When people have completed a facilitation skills training course, the next challenge is to start putting them into practice. It’s like passing a driving test. You only begin to feel confident once you get behind the wheel and start getting a few miles under your belt.
Get going as a facilitator and build your confidence as soon as you can after the training. Here are some suggestions on how to go about doing this.
1 Volunteer to facilitate low-stakes sessions.
If there are internal meetings that you attend regularly, ask to facilitate them. For example, it could be a regular team meeting or a project review session. Take the lead in planning and facilitating it. This will inevitably lead to a more successful session.
2 Ask to co-facilitate a workshop
If you’re not ready to lead a session on your own, ask to run it with a more experienced facilitator. Be clear on which specific sessions you’re taking ownership of and which ones you won’t. Afterwards, make sure you capture feedback on which elements went well and what you could have done differently.
3 Design the process
Planning the session is as important as facilitating it. It’s good to get practice on session design. Therefore when you get a new brief, take the lead in designing the session plan. As a reminder, click here and here for advice on how to create an exciting session.
4 Manage the sub-groups
If you’re taking part in a large session with break-out sessions, volunteer to facilitate the sub-groups. This way you can practice with a smaller, self-contained group, yet still feel part of the broader team.
5 Just say yes!
The final suggestion is just to throw yourself into it. Say yes to any facilitation opportunity that comes your way. Be brave, reflect on your training and learn as you go. You’ll gain experience and progress quickly.
To summarise
As soon as you’ve finished your training, get going as quickly as you can. You can do this incrementally, building confidence and experience slowly. Alternatively just dive in, as often as you can. As with most things in life, true mastery comes with practice and experience.
You more sessions you run, the better you’ll become.