How can you set clear expectations for facilitation feedback?

1 Define your feedback goals

Before you start any facilitation session, you should have a clear idea of what you want to achieve and how you will measure your success. This will help you define your feedback goals and the criteria you will use to evaluate your performance. For example, you might want to get feedback on your facilitation techniques, your content delivery, your rapport with the participants, or your impact on the outcomes. You should also consider who you want to get feedback from, such as the participants, the sponsors, the observers, or yourself.

2 Communicate your feedback expectations

Once you have your feedback goals and criteria, you should communicate them to the relevant stakeholders before, during, and after the facilitation session. This will help them understand the purpose and value of the feedback, as well as their roles and responsibilities in the process. For example, you might want to share your feedback goals and criteria with the participants in the invitation, remind them at the beginning and end of the session, and provide them with a feedback form or a link to an online survey. You might also want to discuss your feedback expectations with the sponsors or the observers and agree on how and when they will share their feedback with you.

3 Collect feedback from multiple sources

To get a comprehensive and balanced view of your facilitation performance, you should collect feedback from multiple sources and methods. This will help you capture different perspectives, insights, and suggestions that can help you improve your skills and address any gaps or issues. For example, you might want to use a combination of quantitative and qualitative feedback methods, such as rating scales, open-ended questions, interviews, focus groups, or observations. You might also want to use self-assessment tools, such as reflection journals, checklists, or peer reviews, to complement the external feedback you receive.

4 Analyze and act on feedback

Once you have collected the feedback, you should analyze it and identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of your facilitation performance. This will help you recognize what you did well, what you need to improve, and what you can do differently in the future. For example, you might want to use a SWOT analysis, a gap analysis, or a feedback matrix to organize and prioritize the feedback. You might also want to create an action plan, a learning plan, or a development plan to document and implement the changes you want to make based on the feedback.

5 Share and celebrate feedback

Finally, you should share and celebrate the feedback you received with the relevant stakeholders and thank them for their contribution. This will help you build trust, rapport, and credibility with them, as well as demonstrate your commitment to continuous improvement and learning. For example, you might want to share the feedback summary, the key findings, the action plan, or the success stories with the participants, the sponsors, or the observers. You might also want to acknowledge and reward yourself and your team for the achievements and the learnings you gained from the feedback.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?