Facilitating Business Skills Training

Instead of teaching and lecturing, facilitators guide learners through interactive experiences and discussions that allow them to come to their own realizations. Learners also have opportunities to learn from each other and to gather information from the course materials.

To ensure success, the first step is to create the right environment for an interactive session.

Establishing a Learning Environment
The room setup should allow for interaction and movement between the tables.
The sessions include writing, group presentations, and small group activities and discussions. The optimal seating arrangement for a group of 15 or more is a chevron shape: an angled classroom-style arrangement with tables arranged in a V-formation.
Learners can sit at the tables and take notes, and the angled arrangement lets participants see each other and interact. An alley down the center and space between the tables allows you to walk around and monitor progress during the learning activities.
If space isn’t sufficient for chevron-style seating, classroom seating (rows of tables and chairs) is a good alternative.

Theatre seating (rows of chairs without tables) is not an option for these sessions because the learners will have many opportunities to write and will need desks.
For a group of fewer than 15 attendees, a U-shape layout is an excellent option. This allows maximum interaction among the participants and permits the facilitator to move to any learner’s location easily.
Refer to the list of materials at the beginning of each module to gather all the necessary items to produce any of the sessions listed in this workbook. Additional materials can help make sessions even more effective. For example, an assortment of small toys on the workshop tables gives kinesthetic learners something to occupy their hands, which aids their concentration. These might include peg games, stress balls, and assorted dexterity puzzles.
Posters, colorful flipchart signs, decorations, or items that support workshop themes can add a playful element to your workshop environment. In addition, participants who are auditory learners will enjoy listening to music when they enter and during the learning activities; this can reduce the stress that accumulates in a room that’s too quiet.

Workshop Preparations
Try to set up your room the day before the session begins. This will enable you to deal with any problems caused by missing or faulty equipment, and it will ensure that you’re not worn out from moving tables and equipment when your attendees arrive.

Room Setup Checklist
 □ Set a facilitator table at the head of the room with your instructor’s guide, timer for exercises, and attendee handouts.
 □ Load your CD or MP3 player with suitable music.
 □ Turn on your computer with the Microsoft PowerPoint presentation loaded directly onto the hard drive. Don’t play the PowerPoint slides from the CD because that slows down the response time and offers more chances for malfunction.
 □ Use a remote control to advance the slides of your PowerPoint presentation so you are not forced to stand at the front of the room for the entire program. Ensure that your device works and has fresh batteries.
 □ Provide basic items for your own convenience, including a glass of water, mints, headache remedies, and tissues.
Your facilitator table should have any other items you think you’ll need.
 □ Check all markers to make sure they have ink.
 □ Estimate the number of flipchart pages you’ll use in your session, and see that you have enough on your pad.
 □ Practice writing on the flipchart to ensure that the easel is stable.
 □ Check the ink supply if you’re using dry-erase markers, and make sure you know the difference between the dry erase and the flipchart markers.
 □ Use flipchart pages with temporary adhesive on the back, or tear pieces of masking tape into shorts strips and attach them to the back of the flipchart easel, so you can quickly post pages around the room.
 □ Give out prizes from your local dollar store: A prize bag is an optional item that’s always a big hit. It can be a fun incentive to get attendees into the spirit of competition.
 □ Check to see if there’s a phone in the room. If so, turn off the ringer for the duration of the workshop.
 □ Learn how to operate the thermostat.
 □ Locate the light switches.
 □ Ask about fire exits and restroom locations if you are in an unfamiliar building.
 □ Ensure that the room is set for the appropriate number of attendees.
 □ Take time to sit down in the back row, as well as various seats around the outer edges of the tables, to confirm that everyone will have a good view of the screen and of all activity at the front of the room.
 □ Post signs, posters, or any theme decorations.
 □ Post the agenda, rules of conduct, room locators, or any other materials you’ve created for the session.
 □ Post a flipchart page titled “Parking Lot,” to be used when learners have questions that are not directly related to the current section of the class. They can attach sticky notes with their questions so you can address them later in the session or during the summary.
 □ Prepare the site for your attendees once you feel confident that you’ve addressed all the details of your meeting room.

Participant Materials
Put these materials at each attendee’s place:
 handouts and extra paper for notes
 a few sticky notes attached to the front of each set of handouts
 pencils or pens
 a name badge (don’t use table tents because your learners move around during these interactive workshops).
Place these materials on each table for group use:
 markers for activities on flipcharts and to write on name badges
 a few flipchart pages
 snacks, mints, and candies (optional)
 table toys (optional).

Principles of Effective Facilitation
Once you’ve set the stage, you’re ready to focus on facilitation techniques. Here are some best practices to help guarantee the success of your session:
 Introduce yourself and briefly visit with individuals as they enter the room. This immediately begins to reduce participant stress levels and dissipates some of that nervous energy you’ll probably have at the beginning of the session.
 Set ground rules at the beginning of the session. Sample ground rules are listed in each of the chapters.
 Use verbal and nonverbal reinforcement techniques to create rapport. Nod your head, make eye contact, avoid negative words such as but and wrong, smile, and show appreciation for participation to reduce learner anxiety and create a comfortable atmosphere.
 Watch for nonverbal cues. Are they fidgeting? Do they look confused? Is anyone dozing off? Are people putting on sweaters? Respond as needed to the cues you receive.
 Use appropriate humor as a communication tool, but it’s not necessary to tell jokes. We are not all meant to be stand-up comedians. Stories and personal experiences are often the best humor you can use in training sessions.
 Keep lecture time to a minimum. If you find that a segment of the workshop does not elicit enough discussion, modify the format to let the participants teach that section. Remember, it’s your workshop: You make the rules.
 Consider awarding certificates to graduates. A certificate reinforces the participants’ feelings of accomplishment.
In addition, participants will probably hang the certificate in their cubicles, where it will be seen much more often than a flyer from the training department. In this way, certificates become advertisements for your future training programs.
 Count to eight after you ask a question. One of the big challenges for facilitators is to let a moment of silence pass. Just remember that the participants don’t know this material as well as you do. It takes them a little longer to process the new information, make connections, and respond to your queries.
 Check frequently for understanding. Ask your learners to summarize the main points of the material you presented, and ask if they understand the topic.
 Tailor your delivery to your audience. You may discover that members of your group are sports enthusiasts. That’s an opportunity to pull out your best sports analogies. Current news may before-most in everyone’s minds. Adapt your material to include the latest developments. Consider the level of education and expertise in your group, and drop the acronyms and buzzwords to ensure that everyone understands the message you’re trying to communicate.
 Handle distractions calmly. Acknowledge and immediately move the focus to problem solving. Ensure that your actions are diplomatic and do not demean the individuals involved.
 Take a break and privately discuss the situation with the disruptive participant if problem behavior persists.
Remember, yours is the final word. You have the right to define the limits of acceptable behavior and to ask a person who is going beyond those limits to leave the workshop.
 Incorporate words that appeal to the different learning styles. For your visual learners, use phrases like, “Let’s take a look at this.” Auditory learners respond well to hearing-oriented phrases like, “How does that sound?” Your kinesthetic learners feel comfortable with phrases like, “How did that exercise feel to you?”
 Walk around and check on your participants during activities. Some people finish early and start other conversations; others struggle to get started. Continually move among the groups to keep everyone focused on the task at hand and ensure that they’re doing the activity in the way it’s intended. Ask questions such as: Did any other questions come up over here?
What’s the hardest thing about this exercise so far? Is this one working for you? If you see people who remain quiet, try to include them in the discussion with a simple question, or directly ask their opinion.
 Ask how this information could be applied to the learners’ daily activities at various intervals during the session.
This reinforces the concept of taking this learning back into the workplace.
 Accept that you may not be able to answer all of your learners’ questions. Ask for ideas from the group. Write down the questions you can’t answer or have the questioner write it on a sticky note and put it in the “Parking Lot.” Then you can get an answer after the class and distribute the answer to everyone by email. The good news is that every question you answer now is a question you’ll know the answer to next time around.
 Anticipate how long each section will take based on the estimates in the sample agendas. These times give you a general idea of whether you are ahead or behind the schedule so you can make adjustments. If you see that you’re falling too far behind, limit the discussion or ask participants to save their questions until the end of the segment. If you’re moving too fast, perhaps the participants don’t have sufficient time to talk. In that case, stop at the next opportunity and ask for questions on what has been discussed thus far.
 Make notes of the actual timing of the workshop. Write the times in the margins of your manual during the class so you can adjust your agenda when planning for future workshop presentations. If you’re running out of time in a class, look through the upcoming exercises and choose those you can cover in discussions instead of using the scheduled exercises.
 Read from the resources listed at the end of each module, and study other books that give you additional insight into the topic. The more you know, the more confident you’ll be in your facilitation.
 Create promotional materials using the concepts of advertising and public relations. Tie the goals of the courses into organizational goals. Use advertising design and graphics to make communications eye-catching and inviting. Use multiple methods of communication including email, posters, presentations, and one-on-one invitations.
 Consider methods to support the transfer of this learning to the workplace. Ideas include a follow-up email asking for processes they’ve implemented as a result of the workshop, or “alumni sessions” to share best practices on the topic.
 Finally, be willing to learn along with your participants. If you don’t know, say so; your homework assignment is to find out. That’s the best example any facilitator can set.

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