Now Hear This
Tips for becoming a better facilitator
Photos And Article By Jim Cain
Facilitator—noun; a person who makes an action or process easier.
To make lemonade, I take a fresh lemon, cut it in half, and then squeeze it. I take the lemon juice, add sugar, and make lemonade. Life is good! But if I squeeze the lemon harder, I get more from it.
When I choose new activities to share with an audience, I want to squeeze harder to get more out of those games and activities. The harder I squeeze, the more I get.
As camp owners and directors, you probably have enough activities right now, but perhaps you have not yet learned how to get more out of those favorite activities. Here are 10 ideas you can use to become a better facilitator. While they do not need to be done all at once, I do encourage you to try several of them each time you prepare for an event, such as staff training:
1. The Law Of Seven Minutes
Never perform an icebreaker with an audience for more than seven minutes. It’s better to lead three activities in a 20-minute period than a single activity for 20 minutes. The attention span of most people is fairly short. By limiting the total time for an activity, you keep the energy high, as well as the engagement level of the group.
2. The Power To Change
If an activity doesn’t meet your needs, change something to make it work. If you have ever heard someone say, “I tried that activity, but it doesn’t work,” then this suggestion is for you. Increase the size of the group or move the activity from indoors to outside or incorporate different props or simplify the activity, but change something. And keep changing the activity until you create the outcome you desire.
3. Be Comfortable With Silence
There is a natural tendency for facilitators to talk too much and too often. They sometimes provide too much information (minimizing the challenge for any particular group) or feel the necessity to fill in pauses in the conversation with their own voice, rather than allowing the participants the opportunity to speak. As facilitators, become comfortable with silence. Don’t rush to fill the space with your own words. If you are patient, eventually someone in the group will speak.
4. Which Activity Should I Present?
The correct answer to this question is simple. Present the activity you are excited about. Your audience will be excited about it too, but if you are not, they won’t be either. Enthusiasm is contagious. So, spend a few moments today and make a list of all the activities that really excite you. This list of “favorites” identifies those activities that you are likely to lead with enthusiasm.
5. The Emergency Kit
A few years ago I attended a conference, and one speaker mentioned that, while many people assemble an emergency kit of essentials in case of a natural disaster, power outage, or weather event, few people assemble a kit of what they typically use in their training programs. I went home after that conference and prepared a “survival kit” of my favorite, essential training supplies, and placed them in a safe storage container, protected from water, fire, and other natural elements. In the event of an emergency, I’ll have these essential items at my fingertips, ready to go. International journalists often keep a “grab-and-go” bag filled with essential items they might need for an unscheduled trip or event. Essentially, they are always prepared.
As a facilitator, you too can be prepared for an emergency. True, you may not need teambuilding supplies if there is a Zombie Apocalypse, but for all other forms of disasters, having a collection of favorite training supplies as a backup will prove valuable. Think of it as an insurance policy in the event the airline loses your luggage or a rain shower destroys your roof, and your book collection. Having a few essential training resources (books, props, tools) in reserve—just in case of an accident or force-of-nature event—is a good idea. What will you put in your emergency training kit?
6. Stand Back
After I present the basic information so a group can begin working on a team challenge, I physically step back from the group and let them work on the activity together. I discovered that, as a facilitator, if I remain a part of the group, participants will often direct questions to me rather than to each other. I am never far away, and, of course, I will help any group that asks, but my goal is to help the group be independent of me. Then, when the group returns from the training program, the members will have grown confident of their abilities, without the need for a facilitator to help them through the most difficult parts. Empowerment can be a valuable life and work skill.
7. Remember Being A Beginner
As a facilitator, always remember what it was like when you were a beginner. Sometimes facilitators become so well acquainted with their activities and teaching methods that they forget what it was like the first time they experienced an activity or team challenge. New participants are often stymied by the knowledge, skills, and talents of a professional teacher, trainer, facilitator, or group leader. Another way of saying this is “know your audience.” Anticipate the level of knowledge and abilities. Challenge them. Encourage them. But know as much about them as you can. And remember, you were once a beginner, too!
8. Trick Or Treat?
I made a personal choice early in my facilitation years not to trick the participants in my audience, which means I try not to fool them or misdirect them. I discovered that, if I fool my audience in one activity, the members will tend to look for another trick in the next activity, rather than learn from the teachable moment. And that to me is a tragedy. The last thing I want to do in a team challenge is misdirect the audience, causing members to miss the reason I chose that activity in the first place. This is not to say that magic cannot be used to create teachable moments. Just be sure you present activities in a manner that encourages the creation of teachable moments, not simply magical misdirection. As you review your list of possible activities, are there team challenges that fall into the category of “tricks” rather than “treats?” If so, consider altering these activities or replacing them.
9. Take Your Time
Don’t be in a hurry to go onto the next activity if the one you are currently in is producing valuable results with the group. One of the basic mistakes made by new facilitators is to rush through a pre-planned series of activities so participants have the full range of experiences during the event, but minimize the richness of the experience with any specific activity. If an activity has created a wonderful teachable moment with a group, let the participants fully experience that moment before moving on to the next activity.
10. A Controlled Stop
When you are ready to conclude an activity and move on to the next item on the schedule, don’t simply say, “STOP!” This abrupt conclusion can cut short the discussion and interactions among the members of your audience. Rather say, “You have one more minute,” which will allow them time to complete their essential conversation.
Dr. Jim Cain is the author of 16 team and community building texts, including Teamwork & Teamplay, A Teachable Moment, Find Something To Do!, and his latest book, 100 Activities that Build Unity, Community & Connection. He is also the creator of the innovative T&T Training Cards. Reach him at jimcain@teamworkandteamplay.com, or visit www.teamworkandteamplay.com.