Debriefing after a facilitation helps identify logistical and audience issues, creating a proactive plan for addressing these issues in future facilitations.

Last week, I shared advice for surviving awkward facilitation moments. Today, let’s plan ahead for future facilitations by debriefing on your last facilitation.

This activity is ideal for:

• Anyone who recently facilitated a meeting, workshop, discussion, or panel

Here’s what you need:

• A facilitation outline from a recent meeting, workshop, discussion, or panel

The steps:

As a core component of my work, facilitating meetings and workshops occurs frequently. Whether for a client meeting or more publicly in a workshop setting, I’ve played around with my facilitation style based on audience and subject matter. Each time I facilitate, I learn something about myself.

And as the world continues to reopen, conferences and meetings that transitioned from in-person to online during the COVID-19 pandemic are returning as in-person events.

From handling logistics and planning your meeting or workshop structure, to being fully present, facilitators consider many things to ensure the experience is educational and enjoyable for your audience.

Despite our level of preparedness, sometimes things don’t go as planned. You can’t control everything, but some awkward moments are easier to navigate in the moment, while others require reflection and planning to avoid them in the future.

Consider these crucial facilitation aspects as you develop your strategy for reducing awkward logistical and audience moments as much as possible: