What it takes to be a great facilitator

Lengthy presentations are a tired conference format.

To come to concrete and effective solutions, we need lively and focused discussions with people of different views.

But lively discussions need a glue to hold them together. And that glue is a moderator.

What is a facilitator?

It is the facilitator who sets the context, drives the discussion, and engages the audience in an interactive dialogue. The moderator creates the tone, enables all the participants to feel comfortable and involved. Lastly, the moderator synthesizes what they hear throughout the discussion in order to maintain focus and highlight common themes.

What skills does a facilitator need?

Come prepared: Be very comfortable with your discussion plan so you can lead confidently. Know much as you can about the participants: What experience and knowledge do they have? How might you utilize/call on this during the discussion?

Be an "interpreter". You will want to make sure that everyone understands the points being made. Summurize and rephrase people's contributions to double-check that you are all on the same page – "so, what you are expressing here is..." or "If I understood properly, you mean that...." This is especially important if you have a mixed group (academics, civil society, students etc).

Be neutral: To successfully facilitate discussions, you should make sure you do not monopolise the conversation, but instead invite people to talk. Keep a neutral tone and ask questions rather than asserting positions. Still, don't hesitate being a bit provocative by challenging their thoughts with crucial questions. By having this neutral attitude, you will influence a lot the openess of other participants in welcoming others' opinions – they may even enjoy being confronted and challenged by other points of view!

Include everyone: Ask questions like "Do you share the same views?" "Do you have any further insight or experience on this topic?

Be objective: Constantly step back from the discussion; make sure you don't get too passionate about the topic, in order to be able to articulate the ideas shared by others. 

Keep the discussions on track

• Beginning of the discussion: Outline the objectives, the process and the outcomes expected. You may want kick start the discussions with a question, a case study, or a short statement, asking for feedback.
• During the discussions: Sum up people’s points in a clear and concise manner. You may feel the need to do this at several key moments of the discussions (e.g. when a certain number of insights will be shared, and particlarly when you want to move on with further questions or aspects of the discussions.). If you feel discussions starting to go off track, remind people of the objectives you outlined at the beginning.
• End of the discussions: Wrap-up the key messages approved by the group. Make sure these align with the objectives.

Create a warm atmosphere and have fun. To generate lively discussions you need to smile, be relaxed, dynamic and enthusiastic, throw provocative throughts whenever appropriate, and make sure people address their points to each other and not only to you.

What facilitation techniques should I use to achieve my objectives?

There are hundreds of different moderator techniques that you could use in your discussions. You need to learn which one will best help you acheive your aims and objectives.

The KS Toolkit which was developed by CGIAR, FAO, IFAD and others, has a wide range of Knowledge sharing tools - but many of these are very good for use in moderation/facilitation of discussions during meetings. http://www.kstoolkit.org/

Read more

• Great tips, tools and lessons on the CGIAR ICT-KM blog at: http://ictkm.cgiar.org/
• The great facilitator, Nancy White's experience sharing: http://www.fullcirc.com/
• Ewen Leborgne's Agile KM (Knowledge Management) recipies: http://km4meu.wordpress.com/
• 10 rules for being a great moderator, InProgress: http://bit.ly/1t4JhtZ
• 10 tips on moderating a panel discussion: http://bit.ly/1m78ShJ