The Role of the Facilitator in Computer-Supported Meetings

The ability tofacilitate diverse human and technological interactions will be one of the most essential skillsfor leading and contributing to all levels of the organization in thefuture. Yet none of the research to date has definedfacilitation or the role of the facilitator in depth or has provided empirically grounded guidelines for effectively performing this role. The introduction of Group Support Systems (GSSs)-computer technology to support group work-into organizations has created yet another newfacilitation role-the GSSfacilitatoi: This article presents the results ofa rigorous assessment, using the critical incidents research methodology, of the role of the facilitator in computer-supported environments. The overall purpose of the study was to empirically develop the critical dimensions of the facilitator's role.