Facilitation is a special form of meeting leadership intended to help make a period of transition easier for the organization. A facilitator can be used for special meetings within your organization that are expected to be contentious and emotionally charged. Facilitation helps businesses work through conflict.

The facilitator is a person who has strong communication skills, objectivity, and persistence. The facilitator is a neutral third party who helps manage conflict by providing process leadership and process development. Many businesses use facilitation as a proactive way to prevent conflict.

The facilitator’s skills handling difficult people, exploring creative solutions, and reaching agreement will help your organization tackle its challenges while ensuring participation from all people who have an interest in the conflict. The facilitation process empowers people to take ownership over the conflict and develop their own solutions.

The facilitator is a neutral third party who helps manage conflict by providing process leadership and process development. Many businesses use facilitation as a proactive way to prevent conflict.

Why is a facilitator a good choice to help a business manage conflict? Because a facilitator is familiar with conflict and conflict management, is a neutral person on the challenges, and is sensitive to the emotions involved. The facilitator’s skills help the organization alleviate tension while getting past individual agendas.

Facilitators are expected to have strong group process skills, interpersonal skills, communications skills, conflict-resolution skills, and the ability to create and maintain a non-threatening environment. These include:

• soliciting participation and contributions of thoughts and feelings from all participants;
• developing and sharing individual knowledge;
• keeping the groups on task;
• keeping the groups focused on appropriate and useful outcomes;
• maintaining an environment where comments are valued and group participants are treated with fairness, equity and respect;
• modeling positive professional attitude
• being objective
• being observant

Facilitators will ensure that responses are developed for recommendations regarding:

• Innovative ideas, practices and opportunities
• What else/who else should be consulted/considered
• Cautions and concerns
• Policy and practice recommendations

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/trainwithshane/2010/03/15/career-transition-and-the-workplace