ABSTRACT
A facilitator is a person who helps a group or team to work together in a collaborative way, by focusing on the process of how the team's participants work together. Facilitators are not there to manage the activities and the content of the team, the what: that is a matter for the team itself. They will usually recognize that they have a need in their own right for answers and information, to learn some more background or history concerning the story being told, for example. It is often a good practice for the facilitator to mix questions with a more reflective response. This provides a good discipline for the facilitator to keep listening. It also helps to create group ownership of the problem, and avoids creating a climate of interrogation, so that people feel able to go on and elaborate if they wish.
