June 13, 2017
To Make Easy - Your Role as a Facilitator
As an agent, your role as a facilitator is to engage and empower the Program Development Committee (PDC). Facilitate means to “make easy.” A facilitator is focused on methods and processes necessary to create a positive learning environment. As a facilitator, your role is to help a group work together to accomplish goals and to arrange for all group members to contribute to discussions and decisions. A facilitator is responsible for moving the group through the agenda or task at hand while remaining neutral in the discussions and/or decisions. If you find yourself doing all the talking during a PDC meeting you may want to review the following effective facilitation resources available on the Programming PDC Resources website:
- Facilitation - What Is It? - Facilitation is a process designed to help groups accomplish tasks. One good measure of effective facilitation is that the group feels they've done the work themselves. This resource also provides guidelines for establishing ground rules.
- Basic Facilitation: Tools for Generating and Prioritizing Ideas - These basic tools will be helpful in guiding Program Development Committee members in identifying and prioritizing local issues to use in determining programming needs.
As the facilitator, or “guide on the side,” you will be accountable to working with your PDC members to find the route to better engagement and productivity. For a complete listing of Program Development Committee resources please refer to the following website: www.ksre.k-state.edu/employee_resources/programming/pdc/.