5 Keys to Effective Facilitation
You know that moment when you realize your planning meeting hasn’t come up with a single plan? Or your debrief conversation has devolved into ranting, but no concrete plans? Or when your reflective dialogue is only mirroring platitudes, but ignoring problems?
It’s called “spinning”. When we’re doing a bunch of talking, with little direction or results.
An essential for stopping the spin is having a strong facilitation plan in place. At LCG, we pride ourselves on being expert facilitators, especially when you need an objective outside voice to help inform strategic decisions.
We wanted to share a little bit of our expertise with you. Because, you know, we’re givers.
Dialogue wins over lecturing: Attention spans are short. If you find yourself talking for more than 10 minutes, pause and ask for questions. Create an opportunity for the audience to demonstrate they understand the information and for you to demonstrate that their voice matters in the conversation.
Mix your methods: When you change styles, say, going from talking to the audience to engaging in a Q&A session, or going from passive reading to active small group exercises, it triggers participants to refocus their attention on the moment. It also helps embed the information in their long-term memory, so they actually remember the conversations. Imagine that!
Provide reference materials: Not everyone processes information in the same way. Beyond neurodiversity, using reference materials gives your audience a tool for engaging more deeply in the conversation. Handouts can provide more detailed information. Worksheets can give participants space to work through complex ideas on their own. Images can provide participants a “brain break” from processing verbal information. The key is choosing reference material that best matches the information you are trying to share, or the action you want to happen next.
Take the time to time it out: It sounds like a simple concept, but writing out the timing for your session can create a helpful guide. It’s a way to plot your ideas and plan a sequence for sharing information so each idea builds a platform for the next. It’s also an amazing check on yourself - fun fact: facilitators often try to squeeze a lot of big ideas into a very small space. A written plan that includes timing for presentations, activities, Q&A sessions, and even social time helps streamline your content.
Check Out with your audience: It sounds super simple, but saving the last 15 minutes of your session to ask a “check out” question can go a long way to gathering useful evaluative information about how everything went. A “check-out” question is an open-ended question posed to the entire group that allows for on-the-spot reflection. For example: “How do you see yourselves applying what we learned today?” or “Did you learn something new today? If so, what?” As always, make sure your check-out question aligns with your intended outputs. (Not sure what an “output” is? Check out our upcoming workshop, Decoding Logic Models.)
Balance the Room: This is, by far, one of the hardest tips to implement. As a facilitator, our job is not to choose sides. It’s to ensure the audience understands a certain idea, skill, or objective. This often means controlling the conversation. For example, if you have a participant who talks a lot, balance them by calling in someone who doesn’t talk as much. Phrases like, “I would like to hear from some new voices” can be helpful. Another way is to call on the opposition. Say something like, “We’ve heard XYZ. Let’s push on that idea a little bit.” It’s a gentle way to encourage participants to incorporate different perspectives into their thought processes.
Work through the Idea in front of the audience: As the facilitator, sometimes it feels like you’re supposed to have all of the answers. But inviting participants to add to the conversation can help draw them in and demonstrate that their voice is valuable.
Use the full room: Whether you're in a four-walled place or out in nature, spreading out can invite your audience in. Use the full space to your advantage to signal a change in the conversation’s focus, host small working groups, or just to stretch and decompress between sessions. You can even set up small activity stations to let people know how to use the space without being instructed. Having designated space for a “brain break” can help participants refocus so that they can reengage in the main conversation.
Don’t be afraid to pivot from the plan: Listen, it’s great to be prepared. But humans be humanning. And humans are inherently unpredictable. When the plan isn’t going to plan, be ready to pivot. Maybe you’re behind schedule, or a speaker didn’t show up. Maybe a pressing concern has taken over the conversation. It’s important in these moments to keep the overall goals of the session in mind so that you’re able to bend and flex to the needs of the group. Stay focused on general outputs such as time for individuals to connect, build common goals, or make actionable decisions. Remember, since you made the agenda, you can remake it.
Start the session with a primary objective: What’s your north star? What is the main idea that is guiding how you construct your agenda? Believe it or not, the best way to successfully facilitate any session is to have a clear plan from the beginning. It will give a firm foundation when things don’t go as planned and will also be a guide to know if you are succeeding.