Create a Team of Facilitators: the Competitive Edge
Most organizations will have groups of people who occupy the role of internal Facilitator. The problem the organization faces is how well skilled are these people for actually driving change? We all make assumptions about what makes a good facilitator especially one who promote learning. For instance, technical competence or the use of specific problem solving tools does not equate to being a first class Facilitator. I have worked with internal Consultants who have all the knowledge of the application of detailed problem solving tools but lacked the ability and personality to excite, motivate or enthuse a group of people to actually use those tools! One person with whom I worked was an expert in the use of 'Kepner-Tregoe' problem solving tools but unfortunately did not have a presence, or training skills, to motivate teams to use those same tools.
The organization must decide precisely what they want internal Facilitators 'to be' and 'to do' before setting up any structure to deliver change management services. A view expressed is that effective Facilitators need additional skills - for instance being able to display assertiveness when required, to lead discussions and challenge the Client when required.
Change Agent Skills
Interpersonal Influence - know and practice strategies and tactics to influence, negotiate and persuasion
Self awareness and high self esteem
Presentation skills - be able to talk to a variety of audiences
Political awareness - understand and deal with power politics
Assertiveness - ability to confront the Client and others in the Change Team
Be ambitious and achieving
Energetic, lively and confident
Be team driven
Handle conflict
Creative, questioning
Building a Change Infrastructure
What we really need to do is to define precisely what the organization requires, rather than looking at any existing support and infrastructure and trying to 'tweak' or 'adapt' that in some way. In many enterprises there are units to deal with specific aspects of Consultancy, including, Management Services, HR Departments, Training Functions, O&M, Benchmarking, Re-engineering, Best Practice Managers, IT applications and support functions, Customer Relations etc. The list can be endless. These may be the exact people you need to train, or, conversely, they could be the worst to consider for the change you have in mind. If the people are highly specialized in one discipline they may be expert in occupying a Facilitator role in that area, but be ineffective in another role. What type of Facilitator do we want to create? What is the ideal profile? What experience do they need? What are their core skills? Will this be a full-time position, and if it is you have a major problem at hand. Again, we need to start with the end in mind!
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