Here's how you can incorporate new technology into facilitation practices effectively.

Begin by clarifying the goals and objectives of your facilitation practices. Determine what you aim to achieve through the facilitation sessions, whether it's enhancing participant engagement, improving collaboration, or increasing productivity. Consider the preferences and technological proficiency of the participants you will be facilitating. Conduct surveys or interviews to gather information on their comfort level with technology, their preferred communication tools, and any specific technology-related needs they may have. Evaluate the existing technology tools and resources available for facilitation. Identify any gaps or limitations that new technology could potentially address.

Successful technology integration isn’t only about the tools, it’s mainly about creating and engaging learning environment for all participants, so facilitators should prioritize groups needs as human beings and interests as learners; as technology should serve and meet their needs, thus facilitators always have to do their homework in order to remain all essential aspects of an effective journey and valuable process

In the early days of my Scrum Master journey, I eagerly introduced a new technology to my team for a workshop. However, the team struggled with its various options and features, even after several days. Instead of blaming myself, I initially questioned their abilities. Silly me! That day, I learned an important lesson: it's not about me; it's about the team and the product they are building. Understanding the team's needs is crucial. Technology can be helpful, but it's essential to determine if it facilitates the team's work, engages geographically dispersed teams, and enhances communication.

Align with Learning Objectives Prioritize User Experience -nEmbrace Accessibility - Foster Active Participation - Plan for Technology Glitches - Continuous Improvement

Once facilitators have clear goal and needs, next step is to select appropriate tech tools that align with their facilitation style, the groups needs and the type of facilitation, meeting, conference, workshop, training, business communication, project management as well the facilitation form and arrangement online or offline, with the aim to enhance collaboration, streamline communication, create a safe space and a more engaging experience

Frankly, just going on Google and looking up some free online tools can turn out to be the best resources. Here are a few things I look out for when I choose a tool online: - Simple to use (with clear pop-up self-guided instructions). - Usable with or without internet (Hey, an internet outage can occur at any moment!). - Has an in-built timer (for appropriate timeboxing). - Does not limit accessibility (cross-team collaboration is vital). - Easy to track (a bird's view of where we are and what is needed, in a single glance, especially the retrospectives). A good facilitation tool should be unobtrusive and enhance productivity. If a tool is overly complex or difficult for your team to use, it will have the opposite effect.

Get friends to test run things - I sometimes ask some of the less tech confident people in my life to try out a new tool to check if it is understandable or accessible for someone who has limited knowledge or confidence in the area. It's important the tech doesn't become a barrier. There are lots of fun tools I love playing with and that look great that I would never use in a workshop as the complexity of them presents a barrier to participation

Test-runs are akin to beta and UAT testing, deserving equal attention to prevent overwhelming the team during facilitation. I prefer selecting younger members and those outside the product team for test-runs to gather feedback. This feedback is recorded in a backlog. The ideal technology is the one whose feedback aligns with the product's needs.

Agile Principle # 12: "At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts its behavior accordingly." Feedback, preferably anonymous in this context, is the way to promote continuous improvement. While gathering feedback, ask these about the new technology: - Usability: Was it easy to use or difficult for participants? - Effectiveness: Did it streamline processes, improve communication, and enhance collaboration? - Impact on Productivity: Did it increase productivity or cause any disruptions or delays during the facilitation sessions?

PLAY is the single most important skill for finding effective uses of new technology, or novel uses of familiar tech. When you approach new tech with a playful mindset, you open up to surprises and innovative techniques that can make your sessions more fun and engaging for participants too. Embrace playfulness and just have as much fun as you can with it.

Use the Adoption Curve! Start with your Bleeding Edge and Early Adopters, and use their experience and advocacy to convince the rest of the curve to engage in the technology journey. Bleeding Edge and Early Adopter users will work out the bugs, figure out the best practices, and ultimately lubricate the adoption process - IF they're credible.