How can you master online facilitation?

1 Plan and prepare

Before you facilitate an online session, you need to plan and prepare your content, your platform, your tools, and your participants. You need to define your objectives, your agenda, your roles and responsibilities, and your ground rules. You need to choose a platform that suits your needs, such as Zoom, Teams, or Webex, and test its features and functions. You need to select tools that can enhance your interaction, such as polls, chats, breakout rooms, or whiteboards, and familiarize yourself with them. You need to communicate with your participants beforehand, and send them the necessary information, materials, and expectations.

2 Build rapport and trust

One of the key elements of online facilitation is building rapport and trust with your participants. You need to create a welcoming and inclusive atmosphere, where everyone feels comfortable and valued. You can do this by introducing yourself and your topic, inviting participants to introduce themselves and share their expectations, using icebreakers and warm-ups, acknowledging and appreciating contributions, and using positive and supportive language. You can also use your voice, your facial expressions, and your body language to convey enthusiasm, confidence, and empathy.

4 Manage and adapt

Online facilitation also requires you to manage and adapt to the dynamics and the challenges of the online environment. You need to monitor the time, the pace, the energy, and the feedback of the session. You need to adjust your content, your delivery, your tools, and your activities according to the needs and the responses of your participants. You need to deal with technical issues, distractions, disruptions, or conflicts in a calm and professional manner. You need to be flexible and responsive, and ready to improvise or change your plan if necessary.

5 Summarize and evaluate

The final step of online facilitation is summarizing and evaluating the session. You need to review the main points, the outcomes, the learnings, and the actions of the session. You need to thank your participants for their attendance, their input, their feedback, and their collaboration. You need to provide them with resources, follow-ups, or next steps. You also need to ask them for their evaluation of the session, and collect their comments, suggestions, or testimonials. You also need to evaluate your own performance, and identify your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, or areas for improvement.