The facilitator’s role is to bring careful planning and a logical structure to the meeting. After pre-session interviews with the participants, the facilitator will identify the purpose and goals of the meeting and plan a process that will permit full expression of ideas and views in a discussion that will funnel those views to points of general agreement and support. In short, while many meetings more resemble a casual and rambling conversation, a facilitated meeting is structured in a manner that begins with open expression and acknowledgement of a range of ideas and concerns, and leads the participants in a process that focuses on a decision or result that accommodates those ideas.