Focus Magazine - Winter 2012 - 19

FRONT OF THE ROOM Brian Lange

The Privilege of Facilitating

P
It is time for us to
(re)commit to our learners

eople are counting on us. People are desperately hoping we will surprise them … exceed their expectations. ey want us to innovate, challenge and engage them. ey want us to value their time and ignite their curiosity, sense of experimentation and desire to apply new learnings. So, the responsibility for each of us tasked with facilitating for others is great. Immense. Daunting. Even intimidating. It is, perhaps, time — as we begin a new year — for us to (re)commit to our learners, to be clear in our resolve to advocate for them and to positively impact performance in the organizations we serve. Be it resolved that in 2012: • I understand “It’s not about me — it’s about the learners.” • I will be enthusiastically open to learning with participants — I don’t know it all. • I will seek to enable participants to achieve a sense of, “I’m willing to learn with you.” • I will invest in the creation of openings that give learners compelling reasons to listen. • I will include opening activities that engage learners and put them to work immediately. • I will deliver the unexpected: I’ll play with environment, structure and process to cra a unique, evolving and collaborative learning experience. • I acknowledge adults need to learn in a safe environment, build o of their own knowledge, learn from others and always see the relevance of the material. • I welcome comfort-with-silence as a facilitation tool and will let questions “land” (without rescuing audience).

• I will refrain from “weakeners” and apologies during my deliveries. (“I know this is dry…”) • I will be outcome-focused and all classroom activities will be toward learning points. • I will not “ x” class or learner “problems,” but will acknowledge and articulate what I see or hear as an invitation for further discussion. I will not o er the initial solution, pass judgment or label behavior(s). • I will enthusiastically embrace the challenge of bringing technical/“dry” information to life. • I will not spoon-feed learning points or “ sh” for speci c answers. • I will nd a way to incorporate all participants input. • I do not need participants to “agree” with my point-of-view. I accept they may view things di erently — and that’s OK. I will help them to feel heard, and may in-turn earn the chance to be listened to myself. • I will apply “discretionary e ort”— the e ort above and beyond what my learners may expect of me. • I will be an ambassador of the behaviors and values my company espouses, and I will always act accordingly. • I accept that facilitating exploration and learning for others is a privilege and I will humbly, pursue excellence in my deliveries. Our learners are counting on us. Let’s avoid the temptation of coasting, of simply repeating past deliveries or doing just good enough. It’s a new year lled with privilege and possibility. Here’s wishing you strength, introspection, stamina and extra reserves of creativity and commitment. I

Brian Lange, blange@perim.com, is with Perim Consulting and serves as lead facilitator for SPBT’s PrimeTime! For Trainers Core and Masters workshops. He blogs at www.WorkplaceIn uence.blogspot.com.

FOCUS | WINTER 2012 | www.spbt.org/resources/focus-magazine.aspx

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Focus Magazine - Winter 2012

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