Your facilitation authority is challenged by a key stakeholder. How will you regain control of the situation?
When a key stakeholder challenges your authority, it's crucial to reaffirm your role and steer the situation back on track. Here's how to regain control:
- Acknowledge the challenge without confrontation, showing respect for their perspective.
- Reiterate the common goals and agenda to refocus the group's attention.
- Utilize a firm yet collaborative approach to guide the discussion, ensuring everyone's voice is heard.
How do you handle pushback in professional settings? Looking forward to hearing your strategies.
Your facilitation authority is challenged by a key stakeholder. How will you regain control of the situation?
When a key stakeholder challenges your authority, it's crucial to reaffirm your role and steer the situation back on track. Here's how to regain control:
- Acknowledge the challenge without confrontation, showing respect for their perspective.
- Reiterate the common goals and agenda to refocus the group's attention.
- Utilize a firm yet collaborative approach to guide the discussion, ensuring everyone's voice is heard.
How do you handle pushback in professional settings? Looking forward to hearing your strategies.
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Your authority comes from the participants. You need to actively listen to the stakeholder and understand the challenge. Remind the participants that you are there for them, not you. Facilitate the group to define their goals, roles, and responsibilities. Action (showing) tends to work far better than telling.
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When a stakeholder challenges facilitation, I focus on alignment, not authority. In one case, I engaged privately to understand their concerns, linking their input to product goals. By giving them a voice in front of the team, resistance turned into collaboration. Facilitation thrives when stakeholders feel heard, not overruled.
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First, I acknowledge the person's concerns or differing perspective without confrontation. This can be done by saying something like, "I understand where you're coming from," or "I see your point." To refocus the conversation, I remind the group of the shared objectives. For example, "We're all working towards the same goal of ensuring the project's success," or "Our common priority here is to find a solution that works for everyone." When the discussion continues, I strive to guide it in a way that values everyone's input but also moves toward resolution. I might ask clarifying questions, summarize key points, or suggest a compromise that aligns with the group's broader goals.
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As the facilitator, your role is not to establish authority but rather to create a space of collaboration where everyone feels heard and there is a mutual understanding between participants and facilitator. By using active listening skills, you allow your stakeholder to voice their concerns and make them feel that their opinions and expertise matters. Remain empathetic, yet firm and professional, with a focus on re-aligning the group. Reiterate the goal and objectives of the day. You can also include the rest of the group for their perspective to ensure collaboration and a sense of cohesion amongst participants, and to break down the perceived sense of authority that has been experienced.
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La question me semble déjà bancale : qu'est-ce qu'un "pouvoir de facilitation" ? En tant que facilitatrice, j'ai un mandat, et je me mets au service du groupe pour le remplir. Quand des résistances surgissent, j'utilise les trois questions qui proviennent de la présence transformationnelle (Alan Seale): - Qu'est-ce qui cherche à émerger ? - Qui est-ce que ça me demande d'être ? - Qu'est-ce que cela me demande de faire ? Je suis ensuite le chemin indiqué par les réponses, qui peut varier énormément selon les contextes et les personnes concernées.
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