The world we’re living in is increasingly complex. The tasks, needs, and technologies, our work methods, our understanding of ourselves, everything becomes more complex and so do organizations. In fact, they have to deal with frequent staff changes, employees of different generations, and also work teams across different cities, countries, and time zones. People’s stress is increasing with constantly growing demands, cuts, job changes, conflicts, errors, and rules.
People must do more with less, and it doesn’t work.
What people experience is the difficulty to integrate all of this in their day-to-day activities and more especially in their organizations. The culture in place (i.e., the unwritten rules on how to behave in organizations) dictates what people can and can’t do, say, accomplish, create, develop, dare express; either among themselves or between the organization’s departments or units.
Thus, people cannot include their wholeness. In many organizations, it is still difficult to express controversial ideas and negative emotions, to manage conflicts, to think differently, to say no, to ask questions. I see people not daring to express their thoughts. I see them withdraw into their shells when they feel an emotion, accumulate frustration, keep their thoughts to themselves and I see their motivation melt away quicker than snow in the sun.
Nowadays, organizations that want to persevere and live well must be able to reinvent themselves, innovate, and welcome change. Without these, an organization is bounded to be crushed and stressed by the market as well as by the constraints imposed by its environment, policies, employees, desires, and decisions.
This capacity to change is accessible, but it is underdeveloped. Why? Because it requires efforts, it changes the organizational model, and it modifies how people perceive different concepts such as the following: emotions, complexity, perspectives, conflicts, culture, group dynamics, human development, leadership, and work methods.
The organizational modes of operation can no longer cope with this growing complexity, and this is when problems emerge. These are signs that the organization is running out of steam. Why? Because the best way to gauge an organization is through its people.
Today’s leaders must be able to read any balance sheet’s complementary information. This skill to decrypt all these variables and act upon them is what I call facilitation. And, since it is applied here to an organizational context, let’s call it organizational facilitation.
Aptitude, attitude, expansion
This ability then allows to develop the capacity to manage greater complexity at different levels (i.e., organization, people, ways of doing); whether the organization in the broadest sense, groups, individuals or oneself.
One must be aware of what is going on at the moment, on all levels, including emotional, physical, psychological, and cognitive complexities. It is the ability to make conscious decisions, to help others develop this skill, and to take actions that will support the overall complexity instead of only part of it (much less overpassing parts of it). It is to be fully responsible and to awaken one’s sense on levels that used to be blind spots.
Organizational facilitation supports businesses in the development of their capacity to perceive and manage complexity in conversations, planning, product development, management, human dynamics (how individuals interact with one another), development of technical and non-technical skills, and adaptation. Facilitation is then used to:
- Know how to navigate conflicts in order to release creative energy
- Understand what motivates people in order to unlock their full potential
- Broaden people’s perspectives in order to embrace diversity of opinion
- Connect the organization’s individuals, groups, and sections via shared intentions.
All this in order to fulfil the true intentions of an organization. To do so, facilitation comprises various techniques and approaches allowing to address issues, for instance:
- The use of models on human and organizational development
- The use of adaptive, collaborative, and emerging approaches
- The use of emotional intelligence
- The use of individual and group coaching
- The use of guidelines on how to conduct effective meetings.
Organizational facilitation is to surf the wave instead of getting swamped by it. Thus, it is the art of consciously growing together, of fulfilling common intentions, and of being entirely aware of what is currently happening.
When I address these topics with people around me, here is what I typically hear: “Wow! we finally talk serious business. If only you could come where I work…”
I feel like telling you that it’s possible, because it’s exactly what we offer and it lies within close reach. Why not talk about it over a cup of tea? Contact us.
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