Reflection: Facilitating with a heart

Gene A. Pejo, MSC. The training for group facilitation commenced last March 1, 2024. The course title is “Training for Group Facilitation”, but don’t be tricked by its title because it goes beyond the typical facilitation we usually know. The usual facilitation is with an agenda to follow and then discuss, and the role of the facilitator is to ensure that everybody participates. If everything is done, then pack up, and facilitation is done. In this course, the participants must follow the course online, where we follow different modules. The participants must comply with the exercises and submit their reflections and insights on each topic. Last May 15-30, 2024, the participants gathered in Rome for a face-to-face Intensive Practicum. Only eleven out of the fourteen who registered for the program made it to the practicum phase of the course.

A Journey Within. The facilitation training we did (supposed to conclude on June 14, 2024) pays primary attention to discernment as an approach to the group process. Facilitation in this context gives more time for silence, to listen not just to what is said by the mind but enough time to listen to what the heart says about an issue. People not used to this process will surely react to this approach because they are used to loud discussions and debates about the agenda. People who are allergic to silence will surely find this approach discomforting. Unruly and uncooperative groups are the usual challenge of the facilitator.
In the program, aside from the basic tenets of group facilitation, as future facilitators, we were also introduced to identifying various types of individual and group behaviours. Identifying these behaviours in a group will help the facilitator deal with the issue at hand and steer the group to become coherent, leading to a good-quality process. As a facilitator, one must harness his/her ability to see behind certain behaviours in a group. He/she can see and listen through his/her eyes, ears, and heart. Building connections and relationships is part of the art of facilitation. Not being able to handle certain group behaviours, particularly negative ones, can ruin a process.
As a participant in the program, I initially expected a conventional learning process. However, as I delved into the modules, I realized that this was more than just training. It was a journey of self-discovery and personal growth. As a student facilitator, the exercises guided me to confront my inner issues and understand their implications in my facilitation role. This self-awareness, I believe, is crucial for a facilitator to effectively journey with a group. It allows us to see and listen from the heart, and to accompany the process with compassion.

Facilitating As a Way of Life. As I returned to my experience in the program, my contemplative side was harnessed. While it is true that we were introduced to the many intricacies and the technical aspects of facilitating, and mind you, there were loads of them, and I must admit I could not even absorb them all, I will try my best to get back to them and learn more. On the other hand, while in the middle of the program, I realised that our Spirituality of the heart is very much integrated into the learning process. Listening from the core of our hearts, we may encounter the primary source of our being MSC while undergoing a group process, which will become the basis of whatever resolutions or decisions we make. It is no longer motivated by our selfish intentions as individual or group agendas.
I am very grateful for the opportunity that was given to me to undergo the program. I will now be able to apply my learnings gradually as I immerse myself in my new role in the General Administration.