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:

Pipe cleaners? I’ll explain…

This is Part Four in a four part series in planning, facilitating, and evaluating a workshop, designed to assist you if you’re new to the world of workshop facilitation or want to find more ways to improve what you’re already doing.

In Part One, we focused on essential things to consider before planning your workshop. In Part Two, we learned how best to structure a workshop for maximum effect, using my workshop template. In Part Three, we discussed the skills needed to be an effective workshop facilitator. Today, let’s discuss the final phase in workshop facilitation: gathering feedback from your participants as a way to improve your workshop.

Just as a direct service provider gathers feedback on her services at her agency or organization, evaluating your workshop is important in order to improve the workshop for another set of participants.  You get direct feedback from your participants on what worked, what can be improved, and how the participants processed the information they’ve learned from your workshop.

You’re getting feedback on four components:

*Usefulness- Did the participant find the workshop useful? As we know from Part One, sometimes participants are attending your workshop because it’s mandatory, based on skill set on potential knowledge increase expected by the person or group who have invited you to facilitate. Either way, can the participant see herself applying what she’s learned in her life, school, or work?

*Workshop flow- Did the participant feel there was enough time for the topic being covered? Often, you’ll be told how much time you’ll have for your workshop, and you want to make the best use of it. Going back to Part Two, you have the option of delving deeper into an aspect of a topic, or the option of being more broad. Did the participant feel that she was given enough time to do the workshop activities? Was too much time given? Did the workshop end abruptly or was there an appropriate conclusion?

*Facilitator style- Did the participant feel that the facilitator was knowledge on the topic? Did the participant feel welcomed into the workshop space? Did the participant feel that her voice was heard? Did the participant feel that the facilitator was able to guide the conversation and handle distractions accordingly? In Part Three, we know that you should have command over your topic but be approachable to your participants. This can keep them engaged.

*Knowledge increase/behavioral change- Did the participant learn something that they didn’t know before? Does the participant plan to change their behavior? This is similar to evaluating the usefulness of your workshop, but this time it focuses primarily on the participant. (more…)

This is Part Three in a four part series in planning, facilitating, and evaluating a workshop, designed to assist you if you’re new to the world of workshop facilitation or want to find more ways to improve what you’re already doing.

In Part One, we focused on essential things to consider before planning your workshop. In Part Two, we learned how best to structure a workshop for maximum effect, using my workshop breakdown. This week, let’s focus on how to be an effective workshop facilitator. Elements from Part One and Part Two are found throughout Part Three, so make sure to read up on Parts One and Two before diving into Part Three.

While a nicely structured workshop is great, knowing how to be engaging with your workshop material and with your participants is just as important. Regardless of the format (a staff meeting, community group meeting, or an interactive workshop) or your own personality traits, you want your time with your participants to be productive and meaningful.

The role of a workshop facilitator is, in some ways, similar to the role of a symphony conductor. If you’ve ever attended a symphony concert, the conductor stands on a podium, conducting baton in hand, with her back turned to the audience. The conductor is there for a specific purpose: to make sure that that musicians stay on track, making sure that each section of the symphony is able to stand out, as well as blend in nicely with the rest of the symphony.

Like a conductor, your role as the workshop facilitator is to guide the participants as they work towards meeting the objectives of the workshop. You are there to help the participants learn about the workshop topic and to apply it to their current outlook. By putting your personal spin into the workshop, and by planning well in advanced, you can make your participants’ time in your workshop very valuable.

Before we begin, here are some common misconceptions about people who regularly facilitate workshops:

*Workshop facilitators are primarily extroverts: In my personal life, most people would say that I have an introverted personality, and it’s assumed that someone who is introverted wouldn’t want to be “in the spotlight”.  While that may be true for me in certain areas of my personal life, I’m “on” when it’s time to facilitate. This doesn’t me that I’m being fake. What it means is I’m well prepared and I know what I’m talking about. Regardless of your personality, if you know your stuff, plan ahead, and are able to go with the flow when changes are needed, you can be an effective workshop facilitator.

*Workshop facilitators are the authority: You should know as much about your topic as you can, but your role as the facilitator should be more supportive rather than authoritative. Yes, you’re in front of the room and your participants will be expecting you to know more than they do on the topic; however, it’s important to show your participants that you’re there to support their thinking, encourage everyone to contribute to the discussion, and be open to the ways they process the information.

*Workshop facilitators are never anxious: Whether it’s your first time as a facilitator or your 10^th workshop, anxiety always creeps in. Concerns over whether participants will actually show up, having enough copies of handouts, and making sure that you stick to your agenda will always be at the forefront of your mind. There will always be things that are beyond your control. You’ll always deal with some level of anxiety, but try to focus on understanding the needs and the dynamics of your participants in order to help them work together to get the best out of everyone.

Now that we’ve gotten these misconceptions out of the way, let’s look at the important skills that you need to develop to be successful at workshop facilitation: (more…)