The facilitator...

Now there’s a word that can conjure many different images in the minds of those who don’t know much about it. Those who, on the contrary, do, will imagine something very precise and definite, possibly a bit too precise actually.

The facilitator, usually, is the one who eases the collaborative processes, the one whose expertise lies in unleashing collective intelligence and potential thanks to an experienced knowledge of group dynamics, the positive as well as the negative ones, so as to favour the former and obstruct the latter.

But the facilitator, in its traditional aspect, is usually only adapted to small, limited and “manageable” groups. Only in such groups can he navigate between participants, between tables, stir discussion, liberate everyone’s opinion 
 one might think.

Well there is, undeniably, some truth in this belief.

But which also conceals an underlying admission of weakness and a fatal lack of courage.

Because at Stormz, our collaborative set-ups can integrate facilitation techniques (only adapted, supposedly, to a limited number of participants) in larger and huge groups, if not completely gigantic.

And most importantly, there is nothing magical or miraculous about this, simply the skillful combination of ingredients which, when put together, enable the facilitation of huge collaborative workshops. So what are they?

First off, the trios, yes, them again, which function according to a self-creative and autonomous dynamic, and therefore self-facilitate themselves (without being self-sufficient).

Secondly, the Stormz app’, our unique technology at the participants’ disposal thanks to the tablets handed at the beginning of the workshop. An essential support to our set-ups, the Stormz app’ gathers all participants within the same activities and issues, and enables everyone to contribute, react, comment, vote, contest, grumble, question and inspire everyone else, live.

To sum up, self-facilitation through the trios and virtual facilitation thanks to the Stormz app’.

And finally, to ease the whole process, the supporting-facilitators, these busy little bees circulating in the room, going from one table to the next to help and accompany the participants in all the activities; the main facilitator’s reinforcements who, in the end, and apart from the short time of presentation of the workshop’s instructions', becomes, as well, a busy little facilitation bee.

It’s through the extraction and cultivation of the best of all these ingredients that Stormz is capable of facilitating huge collaborative workshops, with groups so large that they used to be brought together only in the event of suffocating seminars exclusively filled with top-down presentations and speeches.

But not anymore.