Mentoring and facilitation
"Sometimes, I just need someone to listen to me" |
As people move upwards and onwards within organisations, they can often find they have fewer and fewer opportunities for their own development, and that they lack a safe place to talk about the issues and problems they face themselves. |
What can make this difficult is that senior people are often just as vulnerable as the teams they manage. Even the act of asking for help can be interpreted as weakness or failure. |
By acting as mentors, we can help supply appropriate knowledge drawn from our own experience, an objective view, insights and even a sounding board to help people solve problems and fulfil their own potential. |
We can research and access information and help with behind-the-scenes preparation. What is most important is that we develop close, secure and confidential relationships that allow us to tell people what they need to hear, rather than what they might want to. |
| Facilitation |
All too often, managers get so caught up in facilitating meetings, ideas sessions or problem-solving seminars that they don't have the opportunity to contribute properly themselves. |
We can take over the facilitation role, in order to get the team working better, by establishing ground rules, using a range of interventions to keep things going, and providing an objective overview. |
