Process, Process, Process

As a leader, how do you use 'process'?

Leaders are called upon to do and be anything and everything in today's schools/organizations.  With multiple demands from multiple sources, it can sometimes feel easier and more straightforward simply to provide people with information or answers.  This may be expedient but it doesn't serve your school or organization well.  What happens when you're not there?  Where will people get information or find their answers?  In the interest of building capacity in your staff so that everyone feels capable and self-directed, it is essential to create a culture where processes are used on a regular basis.  Whether the issue is the provision of information, problem-solving, information gathering, planning,.....or whatever,.....there are always processes that can help.  As a leader, the key piece of information for you is to learn appropriate processes that you can use, to use them often, and to create a culture where your staff, students, parents, and others understand the value of processes for bringing the best thinking to an issue. 

One of my favourites is Facilitating with Ease! by Ingrid Bens.  It's full of great processes for anything you need to do. 

Readers, do you have other sources for processes?  If so, please post them in the Comments section.

 

Are you a facilitative leader?

As a leader, do you lead in a facilitative manner?  Much of what any leader needs to do is to facilitate the meetings, conversations, learning, and the work of a staff.  Yet how many of us actually have the skills to facilitate?  Simply because someone is in a leadership position, it does not necessarily mean that they have the skills of a facilitator.  In fact, many don't.  Facilitative leaders use specific processes that engage and include people.  These processes are carefully thought-out and designed in such a way that the leader provides the time, space, and processes to ensure that everyone who needs to be involved can take part, has a voice in the work that is done, and has a sense of ownership over the work and/or decisions made.  Facilitative leaders have a calm and calming manner because they know the processes to use to work through virtually any situation.  If facilitation skills are not yet part of your leadership repertoire, it might just be a very wise investment on your part to look at how you can begin to be more facilitative in your leadership.  You just might be very surprised to learn just how talented, knowledgeable, and skilled your staff is!

Facilitative Leadership

As a leader, are you facilitative or directive?

Facilitation is a way of providing leadership without taking the reins.  It's the facilitator's job to get others to assume responsibility and take the lead. 

Here's an example:  Your employees bring you a problem, but instead of offering them solutions, you offer them a method to guide the members with which they can develop their own answers.  You attend the meetings to guide the members through their discussions, step-by-step, encouraging them to reach their own conclusions.

Rather than being a player, a facilitators acts more like a referee.  That means you watch the action, more than participate in it.  You control which activities happen.  You keep your finger on the pulse and know when to move on or to wrap things up.  Most important, you help members define and reach their goals. 


From: Facilitating With Ease! by Ingrid Bens
Published by: Jossey-Bass