Will Group Facilitation Improve the Management of Outsourced Talent?

No two groups function the same - this common piece of wisdom is on display every day in business environments. While some groups have members whose strengths and weaknesses perfectly complement one another, most groups are less harmonious and are unable to work together efficiently. Organizational leaders justify spending money to improve the way a group functions because the ability of a group to work together as a team is critical to the company's success. One great way to do this is through a process called group facilitation. This process aims to improve the way employees, organizational leaders, and consultants work together to tackle problems. An additional resource that helps improve group functionality is consulting skills training, which helps the organization's consultants do a better job of understanding the organization's needs and working with employees to identify and implement new strategies. This article will take a look at the two processes and explain how each one helps the organization foster group harmony.

Group Facilitation

This type of facilitation aims to help members of a group work together more effectively. One way to do this is by making it easier for thoughtful discourse to take place. A group facilitation expert will create an agenda before a gathering so that he or she can guide the group to discussing specific topics that are important to the company's success. When managing a group, the facilitator will also need to manage the individuals. He or she must make sure that one individual is not dominating the conversation by asking for input from individuals who are too shy to volunteer opinions on their own. Additionally, the group facilitation specialist will have to work through personality conflicts by giving each affected individual a chance to speak and suggest ways to work past personal conflicts without injecting personal bias into the mediation process. By managing the individuals within the group, the group facilitation expert will improve that group's ability to function at a high level moving forward.

Consulting Skills Training

When companies need advice or want to develop strategies by gaining an outside perspective, they will bring in a consultant. A consultant who has gone through consulting skills training will: be better prepared to set and manage expectations, communicate effectively with team members, and deal with setting targets. Consultants also learn how to more effectively communicate with clients, by learning how to deal with resistance from clients and even how to give feedback to employees. Since the most important factor in teamwork is effective communication, companies will find that teams composed of employees and consultants work together more efficiently when consultants have completed consulting skills training.

An efficient team is a competitive advantage for a company, even if that team is made up of a combination of employees and consultants. Investing in employees by providing them with group facilitation, and investing in consultants with consulting skills training will help these groups be more productive. Organizations that want employees to work well together and be more productive should reach out to a leadership training organization for facilitation and training options.