Table of Contents

Smooth Co-facilitation: A 7 Step Program

Co-facilitators should be sure to bring their game faces, planning and preparing is serious business
Co-facilitators should be sure to bring their game faces, planning and preparing is serious business

Two of my direct reports stood in front of the room and an argument began to break out.   I was horrified. They were supposed to be leading a training session for 12 new employees but the session quickly disintegrated into a verbal confrontation. You could feel the discomfort in the room among the rest of us as we looked on. Finally one of the trainers threw her hands in the air and then stormed out of the room, she seemed to be in tears. The other trainer looked down for a moment as if to gain her composure, then she stood up to give the lesson.  The show needed to go on; these 12 new hires weren’t just going to train themselves. Then she grinned.

“You can all relax, it was actually just a little skit we planned to show you what could happen if you don’t spend some time working with your co-facilitators to get on the same page prior to getting in front of a group.”

It was a very effective demonstration of what can happen if two people who have never presented together aren’t intentional about the way they prepare to give a presentation. Co-facilitation is an art form. Below are the 7 crucial steps in the process of smooth co-facilitation:

  1. Contracting: Co-facilitation is a partnership and the first step is simply getting to know your partner. Are you ok with your partner chiming in during portions you’re leading?  Will your partner need you to take notes on flipchart during a portion she is leading? Will you both take questions during your components, or will you prefer to have the audience hold their questions until the end?
  2. Aligning on objectives: Once you’ve gotten to know one another’s facilitation styles, now you can turn your attention to the presentation itself. What do you both feel that your audience should be able to do with the information you’ll be sharing? It’s essential to be on the same page about the end goal(s) of your presentation, or conflicts may arise when you actually map out the presentation, lesson and/or activities.
  3. Creating the lesson: Once you’ve aligned on goals and objectives, you’ll need to map out the specifics of how you’ll be able to achieve those objectives. What will be your balance between instructional techniques such as lecture, group discussions and other activities?
  4. Establishing roles: Once the lesson is mapped out, it’s time to decide who will lead which parts of the lesson. What do you expect your partner to do when you’re leading a component of the lesson? Will you both be standing in front of the room the entire time? Should the person not leading a component take a seat? Will the non-lead need to help monitor small group activities? Can the non-lead step out of the room to use the bathroom or take a phone call?
  5. Rehearse: The lesson you’ve created on paper may look very different than the lesson that is actually delivered when you begin to say the actual words. Your partner may be super-passionate about a specific topic and may take 25 minutes to explain a concept that you only budgeted 5 minutes for on your lesson plan. It’s much better to bring things like this to the surface during a practice session than to have this happen in front of your intended audience.
  6. Align on edits: Following the rehearsal, perhaps it makes sense to give your partner more time to explain a particular topic. Perhaps you realize that you’d like your partner to write comments from the audience on flipchart during one of your components. This is why a rehearsal is important, and de-briefing the rehearsal is your final opportunity to get on the same page before show time.
  7. Deliver in front of the intended audience: If you’ve made it through steps 1-6, this last step should be easy.

The Train Like A Champion Blog is published Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.  If you think someone else might find this interesting, please pass it along.  If you don’t want to miss a single, brilliant post, be sure to click “Follow”!  And now you can find sporadic, 140-character messages from me on Twitter @flipchartguy.

Articles Similar to Smooth Co-facilitation: A 7 Step Program

Better PowerPoint
PowerPoint
Erin Clarke

Creating Better PowerPoint Slide Decks, Faster

PowerPoint can be a very powerful visual aid and important tool for training… if it’s done well. Creating a better PowerPoint Slide Deck is about organizing your thoughts before you even open PowerPoint on your computer.

Brian Washburn

Is this the world’s most effective role play?

When it comes to your training participants, two of the dirtiest, or perhaps scariest, words you can say during a session may be: role play. In today’s podcast, John Crook, Head of Learning at Intersol Global, offers some thoughts on how to make role plays more authentic and robust.

instructor becomes the pupil with kassy laborie and zovig garboushian
Brian Washburn

Turning the Tables: From Trainer to Student

As people who have designed and delivered effective training, Kassy Laborie and Zovig Garboushian know a thing or two about good learning experiences. So what nuggets have they gleaned from a 9-month course that they’re both attending, and that all of us should consider when designing our own programs? Today’s podcast answers that question.

Subscribe to Get Updates from Endurance Learning

Brian Washburn, Author

Brian Washburn
CEO & Chief Ideas Guy

Enter your information below and we’ll send you the latest updates from our blog. Thanks for following!

activities cookbook

Download the Training Activity Cookbook

Enter your email below and we’ll send you the PDF of the Endurance Learning Activity Cookbook.

training facilitator evaluation rubric - page 2

Download the Facilitator Evaluation Rubric

Enter your email below and we’ll send you the PDF of the rubric to help you assess the skills of someone delivering training.

Download the What's Possible in L&D Worksheet

Enter your email below and we’ll send you the PDF of the What’s Possible in L&D Worksheet.

What's possible in L&D

Let's Talk Training!

Brian Washburn

Brian Washburn
CEO & Chief Ideas Guy

Enter your information below and we’ll get back to you soon.

Download the Feedback Lesson Plan

Enter your email below and we’ll send you the lesson plan as a PDF.

feedback lesson plan
MS Word Job Aid Template

Download the Microsoft Word Job Aid Template

Enter your email below and we’ll send you the Word version of this template.

Download the Free Lesson Plan Template!

Enter your email below and we’ll send you a Word document that you can start using today!

free lesson plan template
training materials checklist

Download the Training Materials Checklist

Enter your email below and we’ll send you the PDF of the Training Materials Checklist.

Subscribe to Endurance Learning for updates

Get regular updates from the Endurance Learning team.