A facilitator is a person who helps a group identify and solve problems by structuring the discussion and intervening when necessary to improve the effectiveness of the group's processes and outcomes. Facilitators, sometimes called moderators, maintain a neutral approach to topics and issues and serve the whole group in an unbiased manner.

The word facilitator is derived from the French word faciliter, which means to make easy or to simplify. Indeed, the goal of the facilitator is to make a group's decision-making process easy, efficient, and effective.

In the mid-1970s, Doyle and Strauss, authors of How to Make Meetings Work, argued that facilitators were "neutral servants" responsible for making sure participants were using the most effective approaches to problem solving and decision making while reaching consensus efficiently. The role of facilitators in business has grown dramatically in the past few years. A number of recent books published...