Facilitation & Innovation – Why facilitation skills are needed in the work place?

Disruption and changing business models are the hottest topics among C-suits in the modern digitized world. The competition is global, from even day 1 for many start-ups, not to mention industrial leaders.

Innovation is the key to disruption and changing business models. However, innovation is usually not something totally new. It is usually based on the usage of existing technology, making a new concept by connecting dots and providing better service/value for a need that already exists. Sometimes, your customers will also give you innovative ideas, if you actively seek having dialogue with them.

Innovation phase and implementation phase need different atmosphere!

When organizations need to get something done according to some deadlines, you will see flow charts, Gant Charts, KPI trackers and stressed workers. And sometimes, organizations are just trying to get things done by following a routine that has been there for years. Implementation phase is all about efficiency, effectiveness and saving cost. Implementers are organized and focus on getting things done.

Innovation phase is not. Innovation phase should instead naturally involve chaos, diversion, being lost from time to time before finally conversion into simplicity. As innovation should provide a disruptive result, how can you expect innovation phase to follow a strict process and timeline? Innovators are creative and think outside the box.

Essentially, the implementers and innovators can be the same people! So changing their mindset between different phases is the key!

Facilitation is about changing the way people communicate and think

Our brain has amazing capacity when stimulated effectively. Facilitation uses diverse methods to stimulate the minds. A great leader can use facilitation to put the group of minds into different modes. Just to name a few

Role plays give people different perspectives
Open space facilitation method encourages people for out-of-box thinking
Getting to know games can make people relaxed in social environment and form closer teams from the beginning

Regarding facilitating innovation creation, if all you can think is PPT+round table sharing with a team, then you are definitely out dated! – Shanshan, Founder of Eureka.Y

Article was written by:

Shanshan Gong – I am the experience of facilitator in over 30 international seminars/conferences that touched thousands of Gen-Y from different continents. Over the last 5 years, I have lead and coached multicultural Gen-Y teams, worked with Gen-Y leaders from more than 100 countries across several industries including non-profits.I have trained and facilitated in areas such as core values,long term vision/mission building, operational models, year plan, sales/marketing, organizational development, financial management, social entrepreneurship, team dynamics and leadership development.

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