What are the most common standards of practice for team facilitators?

Team facilitators are professionals who help groups achieve their goals by designing and leading effective processes. They need to follow certain standards of practice to ensure quality, ethics, and credibility in their work. In this article, you will learn about the most common standards of practice for team facilitators and how they can help you improve your facilitation skills.

1 The IAF Core Competencies

The International Association of Facilitators (IAF) is a global network of facilitators that promotes and supports the practice of facilitation. The IAF has developed a set of core competencies that define the basic knowledge, skills, and attitudes that facilitators should have. The core competencies are grouped into six categories: creating collaborative client relationships, planning appropriate group processes, creating and sustaining a participatory environment, guiding group to appropriate and useful outcomes, building and maintaining professional knowledge, and modeling positive professional attitude. The IAF core competencies are widely recognized and used as a reference for facilitator training, assessment, and certification.

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Rajdeep D.
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The most common standards of practice for team facilitators often revolve around fostering open communication, promoting collaboration, maintaining neutrality, ensuring inclusivity, and facilitating decision-making processes. Additionally, they typically involve setting clear objectives, managing conflicts constructively, respecting confidentiality, and continuously improving facilitation skills through training and feedback. These standards are often outlined by professional organizations like the International Association of Facilitators (IAF) or the Institute of Cultural Affairs (ICA). Adhering to such standards helps ensure effective facilitation and enhances team performance.

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2 The IAF Code of Ethics

The IAF also has a code of ethics that outlines the principles and values that guide the behavior of facilitators. The code of ethics is based on four pillars: integrity, confidentiality, professionalism, and impartiality. The code of ethics helps facilitators to respect the rights, dignity, and diversity of the participants, clients, and stakeholders, to protect the confidentiality of information and opinions shared in the group, to maintain high standards of quality and competence in their work, and to avoid any conflicts of interest or undue influence. The code of ethics also encourages facilitators to seek feedback, learn from others, and contribute to the development of the facilitation profession.

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3 The Facilitator's Bill of Rights

The Facilitator's Bill of Rights is a document that was created by the Facilitator's Institute of the Mid-Atlantic (FIMA) in collaboration with other facilitation organizations. It is a statement of the rights and responsibilities that facilitators have in relation to their clients, participants, and colleagues. The Facilitator's Bill of Rights covers topics such as contracting, fees, preparation, participation, intervention, evaluation, and recognition. It aims to help facilitators to establish clear expectations, boundaries, and agreements with their clients and participants, to ensure fair and ethical treatment, and to foster mutual respect and trust.

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4 The Facilitator's Code of Practice

The Facilitator's Code of Practice is a document that was developed by the Facilitator's Network of New Zealand (FNNZ) in consultation with its members. It is a set of guidelines and recommendations that reflect the best practices and standards of facilitation in New Zealand. The code of practice covers areas such as facilitator's role, values, skills, methods, tools, processes, outcomes, evaluation, and development. It is intended to help facilitators to deliver effective and appropriate facilitation services, to uphold the principles of participation, collaboration, and empowerment, and to enhance their professional growth and reputation.

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5 The Facilitation Values and Principles

The Facilitation Values and Principles are a collection of statements that express the core beliefs and assumptions that underpin the practice of facilitation. They are derived from various sources, such as the IAF, the FNNZ, the Facilitator's Bill of Rights, and the experience and wisdom of facilitators. Some examples of the facilitation values and principles are: facilitation is a service, not a product; facilitation is a process, not an event; facilitation is about empowering people, not telling them what to do; facilitation is about facilitating the group, not the content; facilitation is about asking questions, not giving answers; facilitation is about listening, not talking; facilitation is about learning, not teaching; facilitation is about adapting, not imposing.

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Melissa C.

Mentor Coach | Facilitator | Career Advisor | Founder at Gradual Human Talent | Training Coordinator at BNI PERÃš - ALBA CHAPTER
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Las actividades de un facilitador deben basarse en principios y valores que fortalezcan su papel como catalizador del desarrollo. Seguir estos principios muestra la solidez de su perfil, su propuesta y garantiza la integridad, confianza y respeto al proceso de facilitaciÃ³n. Al comprometerse con el bienestar de sus aprendices, el facilitador crea un entorno propicio para su crecimiento profesional, orientÃ¡ndolos para asumir un papel activo en el cierre de sus brechas de desempeÃ±o con autonomÃa. De esta manera, los facilitadores alineados a principios y valores especÃficos son quienes consolidan su lugar como agentes de cambio Ã©ticos y competentes.

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6 The Benefits of Following the Standards of Practice

Following the standards of practice for team facilitators can bring many benefits to your facilitation work and career. Some of the benefits are: you can improve your facilitation skills and confidence by learning from the best practices and standards of the profession; you can increase your credibility and trustworthiness by demonstrating your commitment to quality and ethics; you can attract and retain more clients and participants by meeting their needs and expectations; you can avoid or resolve conflicts and disputes by having clear and transparent agreements and guidelines; you can contribute to the advancement and recognition of the facilitation profession by sharing your knowledge and experience.

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7 Hereâ€™s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that donâ€™t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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Faris Aranki - Strategy and Emotional Intelligence

SUCCESS = IQ x EQ x FQ I help organisations & individuals be more effective today than they were yesterday by providing innovative, emotionally-intelligent facilitation, training and speaking to improve IQ, EQ and FQ
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I bet you 90% of facilitators have never heard of most of these and certainly 99% of those being facilitated wouldn't have a clue. That doesn't mean they may not be valuable but don't chase these just for the sake of it. Determine what your objectives are first and then tailor any qualifications, accreditations and standards accordingly

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Mohamed Sharaf Eldin, ACTC, MCC

Executive & Team Development Consultant | MCC, ACTC | Team Coaching Supervisor
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Being familiar with hybrid set ups and online experiences as well as facilitation tools, as well the use of technology in facilitation (like voting and synchronous interactive techniques)l that can be integrated in team facilitation, is also important. Sometimes the use of AI also makes sense to make sure of the engagement of your audience, and what can be the next good question, as well keeping the Agenda and desired outcome intact through the use of technology.

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Directory

What are the most common standards of practice for team facilitators?

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

1 The IAF Core Competencies

2 The IAF Code of Ethics

3 The Facilitator's Bill of Rights

4 The Facilitator's Code of Practice

5 The Facilitation Values and Principles

6 The Benefits of Following the Standards of Practice

7 Hereâ€™s what else to consider

Facilitation

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Directory

What are the most common standards of practice for team facilitators?

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

1 The IAF Core Competencies

2 The IAF Code of Ethics

3 The Facilitator's Bill of Rights

4 The Facilitator's Code of Practice

5 The Facilitation Values and Principles

6 The Benefits of Following the Standards of Practice

7 Hereâ€™s what else to consider

Facilitation

Rate this article

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