Facilitation¶
Facilitation is a form of moderation. Every organization has a governance layer -- processes, workshops, and decisions that happen interpersonally. In software, facilitation means defining who may take process-steering actions within topics.
What does facilitation mean in Rhizome?¶
In Rhizome, there are specific "acts of facilitation" -- concrete actions that steer the decision process:
- Creating a decision (proposal for consent, poll, majority vote, ranking, point distribution, resistance polling, etc.)
- Integrating objections in a consent process
- Setting deadlines for decisions
The facilitation mode determines who may perform these actions.
Facilitation modes¶
Two facilitation modes are currently available. A third mode is planned.
Distributed facilitation¶
With distributed facilitation, all members of the involved groups can steer the process. This is the leanest and potentially fastest approach.
Prerequisite: a high level of trust within the organization.
Advantage: everyone contributes to moving topics forward quickly.
Risk: many people can make process-steering changes. This can lead to a "too many cooks" effect.
Suitable for: flat hierarchies and trust-based collaboration.
Natural role distribution
Even with distributed facilitation, topic creators tend to take on the facilitation role in practice.
Creator facilitation¶
With creator facilitation, only persons who created or co-authored the topic (at time of publication) can steer the process.
Advantage: creators are typically most invested in a topic and know its context best.
Risk: creators may pursue their own agenda without others having the digital authority to act as a corrective.
Group-based facilitation¶
Planned
This mode is in planning and not yet available.
With group-based facilitation, a group designates one or more persons responsible for facilitation within that group (lead group).
Advantage: clarity of responsibility, process reliability, and reduced arbitrariness.
Suitable for: organizations with clear structures, circular organizations, or organizations with designated process roles.
Risks:
- Facilitators can become gatekeepers. Redundancy is needed for illness, absence, or vacation.
- Interpersonal difficulties are amplified when one person controls the process.
- Leaders may claim this role despite facilitation requiring impartiality.
Facilitation and leadership
Leadership roles and facilitation roles should be carefully separated. Facilitation requires impartiality. If a leader takes on facilitation, this impartiality may not be given. Organizations should be mindful of this when assigning facilitation responsibilities.
Configuring the facilitation mode¶
The facilitation mode is configured per group in the workspace settings. See Group management for details.