, because they recognize that you’re work culture is the exceptional outlier? Would you have an increased sense of competence in your leadership. This is all entirely possible. I’ve seen it over and over again when leaders fully commit to building a culture of collaboration using a Co-creative model. But it’s not something that is done alone. It requires engaging your team in new  patterns of communication. And it takes your commitment to supporting each team members growth and development.

If you didn’t get an opportunity to read the article about the 5 default modes of communication, you can find it here: https://www.learningfacilitation.com/blog/5CommunicationModes

The question I receive the most is: How do I develop effective Facilitation skills when I have so many other responsibilities each and every day?

One helpful trick is to isolate or “chunk” the time you commit to it. One highly effective way to do this is limit the application of new learning to team meetings. If you can practice new skills in that contained environment, the entire team gets to experience you modeling the new behavior. And with experience, that skill will naturally begin to blossom into other situations throughout the day.

Over the past 35 years of studying organizational psychology and working as a facilitator, I’ve identified 5 roles that a skilled facilitator embodies to foster successful team meetings. Each role brings its own intention, behavior patterns, and effective language to the meeting. 

The Roles are: 

Includer

The Includer overtly invites everyone into the conversation and distributes the time for everyone to speak. When reminding or asking each person to speak or share, add grace and avoid demands. New or shy people often need extra support to feel as though they can safely speak into the room. It’s okay if someone isn’t comfortable speaking, the importance is that everyone fully understands that the opportunity exists and the team values their input and unique perspective. The reason the Includer role is so significant is that when team members truly believe and feel their viewpoint is valued, trust increases. When everyone speaks into the room we get better ideas,  increased trust in our team, and increased confidence in our abilities to solve complex challenges.

Time Tracker

The Time Tracker is encouraging while monitoring and reporting on the relevant time. The goal of the Time Tracker is to add information to the group, not to make decisions for the group. Teams often lose track of time in meetings and having someone who can simply report on how much time has passed and how much time is available can keep teams focussed on the desired outcome. For example: Timekeeper says, “We’re 30 minutes into this conversation.” And the group can decide to continue, move onto the next topic, or add time to the meeting. Time Trackers are encouraging, kind, and realistic about the time available.

Coordinator

The Coordinator encourages people to stay focused on addressing the stated challenges and getting answers to questions. They keep an eye on the whole group and keep the conversation moving forward, reminding the group of the intention of the meeting - especially if the conversation is going down a rabbit hole. The Coordinator models positivity and encouragement, taking time to show others they are listening even when the goal is to shift the conversation back on task. For example: “That gave us some valuable information, can we go on so we don’t get stuck on this?”

Reviewer

The Reviewer’s primary responsibility is to share the success of the group that has occurred in the meeting by reviewing decisions that were made and their intended outcomes. It’s highly valuable to highlight positive shifts in energy - which often occur during “ah-ha” moments. The review may look something like: “Here is where we were… and this is where we are now.” This type of Reflection shifts the perspective from the individual experience to the group as a whole, which helps everybody see how the group is successful in a collaborative process. It also is a necessary reminder that the team can solve problems effectively. For example: “Once we understood why the problem was occurring, the energy shifted and we all started contributing more.” It’s helpful to use a pattern of: Once we ______ , it changed _______ .

Cheerleader

The Cheerleader is the keeper of the creative spirit. They pay attention to when the conversation gets stuck, slows down, or turns to “yes, but…” or “no because…” types of responses. This is a good time to ask the group to take a pause and rather than say “yes, but…” to use the phrase “It could work if…” Being a helpful Cheerleader requires a lot of intention and focus, particularly in difficult conversations with firmly held perspectives. Encouraging people to focus on the potential solutions vs potential problems of an offered solution is helpful to create a more generative conversation. For example: “That’s interesting, are there any more ideas about how to address this?” or “Yes, and I’m wondering if we could do both.” or “Yes, let’s write that one down, and what’s the next idea?”

These are the 5 most impactful roles to incorporate into your personal, and your team’s, tool box. 

Even as a skilled facilitator that’s been practicing for 30 years, there are still times that I need to remind myself of a role or 2 while in the middle of an engaging meeting. So it can be a freeing experience to share the roles among the team. 

There was a time when I thought  it was difficult for teams to learn the skills necessary to build a Co-creative culture. However, by showing teams the “5 Roles” framework and how to break Facilitation into discrete and namable behaviors, teams are able to use the common language and embrace the shift more quickly than I previously thought possible.

Let’s go into our team meetings with the intention to embrace these new skills. When leaders commit to developing facilitation skills, their teams become more effective, efficient, and engaged. The increased collaboration reduces misunderstandings and conflicts, leading to smoother workflows, allowing the team to focus on productive tasks rather than managing internal quarrels. There is so much to be gained by intentionally incorporating these behaviors into your team meetings.

If you have any questions, comments or feedback, I love to hear from you.

Please email me here: Joan's email