Leadership is a choice, not a position, according to renowned business author Stephen Covey. Covey suggests that regardless of our position or title, we can all act as leaders and that leadership doesn’t have to come from the top down. I want to say that we can all learn to be facilitative leaders.
What is facilitative leadership?
Facilitative leadership strategies
Most facilitative leaders organize their strategy using these principles:
Aim for participation
Before starting a project or process, facilitative leadership focuses on nurturing ideas and creativity to make sure it’s the best choice. For instance, a facilitative approach would be to consult with the sales team during the planning phase and seek their input and guidance on an efficient and practical lead tracking process rather than having a group of leaders create a new lead tracking process and then ask the sales team to implement it.
Giving employees a voice in the decision-making and planning process guarantees that the project or procedure is created to meet their needs, probably leading to longer-term endeavors being more successful. Additionally, team members are more likely to remain committed to the organization and maintain high levels of productivity and performance when they feel that their ideas and input are valued.
Ask rather than command
A key tenet of facilitative leadership is empowerment. As a leader, your objective should be to enable your team to carry out the necessary tasks in a way that benefits both the team and the business as a whole. Although it may require more time up front to outline the objective, solicit feedback, and develop a plan of action with a group of people, facilitating work in this way frequently pays off with greater employee buy-in and fewer difficulties during the actual production process.
Build relationships
Some managers prefer to maintain a cordial distance from their staff. Although it’s best to maintain a professional demeanor with your coworkers and subordinates, developing relationships based on support and trust will enable you to give your team direction and feedback in an efficient manner. Your team is more likely to accept constructive criticism when you have a strong rapport with them and use it to their advantage as opposed to feeling attacked or degraded.
Address conflict
Working through a professional issue with a team involves conflict, which is healthy and natural. Effective conflict resolution techniques are therefore essential for a team leader. Use efficient and empowering conflict management techniques to assist the staff members involved in the conflict in resolving the issues in a healthy, respectful manner and returning to work, as opposed to ignoring the conflict or making a unilateral decision about how to handle it. A crucial element of effective facilitative leadership is mediating conflict and facilitating healing conversations.
Remain flexible
Every facilitator will have a unique method and procedure for leading their group. The most effective facilitators have a system that works but leave room for changes to be made when necessary. Flexibility and adaptation enable you and your team to develop and come up with innovative solutions to issues without feeling constrained by the process.
What is facilitative leadership?
The goal of facilitative leadership is to match each team member’s contributions and ideas with the overall organizational objective. The decision to include all team members in every step of the process, including decision-making, distinguishes facilitative leadership from other common leadership styles. Rarely does the facilitative leader make decisions without first hearing the group’s ideas and thoughts.
What traits define a facilitative leader?
Facilitative leaders are all individuals with distinct qualities and characteristics. However, most have a few characteristics in common that make them successful facilitative leaders:
Why facilitative leadership is important
Facilitative leadership is a crucial and effective leadership tactic because it gives employees of all levels of the organization more power. People are more likely to work hard and perform well when they feel valued in their workplace. Facilitative leadership provides these additional benefits:
FAQ
What is a facilitative approach?
- Allows idea creation by employees and may seem chaotic.
- To manage the chaos of group decision-making, it is necessary to have group facilitation skills.
What are the 4 types of leadership styles?
A facilitative approach involves shared responsibility for learning. The team typically possesses knowledge, expertise, and experience in a particular field, and the facilitator aids in tapping into that knowledge. A facilitator could assist the group in exploring its data, beliefs, and behaviors as necessary.
Why is facilitation important in leadership?
- Autocratic.
- Democratic.
- Laissez-faire.
- Transformational.
What is facilitative decision-making?
Bens says that by using facilitation techniques, leaders can take a middle ground between being directive and laissez-faire when handling problems. “When leaders are proficient with processes, they can provide their team members with clear instructions on how to solve issues on their own.
