FAQ
In this section, you will find answers to your questions about facilitation, our facilitation services and our training.
What is facilitation?
Facilitation is a form of support that helps structure in the co-construction of shared solutions and creates the right conditions for the development of creative solutions within a group of people, whether it is a company, a public authority, an association or institution.
What is the purpose of facilitation, why use a facilitator?
Using a facilitator allows you to focus on the content, save time and keep participants engaged and happy.
What is the role of a facilitator?
The facilitator accompanies a group that will produce its own results. The neutrality of the facilitator is an essential element to ensure the credibility and success of a facilitation intervention.
The facilitator is the guarantor of the process, ensuring that the type of questions asked are appropriate to the profile of the participants, in order to obtain a maximum number of relevant answers. He or she ensures that everyone can express themselves, sets the pace for the event and manages the time. He or she creates a climate conducive to exchanges and the emergence of new and shared solutions.
Is facilitation appropriate for all contexts?
Facilitation tools and methods can be applied in any situation where a group is brought together to decide on a given issue. However, it is essential that the scope of the reflection and the decision-making structures be clarified upstream and be transparent.
What are the skills of a facilitator?
The International Facilitation Association has developed a list of key competencies available here.
The main chapters are as follows:
Building collaborative relationships with clients
Planning appropriate processes for the target group
Creating and maintaining a participatory environment
Guiding the group to appropriate and useful outcomes
What is the difference between a facilitator and a mediator?
A facilitator intervenes to accompany a group in the production of a concrete deliverable, while taking care of interpersonal relations and group dynamics. A mediator’s mission is to help people in conflict situations find ways to work together.
What is the difference between teaching and facilitating?
The teacher is responsible for imparting skills to learners, while a facilitator orchestrates exchanges between participants at facilitated events. Nevertheless, the teacher can use facilitation techniques to animate his or her courses.
Do you have an example of facilitation?
Les ateliers C contribute to the development of a library of practices that will soon be available on the website of the Swiss chapter of the International Facilitation Association (IAF (iaf-switzerland.ch)
Discover also the customers who trusted us and some examples of application on our portefolio.
What do participants do in a facilitation session?
In the facilitated events, the participants bring their views and reflections based on their respective roles and experiences, regardless of hierarchical positions. They are the ones who produce the results and the content. During facilitated events, movement and interaction are the rhythm of the group and subgroup work sequences. Participants should be willing to actively contribute to the group work and to try out different media.
What sets les ateliers C's facilitation services apart?
Les ateliers C supports structures in open innovation, project management, strategic thinking, consultation and partnership development.
Creative, motivated and result-oriented, les ateliers C team is composed of complementary profiles with experience in the development of complex projects, in bringing together diverse actors and in the fields of land use and urban planning, construction, environment, social, transition and culture.
Les ateliers C develop tailor-made workshops, paying great attention to the red thread of the event and its coherence. Les ateliers C will also adapt to the participants and the dynamics of the event. Our priority is not to apply creative methods at all costs, but to serve the client’s needs and guarantee the satisfaction of the participants.
Les ateliers C also have an extensive experience in facilitating workshops focused on open innovation, notably through the NTN innovationbooster.
What kinds of results can be achieved with facilitation?
Facilitation can accompany the development of new projects, products, strategies, concepts and governance.
Where does facilitation come from?
Facilitation was born in the post-war period, mainly in the United States, at MIT and the National Training Laboratory, and in the United Kingdom (Tavistock Institute and Roffey Park Institute). It has its origins in social psychology (Chapman R. 2011). The first formal training programs emerged in Anglo-Saxon countries in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The International Facilitation Association was founded in 1994.
Why train in facilitation?
Facilitation can be applied in a multitude of contexts and functions. As a manager, project leader, researcher, team leader, in a company, an administration, or an association, you are called upon to make diverse people work together. Facilitation allows you to increase the productivity and pleasure of the people involved in the reflections necessary for the development of a product, project, idea, partnership or organization.
What is facilitation training?
The training emphasizes the acquisition of practical and transferable experiences in one’s daily professional life. Theoretical elements are transmitted in an interactive and visual way. Participants prepare, lead and participate in facilitated workshops. Great importance is given to reflective methods that allow participants to build their facilitator’s know-how and skills on the basis of practical experiences.
Is facilitation training recognized?
Participants receive a training certificate issued by les ateliers C.
What do we learn during the training?
At the end of the three days, participants will be able to
– distinguish the conditions necessary for productive and engaging collaborative workshops for participants
– apply different collaborative methods and tools
– develop, prepare and facilitate a 45-minute collaborative workshop
– identify and become aware of the fundamental elements of the facilitator’s posture and role
Am I eligible to facilitate after my training?
Yes
Why should I hire les ateliers C to support my structure
Les ateliers C facilitators’ bring their skills and experience to bear on methods that allow participants to make inventive connections. Through structured, dynamic and creative work sequences they bring imagination and rational thinking into dialogue, thus promoting systemic thinking within the group. They take care to establish a common vocabulary and a working atmosphere that makes it possible for everyone to participate, thus promoting a real multi-actor dialogue.
Why train in facilitation with the ateliers C?
Les ateliers C offer a training program developed by Formapart, a pioneer in facilitation in France, founded by Jean-Philippe Poupart, author of the book “Devenir facilitateur”. The training is dynamic, practice-oriented and invites participants to question their current practices. Participants who wish to deepen their learning can continue their journey at Formapart, which offers a professional training.
Is there a network of facilitators in Switzerland?
There is a Swiss chapter of the International Facilitation Association (https://iaf-switzerland.ch/) which brings together Swiss facilitators. Events for the exchange of experiences are proposed in French and German speaking Switzerland.