Do you need a facilitator?

Most people work too long hours, feel stressed or don’t have enough time in the day to do all the tasks they need to.  Managers and executives however can free up time which is priceless by using a certified facilitator.

How do you know if you need a certified facilitator in your meetings?  If you think of or hear any the following then we would suggest you need a facilitator.

• I spend all my time in meetings
• I work too many hours
• I wish our meetings were better / effective
• We have meetings for the sake of having meetings
• That was a waste of time! 
• That never achieved anything!
• That will never work!
• If only they would listen! 
• I had far better things to do with my time!
• We go round and round in circles and cover the same old ground
• We never make a decision
• There are too many games being played in our meetings
• Nothing is ever planned in our meetings it just rambles
• We never have the right people in our meetings
• We always start late and over run

What are certified facilitators?  What do they do?

A certified facilitator is someone who skillfully helps a group of people understand their common objectives and plan to achieve them without personally taking any side of the discussions. The certified facilitator will try to assist the group in achieving a consensus, obtaining an output, ensuring maximum participation from everyone doing so in a relaxed, planned and fun environment. The role has been likened to that of a midwife who assists in the process of creation but is not the producer of the end result.  Or a conductor of an orchestra who doesn’t play any instruments but brings all the individual musicians together to deliver a beautiful sound. 

In business a certified facilitator therefore ensures the following:-

Neutral – the certified facilitator does not have sides, an agenda or hidden desires and as such can ask questions, challenge and make decisions based on facts and discussions.  This means that all members will trust them
Process orientated – the certified facilitator will develop a process to obtain the required result in the desired time as they are not interested in the content of the meeting only the process to get the agreement of all
Focus – Ensures the group focus on the task at hand and keep to the point
Stimulates – generates new ideas, solutions and questions through the use of tools and techniques to ensure a better outcome
Support and inclusion – ensures that everyone participates to the best of their ability, supports and encourages everyone
Traffic regulator – ensures a smooth flow of discussion, allows everyone to get a word in
Policeman – stops personal attacks, ensures fair play
Teambuilding – uses skills to build a team to ensure that the sum is greater than the individual parts meaning a better outcome
Deals with problem situations – the certified facilitator is skilled in dealing with all the problems situations that occur in a meeting without losing control, participation or lack of focus
Time keeper – ensures that the group, start on time, finish on time and still achieve the results
Pragmatic – the certified facilitator can ask logical questions, challenge the group and take a detached view to obtain better results
Encourage and feedback – the certified facilitator can provide the group with feedback as well as encourage them to drive them on to obtain even better results
Creative – uses tools, techniques and language to generate creative ideas, solutions and thoughts
Agenda setter – works with the leader of a session to develop an agenda which will achieve the desired goals in the allotted time.  Set up the meeting and follows up the meeting after its completion
Scribe – captures the information from the group
Synergy maker – ensures the team atmosphere is conducive to productive working and teambuilding
Pace setter Energy generator – injects energy to the team, sets the pace to ensure success
Follows up the meetings – sends out actions, outputs from the meeting and sets the next meeting.

What are the skills needed to be an effective certified facilitator?

To be an effective certified facilitator you must have a number of technical skills as well as excellent interpersonal skills.  The list below is just some of the skills to look for in your certified facilitator.

Experience and gravitas – there is no substitute for experience your certified facilitator needs to ooze charisma, charm and gravitas to obtain the authority and respect of the group they are working with
Business knowledge – must understand business but not necessarily the problem or industry being facilitated
Non Verbal communication – must be able to read situations and people and then react to use that information to ensure success for the participants and the meeting
Presentation skills, questioning skills and listening skills are absolute keys for any certified facilitator they are the core requirements
Planning – certified facilitators must be able to plan and think about what could go wrong and plan for contingency. 
Leadership qualities – to forge the team to drive the team forward and to make things happen
Use of problem solving tools and techniques – all certified facilitators should know the basic tools for solving problems and generating consensus
Consulting skills – they are needed to challenge the group, ask questions with authority and logically review a situation
Flexibility – certified facilitators should have the ability to think on their feet, change there agenda or adapt to situations only focusing on achieving the output of the meeting
Confidence – they must ooze confidence so that groups will follow them, trust they know what they are doing and realize that they have control of the situation even if they don’t
Integrity – They should be an example to the group – timekeeping, positive language and professionalism amongst many others
Perceptive – they must be able to work out what is going on in a group – atmosphere, involvement, engagement etc
Rapport building – certified facilitators must be able to build rapport with groups and individuals quickly
Energy givers – they must be able to generate energy even when a group has none
Positive in everything they do
Understand team dynamics and be able to build teams quickly and effectively sometimes even without the group knowing it

What makes our certified facilitators our offering different?

Energy – all our certified facilitators will inject energy and fun into your meetings
Experience – all out certified facilitators have years of experience of facilitating meetings at all levels in companies
Flexibility – our certified facilitators have a great ability to think on their feet and to change tact to ensure the success of a meeting
People skills – our certified facilitators are excellent at people and team dynamics ensuring you get the most from all participants in your meetings
Results – we get results from meeting which previously were non effective
Money back guarantee – if you think we didn’t achieve the goals you set out then we will refund your fee without question
Ask questions – out certified facilitators are experts at asking the right questions at the right time, applying common sense and asking the challenging, simple or perhaps stupid questions which will focus the minds and ensure a good output
Understand process – we know how to use the right tools at the right time to get a deep understanding of an issue or to obtain consensus.
Creativity – our certified facilitators bring creativity to every meeting

Hire a facilitator

Ensure your meetings are effective - Enlist a professional, certified facilitator for your meetings or workshops today with no risk.

Executive / Board meetings / Improvement workshops or any kind of meeting we can facilitate your meetings to ensure success.  Our clients include – BT, BAA, Renault, Nissan, Alstom, Magnet, Volvo and many others. 

We will facilitate your meetings and make them more effective, more constructive, more creative and more productive. 

 What do we do?

• Discuss with our clients what they want to achieve, the background and context, and people to involve  
• Design an agenda, drawing upon the right tools, techniques and materials
• Create the right physical environment and 'feel'
• Prepare clients and staff to ensure success
• Facilitate the meeting to ensure the objectives are met
• Write up and distribute the output from the meeting
• Hold feedback session with the owner of the meeting
• Help you follow up so you get full value from the meeting

We help companies with one off meetings, regular monthly management meeting or workshops to improve performance.  

Typical meetings would include:-

• Monthly management meetings
• Board meetings
• New Project/Joint Venture Kick-Off Meetings / Product launch
• Team Building Workshops
• Strategy Development, Vision and Values Workshops with Senior Managers
• Problem solving workshops
• Supplier workshops
• Cross company inter departmental or divisional meetings
• Negotiation type meetings
• Creative meetings to solve issues / develop ideas
• Focus groups
• Marketing planning
• Sales meetings
• Process improvement workshops

What does it cost?

We are so confident that you will find our certified facilitators enormous assistance in your meetings we will run the first one for free.  All we ask is that you cover our expenses and that the meeting is up to 2 hours in duration. 

Once you have seen the power of a well run facilitated meeting then we typically sign up clients to help them on an on going basis.

This is a genuine offer to improve your meetings and free up your senior managers / executives or managers time?  Just think what they could do with that time?  How much is an extra hour in your day worth.  Let us facilitate your meetings and we will not only give you results but free up your time.

Facilitation Training

100% Effective Training’s certified facilitation training is either via a 1 or 3 day course. 

All our training enables the attendee to practise facilitation and obtain quality feedback and coaching to improve and hone their skills.  We use numerous different learning methods.  If you attend our 3 day training course you will also be accredited as a certified facilitator. 

We offer both in house and open courses more can be found by clicking the training links below.  As you will see we also offer course in related subjects such as creativity.