James Surowiecki , author of the “Wisdom of Crowds,” says: “Under the right circumstances, groups are smarter, make better decisions and are better at solving problems than even the smartest people within them. On any one problem a few people may outperform the group. But over time collective wisdom is near-impossible to beat. No one, you might say, knows more than everyone.”
So, how do we achieve the performance Surowiecki describes? We work with your team (small or large) to solicit the collective wisdom in a neutral fashion. Our seasoned facilitators enable, and not direct, your team to get the desired outcomes.
Statistics indicate there over 25 million meetings held daily in the US. Facilitation has become part of or our everyday organizational language. The Latin root of facilitate means to “enable, to make easy.” Facilitation has transformed into a number of meanings in the workplace:
1. Facilitator – A person who enables groups (small and large) and organizations to work and interact more effectively
2. Facilitative Individual – A person who is easy to work with; a team player; someone who is aware of the dynamics of human and group behaviors
3. Facilitative Leader – A team, group or departmental leader who is aware of individual, team and organizational dynamics
If your organization wants to work collaboratively, facilitative behaviors and skills should be in place.
Take this self-test to determine whether or not your organization needs expert facilitation skills to achieve organizational results:
Place a check mark by those that apply.
Our meetings lack purpose and/or focus
Buy-in from team members is weak or non existent
The process to achieve outcomes is not established
Type A personalities dominate meetings and negatively impact outcomes
We constantly run over the established meeting times
The team leader is not neutral or objective
Members ramble on during meetings
We take forever to make decisions people support
Meeting minutes are rarely taken
Action items with champion and target date are incomplete
Team member participation is unequal
Negative conflict interferes with team outcomes
Our meetings are a waste of time, money and resources
/13 Selected
If you checked off more that half of the list, you may need our help facilitating your teams. We can be the facilitators for your sessions or we can your people the necessary facilitation skills. Please contact us.
FACILITATING – Center for Thinking and Collaboration
James Surowiecki , author of the “Wisdom of Crowds,” says: “Under the right circumstances, groups are smarter, make better decisions and are better at solving problems than even the smartest people within them. On any one problem a few people may outperform the group. But over time collective wisdom is near-impossible to beat. No one, you might say, knows more than everyone.”
