Facilitation refers to the organization of group work for planning joint activities, solving problems, establishing mutual understanding, etc. From this word comes another – facilitator. In fact, it refers to someone who has skills and knowledge of methods capable of helping the group to work together, establish relationships, come to a consensus, find the right path for further cooperation.
In IT companies, facilitation is necessary both when interacting with the customer (potential or existing one) and during internal communications, though not all the employees are ready to admit it.
In addition, there are a number of myths about this concept. For example, that facilitation and “brainstorming” are the same thing. However, this is not true at all. Generating ideas for solving a common global problem can only be a part of facilitation. It itself is a more complex process aimed at achieving mutual understanding between employees or partners.