March 2023:
This Blog Post was written by Administrative & Communications Coordinator, Douglas Wetmore.
Working for Gerard, I was pleased to be invited to take off my usual administration & communications hat, and instead sit as a participant and learn from Gerard Murphy at Barefoot’s Facilitation ABCs workshop. Prior to my role with Barefoot, I had experience facilitating youth and young adults, however had no formal training on how to be a facilitator. Over the 3 days, it was an insightful experience to how I’ve acted as a facilitator, what skills I can add, and what I can improve.
Below are my notes of what stood out to me as a facilitator learning from Gerard:
This Blog Post was written by Administrative & Communications Coordinator, Douglas Wetmore.
Working for Gerard, I was pleased to be invited to take off my usual administration & communications hat, and instead sit as a participant and learn from Gerard Murphy at Barefoot’s Facilitation ABCs workshop. Prior to my role with Barefoot, I had experience facilitating youth and young adults, however had no formal training on how to be a facilitator. Over the 3 days, it was an insightful experience to how I’ve acted as a facilitator, what skills I can add, and what I can improve.
Below are my notes of what stood out to me as a facilitator learning from Gerard:
Setting the stage
In my experience, once the ball is rolling I get more comfortable -however that introduction/how to start is always intimidating. Gerard shared valuable tips on best practices on how to set the stage and get a feel for your audience early on –before you even make a proper introduction. Moving forward, as a facilitator I will slow back my pace, and focus on welcoming participants into the space and getting everyone comfortable –then introducing myself once the ice has been broken.
In my experience, once the ball is rolling I get more comfortable -however that introduction/how to start is always intimidating. Gerard shared valuable tips on best practices on how to set the stage and get a feel for your audience early on –before you even make a proper introduction. Moving forward, as a facilitator I will slow back my pace, and focus on welcoming participants into the space and getting everyone comfortable –then introducing myself once the ice has been broken.
Controlling the flow
A facilitators job is not to direct the flow of a session where it needs to be, but to guide participants toward an outcome, helping them work through the path they take within a session. Some comments from other participants that stood out most to me was how facilitation can be “give and take” or an “ongoing dance” with participants, knowing when to step in and guide the conversation and when to allow participants freedom to lead the discussion where they believe it needs to go.
A facilitators job is not to direct the flow of a session where it needs to be, but to guide participants toward an outcome, helping them work through the path they take within a session. Some comments from other participants that stood out most to me was how facilitation can be “give and take” or an “ongoing dance” with participants, knowing when to step in and guide the conversation and when to allow participants freedom to lead the discussion where they believe it needs to go.
Getting the most out of learning
My experience building sessions have been heavily focused around hands-on activities, however Gerard taught me that a balance between activities and time to dive into reflection is critical to ensure participants leave with our expected outcomes. We explored what kinds of questions facilitators should ask and when to guide participants through reflection and help them come to conclusions about how they can apply what they’ve learned. This was the most important point for me over the 3-day workshop, and will have the greatest impact on how I change my sessions –allowing for more time to reflect on what’s happening and asking the right questions to make participants think.
My experience building sessions have been heavily focused around hands-on activities, however Gerard taught me that a balance between activities and time to dive into reflection is critical to ensure participants leave with our expected outcomes. We explored what kinds of questions facilitators should ask and when to guide participants through reflection and help them come to conclusions about how they can apply what they’ve learned. This was the most important point for me over the 3-day workshop, and will have the greatest impact on how I change my sessions –allowing for more time to reflect on what’s happening and asking the right questions to make participants think.
Managing challenging behaviours
The 3-days were packed full of challenging experiences from other facilitators, as well as tips and tricks to manage them. The one that stood out most to me was the simple idea of a “parking lot”. Often as a facilitator, I find myself wanting to answer all the questions and getting overpowered by extroverts. By incorporating a parking lot into my sessions, I have a quick way of “parking” questions that might derail the flow until the session allows for me to revisit and provide more meaningful answers to those questions –without interrupting the flow. Just keeping in mind it’s important to not forget the parking lot, and offering opportunities for participants to connect and follow-up if need be!
The 3-days were packed full of challenging experiences from other facilitators, as well as tips and tricks to manage them. The one that stood out most to me was the simple idea of a “parking lot”. Often as a facilitator, I find myself wanting to answer all the questions and getting overpowered by extroverts. By incorporating a parking lot into my sessions, I have a quick way of “parking” questions that might derail the flow until the session allows for me to revisit and provide more meaningful answers to those questions –without interrupting the flow. Just keeping in mind it’s important to not forget the parking lot, and offering opportunities for participants to connect and follow-up if need be!
To summarize, the 3-days were incredibly insightful for me. It helped take the informal experience I had as a facilitator, and truly reflect on what I did right, wrong and what could be improved. I’ve left with plenty of ideas on how to redevelop my approach to facilitation to get much more out of each session, and feel more comfortable guiding conversations as a facilitator. I look forward to continuing working with Gerard and learning more!
Douglas Wetmore
Administrative & Communications Coordinator,
Barefoot Facilitation Inc.
Douglas Wetmore
Administrative & Communications Coordinator,
Barefoot Facilitation Inc.