ABSTRACT
The facilitator role is not a passive one, merely reflecting and agreeing with anything that the customer says, it is much more positive and active than this. The fact is that most people do not think in a straightforward manner, especially when they are embarking on a journey into the unknown, so the role of the facilitator is to help people to isolate and address issues more simply than they would otherwise do, and to arrive at sensible decisions that they are committed to and will action. The facilitator must be able to highlight muddled, dishonest or inappropriate thinking and to confront it, but to do so in a way that does not provoke defensiveness or a loss of ownership. One of the main causes of ineffectiveness in relationships is the tendency that most people have to judge the other person's opinion or contribution in terms of black or white.
