Facilitation

Facilitation literally means ‘easing the way’. It is a process designed to help a group of people to reach their own decision.

The facilitator is a skilled, neutral person who helps the group to achieve its goals by guiding members through a process. The facilitator takes responsibility for managing the process, enabling the group to focus on the details.

Differences between facilitation and mediation

Mediation is generally used to resolve disputes between individuals, or an individual and an organisation. It doesn’t usually involve large numbers of people. Facilitation is used for large-scale disputes, often involving several parties, an organisation, a department or entire community.

Facilitation is not just used for resolving existing disputes. It may also help manage a situation to prevent future disputes. Facilitation can also be useful for organisations whose members and committee need to discuss major changes and need a neutral facilitator to guide this discussion.

Situations suitable for facilitation

These could range from environmental disputes to workplace planning. Our dispute resolution centres have provided facilitation in a variety of settings:

• environmental disputes involving government authorities, conservationists, and industry representatives
• workplaces
• meetings between agencies
• policy consultations between the government and community or special-interest groups.

We provide facilitation services throughout Queensland. Generally there is a fee for this service. Contact your local dispute resolution centre to discuss your particular situation.

How facilitation works

An organisation or group is faced with a particular problem or task. This may involve reconciling competing interests or points of view. There may be several individuals, groups or organisations involved.

One party contacts the dispute resolution centre to get the help of a facilitator. The facilitator designs a process that will enable representatives from all the interested parties to establish a common goal and work constructively towards it. The facilitator then guides the participants through the process. The facilitator must be:

• seen by the parties as neutral in relation to the content
• impartial in their handling of participants
• accountable to the whole group
• responsible only for process decisions.

Benefits of facilitation

Facilitation has a number of benefits:

• it increases the chance that all voices will be heard
• it reduces the likelihood of manipulation, bragging or bullying
• it acquaints everyone concerned with the costs and benefits of alternatives and the many interests that have to be considered
• it makes it more likely that the outcome will be acceptable to all, and that the decisions reached will be implemented.

There are particular benefits for managers and other decision-makers. Having a neutral facilitator:

• demonstrates a commitment to a more open and consultative decision-making process
• builds goodwill, enhances the credibility of the agency that arranged the facilitation, and strengthens the commitment that the other stakeholders feel towards the process
• frees the manager or agency to participate in content discussions and decisions with the group
• maximises the likelihood that the participants will feel satisfied with the procedures used as well as by the outcome.

Research indicates that ‘being heard’ is often just as important to people as the actual outcome of a decision-making process.

Confidentiality

The degree of confidentiality is decided by those involved. Facilitation often involves large groups of people, and the issues under discussion tend to be public, so complete confidentiality may not be possible.

However, facilitators take an oath of secrecy. They promise that they will not discuss particular facilitations publicly.

The process is also ‘privileged’. That means that nothing said during a facilitation can be used in a court of law.