Co-creation of solutions
Introduction
"The wisdom of the group" By engaging with a group of people who have a contribution to make to a discussion there is a greater possibility of a successful outcome than utilising the services of an expert on the subject.
This is particularly the case where two groups have a common goal to strive for, but are seen to be independent units, such as, sales and production, IT and marketing and all the other inter departmental relationships that are necessary for a smooth flowing organisation.
The principle of co-creation is to have both teams jointly build a solution that focuses on the bigger picture.
A facilitated approach focuses the thinking on the goal that they are both responsible for and contributors to for the success of the enterprise. The visual mapping element of the discussion helps the two teams understand the bigger picture and also encourages each individual to be objective about the issues leading to the outcomes.
Another way of framing this is that, as the information unfolds, the individuals do not necessarilly know whose ideas are emerging it is and for this reason they are objective and evaluate the idea on its merits rather than the person behind the idea.
Brief
Every facilitated session requires an understanding of what the end result of the meeting should be or look like
The brief is a critical starting point for any facilitator whre the sponsor of the meeting or intervention outlines their expectations and desired end result
The facilitator uses this input to develop an agenda and set timelines to the meeting. This agenda is then confirmed with the sponsor before embarking on the facilitated session
Right People
For any discussion to be successful the right people need to be in the room. These are people who can contribute to the outcome of the meeting because of their knowledge, skill, understanding and common sense around the topic.
Safe Environment
There are times in meetings where the tough issues have to be tackled and many people feel insecure when it comes to expressing their true feelings.
A facilitated approach using 'Participlan' helps to protect the individual who expresses her/his true feelings. This is done in the first instance by having people write their responses to a question on special stationery with a special pen. The information unfolds too quickly to pin the ideas on individuals
However, this may not sufficiently disguise their handwriting from recognition, so, if the delegate who wrote the card has doubts they are encouraged to mark the card and the facilitator acts as the go-between the contributor and boards of information by rewriting the sensitive card so that there is no knowledge of who wrote the card
Essentially we want people to say what they feel and contribute to a better solution through feeling safe to express the difficult comments
Neutral Facilitator
Ideally the facilitator should have no vested interest in the outcome of the meeting, because in this way he/she will not be viewed with suspicion and later accused of manipulating the information to arrive at a pre-determined outcome
Produce Results
The real costs of a meeting is the valuable time of the participants and it is for this reason that arriving at a satisfactory conclusion is essential
The facilitator has a responsibility to to reach a conclusion, based on his/her ability to judge what can or cannot be achieved and if the meeting deviates from the planned agenda then approval must be obtained from the sponsor
