Facilitation means 'to make easy'.
A skilled facilitator makes it easier for groups to achieve their
aims and outcomes by attending to the task (what is
to be achieved) as well as the process (how the
group organise themselves to achieve the task) and
the relationships between the group and the wider
system.
A facilitator may or may not act in a
chairing role but will chart, guide and clear a path by which the
group can achieve its aims. He or she will contract with the
group throughout their work to check alignment with the stated goals
and to ensure transparency of the process and the power
dynamics.
Sometimes a facilitator has a highly
visible and authoritative presence, and sometimes the facilitator
directs attention and awareness to the group’s own authority,
communication and dynamics as a catalyst for agreed outcomes.
The facilitator creates an environment of safety and collaboration
where learning and design can take place in order to achieve
'traction' for the whole group’s efforts.
No two facilitators, or even
co-facilitators will ever work in exactly the same way.
However, all facilitators are able to employ a variety of methods,
techniques and interventions flexibly from their 'toolkit', depending
on the objectives and composition of the group they are working
with. An individual facilitator’s style can be described as a
result of various models, techniques, interventions and how these are
employed - what they do - and is also a result of
the values and standards they hold, their psychological make-up,
degree of awareness, skill and development - who they are.
Becoming a guest member is free and
enables you to be kept up to date with the Association’s activities
and publications in the sphere of facilitation through our quarterly
newsletter, as well as receiving advanced notice of forthcoming
training courses, supervision and open days.
In addition, if you join as a guest
member you will automatically receive a self-evaluation version of
our Facilitator
Competency Model FACETS®.
Affiliate Membership is ideally suited to you if you are either training to become a facilitator, or working as a facilitator already. By signing up for Affiliate Membership you can:
Affiliate Membership costs £220 per year.
Being an Accredited Member of the AoF
signals competence and commitment to professional development as a
facilitator. In order to gain accreditation, members train
with us and participate in a self-and-peer
accreditation process where they assess their competence as
a facilitator against our Facilitator
Competency Model FACETS ®. They review their
accreditation every two years.
Accredited Membership also
demonstrates commitment to a high standard of working as set out in
our Code
of Practice.
Members accredited at Level 1 have
undertaken a short Foundations course of 5 days.
Members
accredited at Level 2 have undertaken a year-long Certificate
Programme and Members accredited at Level 3 have undertaken a
2-year-long Post-graduate Diploma Programme.
Substantial support is available for
Accredited Facilitators, from on-line resources and supervision
meetings through to free one-to-one support for planning and
reviewing facilitation events.
Experiential learning means that nobody
just sits back and listens or takes notes – all participants learn
through felt and shared experience. For example, if we are
learning experientially about a particular model of group dynamics,
we may ask participants to describe and evaluate the model against
their own experience as a member of many different groups
(educational, social, family, professional), as well as to
explore their here-and-now experience as a group member.
This way of working results in a deeper
level of awareness and connection to the learning material, which can
better be employed in service of group facilitation for clients.
As well as learning from their own internal experience of external
events, participants report learning extensively from others sharing
their personal and professional life experience in a group setting.
Our aim is to empower individuals and
encourage the self-regulation of facilitator competence. We
believe that this is best attained through the process of Self and
Peer Assessment. This means that you, supported and challenged
by your peer group, have authority to assess your own performance.
This is not quite the same as the
Self and Peer Accreditation process which we use alongside Self and
Peer Assessment – the final say on Accreditation and Membership
resides with the Association of Facilitators. Representatives
of the AoF themselves undergo self and peer directed supervision to
support them to administer this process with competence, reliability
and validity.
Our research has shown that the process
administered in this way provides both a rigorous and challenging
environment for learning and assessment. Participants report
that they engage in a thorough inquiry into their skills, knowledge,
and awareness, that they become more familiar with their blind spots
and areas for development. The process builds critical
reflection in participants, and develops personal authority and
emotional competence.
We know that facilitation skills are
essential to many roles where groups and teams work together, whether
in business, education, community or other settings. Even if
you are not working in a role entitled 'Facilitator' most people who
lead or participate in groups benefit from developing skills in
understanding and guiding groups to achieve their results.
Managers and team leaders often report
that training in facilitation skills enables light to be shed on the
often unexplored aspects of groups – communication, process and
relationships – often the things that bring and people engagement
and project success. Leaders report that facilitation skills
are the 'missing link' in their education and experience, sometimes
describing the learning as 'what I wish I’d learnt on my MBA'.
For those who are already committed to
a career path as a facilitator, or a career path that utilises their
skills in facilitating groups, the Association of
Facilitators can provide a clear path for professional
development and substantial resources to support them.
We hope and intend that you do!
We provide a free service for organisations needing facilitators for
an event. On receiving details of the enquiry from them, we use
the details that you provide via your Learning Record (including
whether you are interested in using this service) to send a short
list of candidates to them. Organisations will contact you and
contract with facilitators directly. The Association of
Facilitators are not part of the agreement, nor do we receive a fee
from either party.
In return for this benefit, we require
that you update your Learning Record and request and/or record client
feedback so we can evaluate how well we have matched the client’s
requirement, and remain informed about your enhanced experience.
We may also seek client feedback directly.
More broadly, we promote facilitation
as a profession through our research and events, and promote AoF
Accredited Facilitators as a skilled and supported group of
professional facilitators.
A Learning Record is an on-line
personal record available via the members’ area of the Association
of Facilitators website. It is partly a CV, partly your
own Professional Development Plan (PDP) and partly your own journal.
There are 6 sections within which you
cumulatively record your experiences, qualifications, training,
feedback, insights and intentions. Clients and peers are able
to contribute feedback directly into your Learning Record if you
request them to do so.
This facility, available to all
Affiliate and Accredited members, supports reflective practice,
appreciative inquiry and action research approaches to personal
learning and professional development.
It is confidential and only visible to
you and your AoF trainers/supervisors.
We would welcome additions to the resources and tools sections of our website. The main criteria are that the resources and tools are useful for our members, clear, helpful and well presented. We would welcome any feedback on whether we achieving our aim or not. Please review what is already there and then submit any contributions or suggestions by email. On receipt, these will be evaluated for inclusion by our editorial board and you will be fully credited if we use your contribution.