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  • Essay / The role of facilitators in management strategies in conflict resolution and strategic management

    According to Bens (2010), a trained facilitator is a person who helps a group of people understand their common goals while helping them also to develop an action plan on how to achieve them. Most of the time, the facilitator remains neutral and therefore takes no position in the planning process. Sometimes a manager may decide to draw on a facilitator's skills in management strategies such as conflict resolution, strategic management, and process improvement as the journal deliberates. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Strategic planning involves setting priorities, focusing energy and resources, strengthening operations, and aligning workers with the organization's goals. Most of the time, senior managers take on the strategic planning role. However, there are different scenarios in which a qualified facilitator can apply (Bens, 2012). First, when a manager wants to participate as a team member rather than as a supervisor. For most managers, facilitating and participating at the same time is a big challenge. Most employees will always feel that the manager is superior and therefore will not be able to be themselves. Second, dysfunctional behavior and personal problems block a group; facilitator skills can be careful (Ramsbotham, 2012). Skilled facilitators use sensitivity to raise issues and highlight dysfunctional behaviors to avoid trapping a team. As such, the competent facilitator will help get the team moving and reach a new level of functioning. Finally, when a group is confronted with complex questions and varied points of view, a facilitator can be of great help. A skilled facilitator brings a multitude of new group processes and activities to define problems, make decisions, generate options, and reach consensus (Bens, 2012). Second, the approach can help with conflict resolution in many ways. First, the facilitator will help supervise the organization and conduct of the meetings, thereby alleviating tensions (Bens, 2012). This way, people can go beyond their personal agendas and collaborate, thereby reducing conflict. Second, the facilitator ensures strict compliance with group procedures. Therefore, he or she can reduce the risk of conflict between group members. The facilitator can carry out out-of-group maintenance using skills such as gatekeeping (Ramsbotham, 2012). Such activities help maintain harmony and collaboration within a group, thereby reducing conflict. Finally, the facilitation approach incorporates activities such as a group retreat that help create a strong bond between group members. Retreats help members dispel biases they may have against each other as they learn more about each other. As a result, conflicts decrease considerably (Bens, 2012). Finally, the facilitator approach can help improve the process in several ways. First, the facilitator will help design and set the context for the development. Second, by adopting a neutral point of view, the facilitator will help identify weaknesses in the current process and align it with the defined context. In addition, the facilitator will help raise team members' awareness of identifying.