Why a facilitator needs to participate
A facilitator should participate like a writer should read.
Don’t panic! I’m not taking on the myth of facilitator neutrality – well, not in this piece.
I’m riffing off a fabulous piece of advice that Ann Handley gave one of her readers in her Total Anarchy newsletter, edition 132.
Her reader’s question:
‘What should a writer read? What about that book everyone says is life-changing but you can't make it past the 60th page without a groan of boredom? Signed, Please Don't Make Me Read Page 61.’
Handley’s response: A writer should read... well, that's the whole sentence. A writer should read. Period.
So simple and so true. I’m going to be bold and suggest one small improvement – to replace ‘should’ with ‘need’.
A writer needs to read like an artist needs to see art. A musician needs to listen to music. A teacher needs to learn. And a facilitator needs to participate in workshops, as a member of the group.
Handley suggests that her reader stick with that boring book, to, ‘…try to read it like a writer. Get inside the author's head, a little. Imagine their goal, their approach. Notice the craft.’
Same can be said to any facilitator, or any participant for that matter, sitting in a workshop that’s not working. Don’t zone out, do emails or leave. Stay and notice their craft – or lack of.
You’ll benefit just as much noticing how a facilitator facilitates in a workshop that’s working too.
I encourage my program participants to do this. As I teach them how to nail purpose, facilitate with visuals or how to get a conversation back on track, I encourage them to zoom out and notice my approach and my craft. To notice how I’m eliciting contributions from the group, what processes I use to scaffold the conversation from solo work to plenary and how I create the space for the quieter people to contribute.
As they jot down notes about purpose, visuals or facilitating group conversations, I encourage them to capture what they notice about my craft in a fat margin to the right of their content notes, or on a separate page using headings to capture what I ‘say’, ‘do’ and things they might ‘try ’.
From now, I’m going to add Handley’s analogy to encourage my program participants to notice what’s going on behind the processes they participate in.
I’ve riffed off Handley’s advice to a writer to ‘stay curious about three things’ when they are reading, adapting it for facilitators when they’re in a group.
I’d love to know if it lands for you. What would you add?
Here goes:
Handley 1) Try to see the scaffolding. How they build the story (fiction) or the argument (nonfiction). Why did they choose to show that moment before that one? What might the writer have been thinking? Can you see the path or structure they choose?
Facilitators: Try to see the facilitator’s storyboard or workshop plan. How did they open? What do you think made them frame the session like that? How did they build towards ‘the work’ of the group? Why did they choose that question over another? What was behind their choice for that process? What might they have been thinking? Can you see the flow they tried to create?
Handley 2) How much are they telling versus showing? Very often when I find a book boring. it's because it tells, not shows. It tells me too much instead of letting me participate. It doesn't let me observe or feel it for myself.
Facilitators: How much are they asking versus telling? What sort of instructions are they giving? How many? How much are they modelling as they give instructions? How is the group responding? How are they participating? Who are you hearing more from – the facilitator or the group?
Handley 3) What metaphors do they use? Do they distract or enhance?
Facilitators: What metaphor do they use? Does it distract or enhance the purpose of the workshop? How does it resonate with the group? Is it sustained over the flow of the workshop? Do you hear the group using the metaphor?
Handley ends: (the book) Still isn't working for you...? Ditch it.
Facilitators: Ok. You’ve noted what you can. You’re switching off. If you stay, you might be a distraction for the rest of the group. If you can’t stand to stay, it might be time to fake an urgent call or text and politely leave.
I love being a participant. It teaches me what people might need and expect from facilitators. Other facilitators inspire me. They give me great ideas, and my notes remind me to attribute who I got them from.
But like Handley’s bored reader, I have been reduced to quitting the room - politely, I hope. But it’s a rare event. I quit a workshop hosted by Design Experience gurus at the start of the pandemic. The purpose wasn’t clear, they didn’t take the time to let us connect with each other and their instructions were so baffling, we felt stupid. Zoom made it easy to leave!
As a film buff and former filmmaker, it’s a rare movie that bores me to tears. I can only remember walking out of Jerry Maguire. I was bored to tears and didn’t want to waste any more time. Now if you’ve read this far, I know you might chastise me for this confession. Enlighten me – tell me what I would have noticed about that film if I’d stayed and put Handley’s, and my own, advice into practice. Just comment below with JERRY or drop me a line at jacinta@jacintacubis.com.
P.S.
Links: Ann Handley, Total Anarchy Edition 132 27 February, 2023
Links:
The Imperfects podcast
Hugh van Cuylenberg talks about gratitude practice on Luke Darcy’s House of Wellness 18 August, 2020
Deborah Treisman The Underground Worlds of Haruki Murakami, New Yorker, Feb 10, 2019
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