What is Facilitation?

If you have ever been part of a business meeting, attended a workshop on leadership or participated in an event led by an organizer, you have seen a facilitator in action. The word facilitate means “to make easy”. The facilitators in these examples were there to make interactions with others easier and ultimately, more effective. In a business meeting, the facilitator helps group members hear each other and keep the meeting on the agenda. In a leadership workshop, the facilitator helps the leaders learn and practice communication skills. Facilitators combine the skills of trainer and teacher with the skills of organizing and human behavior specialist to help lead the group to accomplish its planned goals.

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In group activities, facilitators make the group interactions easier by

•   keeping the conversations relevant to the agreed agenda

• helping the participants hear each other to learn the perspectives in the room

• managing the time to ensure all planned items are discussed

• adjusting the plan for the meeting based on the conversations happening in the moment

• ensuring the purpose of the meeting is accomplished

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Drum Circle Facilitators are trained professionals who combine their skills to lead and facilitate groups with their passion to provide community building through rhythm. A Drum Circle Facilitator’s main job is to create a safe environment for musical, rhythmical expression regardless of expertise. Drum Circle Facilitators empower a group of people to experience the benefits of expressing rhythmical spirit through drumming and percussion.

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Drum Circle Facilitators help make the interactions of drum circle participants easier and unified. Instead of helping the participants hear spoken dialog, the drum circle facilitator helps the participants hear the rhythmical music dialog between individual members of the group. The drum circle facilitator can be teacher-like in the beginning of the rhythm event to help instruct the group on how to play drums, how to listen to each other and how to follow the body language of the facilitator. As the group progresses in their rhythmical connections, the facilitator may direct the attention to the parts of the group and the different sounds available in the rhythm circle. As the group continues to develop into a rhythmical ensemble, the facilitator becomes more of an orchestra conductor. The facilitator listens, adapts and showcases the rhythmical music being created by the group.

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Drum circle facilitators do not need to be professional musicians, master drummers or highly skilled group process facilitators. While all those could be beneficial to the work of the drum circle facilitator, they are not requirements. The requirements to be a drum circle facilitator are

• Passion to offer shared experiences to groups for community development

• Willingness to continually learn and adapt while leading others in a group setting

• Love for playing music and rhythm

• Desire to grow group leadership skills

• Belief in the power of igniting human potential

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Facilitation is a rewarding and challenging professional skill. As a facilitator, whether a drum circle facilitator or facilitation of some other type, you have the opportunity to align a group to accomplish a goal, ignite the potential of all the participants and strengthen the connection and community of the groups you lead.

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Jim Boneau