2010 June | Masterful Facilitation Institute

Just caught this fascinating talk by Dan Pink on the hidden truths behind personal motivation, The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us. Except for straightforward tasks, it’s not the age-old motivators of money and power that drive us, but rather, our desire for autonomy, mastery, and purpose. In fact, research has shown time and again that using money as an incentive for activities dependent on our cognitive skills is a sure-fire way to reduce performance! The implications are powerful for all organizations, teams and groups seeking insights into how to boost innovation and performance.

Bonus: The graphic recording of Daniel Pink’s speech is truly dazzling and worth taking the time to watch! (Thanks to Rosemary Cairns who first posted this to the IAF Group listserve so that I can now share it here.)

Can you be effective as a facilitator if you are not neutral? I.e., if you have expertise in the content and/or have a stake in the outcomes generated by the group, can you still facilitate effectively? Your job as Facilitator is to focus on group and meeting process. As tempting as it may be, great facilitation requires that you avoid controlling content or influencing the outcomes.

Can you wear more than one hat and stay neutral? Variety of roles:

Pure Presenter: You are a content/subject matter expert (process and outcome neutral).

Instructional Facilitator: You deliver learning content in a facilitative manner (outcome neutral).

Pure Facilitator: You are a group process expert who does not contribute to meeting content (content and outcome neutral).

Facilitator/Expert – You give advice from your subject matter expertise (content); but have no stake in group’s work (process neutral) and decisions (outcome neutral).

Group Leader/Member As Facilitator – You want to contribute to discussions (content), control the group discussions and how they arrive at their decisions (process), and you have a stake in the decisions themselves (outcome). Tough role!

Call to Action: Enhance your facilitation skills today; check out our Masterful Facilitation Institute courses.