F is for… Facilitation
What is Facilitation?
Facilitation can be described as an ability to coordinate and obtain a response or action. Facilitating combines a wide range of communication skills. Having good facilitation skills can help you make more of an impact when networking and help you get more out of your network.
It can help you to network and build relationships with others. It can help you to offer help to your network, easily make introductions between others.
Developing your facilitation skills can also lead to opportunities to facilitate in a more formal capacity and take on the facilitator /coordinator role for a network.
How can you demonstrate and develop this skill?
To get started with facilitating connections and conversations you just need to get started. An easy way to do this is to arrive at a networking event early. Get to know the hosts and the other early arrivals. Once the networking kicks off you can invite others to join your group, actively introduce people to others that you have just met (especially those who could mutually benefit from knowing each other).
If you are a regular attendee at a particular group or organisation, make introductions between other attendees and people you have met before and potentially offer advice or recommendations to newcomers to help them feel more settled/welcome.
A more formal network facilitator make introductions and facilitates co-operation between organisations and members of an organisation or group. They may even be responsible for the successful running of a networking group or organisation.
Action Point: Practice informally facilitating conversations and introductions at networking events you attend to build up your confidence and develop your facilitation skills.
Skill Development Plan: Facilitation
Facilitation skills need to be practised and developed. You can practice your facilitation skills, both through your networking and more generally in the workplace. Do group work, workshops, teamwork, become a team leader, run a project, take on a position of responsibility, facilitate and run meetings at work, host, organise, or run networking events – there are so many ways you can do this.
Practise where you can and learn from your boss, colleagues and other hosts and facilitators.
You can also use your networking planner to record your introductions, conversations and follow-ups. This can help you make sure that you continue to facilitate connections for your network and you can record any wins from your efforts. It also has the additional benefit that you can easily refer back to the conversations/introductions in an organised way.
WFH Action Plan: Facilitation can also be done remotely. Use your networking planner, contacts list and LinkedIn to see what introductions you can make within your existing network. Set up working groups and small roundtables virtually with your connections.
Further Reading:
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