Last weekend I visited a family member in her new flat. She had bought a flatpack chest of draws – and my job before lunch was to assemble it. I was a bit apprehensive recalling a recent experience with a different brand of self-assembly and struggling with flatpack products in the past!

However, it went well:

1) My 90 minutes of time added value to the box of bits, and the life of my family memeber. The deal with IKEA is clear: we will sell you a cheap product and your time will make it into something that would otherwise have cost far more.
2) I was impressed by the simplicity of the instructions and how it did what it said – the design and supply of bits was spot on.
3) I had taken an electric screw driver – that tool helped hugely.

And the analogy to facilitation…?  When working with a group:
a) We need to add value to what they are doing. Facilitation is about making things easy (or easier). Helping a group get further and faster with their task and relationships than they could on their own. And to complete our FFFF of facilitation, doing that in ways that are both fun as well as focused.
b) We need to think about the way we structure and explain sessions – so they are in some ways fresh (another F) and helpful: sharing what we are planning to do in ways that earn confidence without confusion.
c) We need to be aware of the key personal skills and knowledge we might need: from a new creativity technique or a bit of digital kit or an in depth understanding of group dynamics, for example.

Build well!

Tags: groups