Facilitation is a skill that can help you create engaging and productive meetings, workshops, and events. Whether you are a facilitator by profession or by role, your first job in facilitation can be both exciting and challenging. How can you make the most of it and grow your skills and reputation? Here are some tips to help you succeed in your first facilitation job.
Before you start planning or delivering any facilitation session, you need to be clear about your purpose. What are the goals and outcomes of the session? Who are the participants and what are their needs and expectations? How will you measure the success of the session? Knowing your purpose will help you design and facilitate a session that is relevant, meaningful, and effective for your audience.
Preparation and practice are essential for any facilitator, especially if you are new to the field. You need to prepare the content, the process, the materials, and the logistics of your session. You also need to practice your facilitation skills, such as asking open-ended questions, listening actively, managing group dynamics, and handling challenges. Practicing with a colleague, a mentor, or a friend can help you get feedback and improve your confidence.
There are also plenty of professional resources available for facilitators to learn and understand group dynamics and processes that they can apply outside of the lived experience. In my experience, some of the most instructive content is "process consulting" literature.
No matter how well you prepare, you may encounter unexpected situations or changes in your facilitation session. For example, you may have more or less participants than expected, technical issues, conflicting opinions, or lack of engagement. As a facilitator, you need to be flexible and adaptable to respond to these situations and adjust your plan accordingly. You can use techniques such as checking in with the group, using icebreakers, changing the pace, or asking for feedback to keep your session on track and meet your objectives.
One of the best ways to make the most of your first facilitation job is to reflect and learn from your experience. After each session, you should evaluate what went well and what could be improved. You can use tools such as surveys, feedback forms, or debriefs to collect data and insights from your participants and yourself. You should also seek feedback from your peers, managers, or mentors to get different perspectives and suggestions. By reflecting and learning, you can identify your strengths and areas for development, and plan your next steps for your facilitation career.
As you gain confidence and mastery of your skills, asking the groups that you are actually facilitating, how you went and how they found your techniques and approach is an incredibly rich, timely and skillbuilding method.
Facilitation is not only a skill, but also a community. You can benefit from networking and connecting with other facilitators who share your passion and interest. You can join online or offline groups, forums, or events related to facilitation, where you can exchange ideas, resources, and opportunities. You can also find mentors, coaches, or partners who can support you in your facilitation journey. Networking and connecting can help you expand your knowledge, skills, and network, and enhance your reputation as a facilitator.
Learning does not happen in a vacuum, so surround yourself with a community of other facilitators who are actively involved in sharing fresh perspectives and stories of their experiences in the field. Doing so will broaden and challenge your intellectual horizons beyond what comes intuitively to mind. As a result, you will learn much faster through connecting with your peers than if you try to figure everything out on your own.
Finally, don't forget to enjoy and have fun in your first facilitation job. Facilitation can be rewarding and fulfilling, as you help people learn, collaborate, and create. You can also express your creativity, personality, and style in your facilitation sessions. You can use humor, stories, games, or music to make your sessions more engaging and enjoyable. By having fun, you can also reduce your stress, increase your energy, and inspire your participants.
If you have landed a facilitation job it probably means you have a special passion for it. Congratulations! Remember you are on a learning path, you will only develop your skills by being there again and again. Reflect on what went well, when you shined and what you enjoyed most: amplify those moments in the next session and start shaping your style - people will appreciate your uniqueness. If you are driven by purpose you'll be able to have a true impact on people.