A quick focus on facilitation

Facilitation is the act of helping other people to deal with a process or reach an agreement or solution without getting directly involved in the process. This Cambridge Dictionary definition is a good start, but does not address the degree to which the facilitator must provide input. 

We speak of facilitation, in education circles, as a more student-centred application of skills and knowledge training. And in our experience, this is the fine line we must walk as vocational educators and corporate trainers. Whether or not we choose a more trainer-centred lecture-style, as in the context of technically intense information, or we provide for a more facilitated problem-solving approach to the session; this is the question we must ask ourselves.

Mind-set

The mind-set of a skilled facilitator should always be centred on the participant. How are they feeling? What are they thinking? How can they best learn this content? etc...

Having this mind-set in every instance, ensures that your session progresses in a more engaging manner. For example: If you feel like you've been talking too long, you probably have been. And the cure for this situation is to inject some activity or discussion into the session. 

I always tell my teaching students that if they start to get sick of hearing their own voices, then they need to stop - and similarly, if you find yourself reading from a slide, turn the learning into an activity rather than a lecture. With your student-centred mind-set, you'll recognise that the information is probably feeling a little stale or boring at that moment, and that an activity will help to re-engage your students.

Tool kit

A facilitator's tool kit must be made up of dozens of activities that they can call on when needed. Activities are learning processes in which the participants are actively engaged. The six pieces of the engagement pie that I have shared before, include:

1. Stories and experiences

2. Problem solving

3. Audio-visual stimuli

4. Questioning

5. Challenges and dilemmas

6. Emotional inputs and outputs 

Of these; 2, 4, 5 and 6 provide obvious opportunities for the creation of an activity. (All of these are potential activity starters, but these four are the easiest place to start when developing your tool kit)

For example: You have four pieces of information you want the participants to know. Rather than read through the information (a one-way 'teacher-centred' approach) - quickly issue a challenge to the group by asking them to write a story about how each item has been applied in their workplace. This requires them to develop an understanding of the content quickly, and then apply it to their workplace to gain contextual understanding. This application of reflective judgement (King & Kitchener, 1994) improves critical thinking and later improves the participant's criticality overall (Norton, 2015). 

One of my personal 'go-tos' is an activity whereby the participants list all of the traits they attribute to a particular position (like a teacher, manager, leader etc) and then rate themselves against each of these traits. This then provides a short list of the areas that the individual personally sees as their areas for development. 

Another, is the 'personal priority matrix', for when participants want to know the most important element of some list (such as personal values or corporate objectives). If you'd like to know how to use this activity, just message me directly.

Creativity

Developing your tool kit is the most creative aspect of the profession of 'facilitator'. Why? Because there is no 'one way' to engage your audience. There is no BEST way to run an activity. The requirement is completely contextual - relying on the various levels of engagement and personalities within your audience. For this reason, there is no easy way to master this skill. Rather, it's a trial and error and research-driven skill set that you will develop over your career.

I would love to hear your go-to activities when things are starting to slow down. Please share here or wherever you read this post.

References

Norton, L. (2015) Developing criticality in learning and teaching through pedagogical action research. Chapter 14 in John, P & Fanghanel, J. (eds) (2015) Dimensions of marketization in Higher Education. London: Routledge.

King, P.M. & Kitchener, K.S. (1994). Developing reflective judgment: Understanding and promoting intellectual growth and critical thinking in adolescents and adults. San Francisco: Jossey Bass