Co-facilitation requires preparation too

To begin with, I’m not saying that I view co-facilitation as a challenge or a grind, but it’s no ‘walk in the park either.’ It’s just something that you need to prepare for…

The ‘back-story’

A few years ago my wife, Georgie, and I achieved what at times we thought was an impossible goal. We completed the 12km ‘Run for a Reason’ here in Perth.

At the time, I thought “Great, we’re all done with that goal. Now I can put my feet up for a while.”

Georgie had other thoughts, like “Let’s not waste all this good work, let’s now do a half marathon in Melbourne.” Really?

This is what I learnt about us working together as a team and how you can apply it in co-facilitation of workshops…

Lesson 1. Understand the types of people you are

Georgie is an ‘initiator’. She gets things happening. This whole exercise thing started when she joined a local running club.

At the time, my interest in this (on a scale of 1 to 10) was minus 100…

There was a hiatus with the running club and Georgie instead decided to start running on her own.

I figured that I could at least trot along beside her for moral support. Gee, why not get back into something that you hadn’t done for 20 years – how hard can it be?

As an ‘initiator’, Georgie is happy to just jump in, make it happen and get things started.

I like to be prepared by knowing what we’re up for and how long it’s going to take.

The point – in a co-facilitation scenario it’s important to understand behavioural or attitudinal differences between you and you facilitation buddy.

The ‘initiator’ will be great at throwing ideas around to try, mixing things up and looking at things in a way you may not have considered.

The ‘boy scout’ (be prepared) type of facilitator will be good at thinking about ‘Plan D’ and testing whether your objectives reflect reality.

Lesson 2. Check that you really need each other

Don’t gasp! I’m not being nasty here…it’s just that some tasks are best accomplished individually.

Some people would much rather train on their own than be stuck running with me – same goes for facilitation!

Working with someone else means greater complexity.

You need to fit in with their schedule, understand their needs and find out what they’d like to achieve from their involvement.

Just like deciding on whether you need a training buddy, you need to weigh up the forces for and against using co-facilitation.

In our case, training together gave us:

• Support – we got each other moving and understood what each other was experiencing
• Accountability – we kept each other moving
• Ideas – we swapped ideas on what else we could be doing to improve performance (joyous activities like ice-baths and RPM classes)

Lesson 3. Help each other over hurdles

As a co-facilitator, you’re not working just 50% of the time.

When your buddy is ‘holding the space’ you need to be observing what’s going on. Look for visual clues to ensure engagement is being maintained and that your partner looks reasonably comfortable.

Before your event, discuss how you’ll communicate any ‘warning signs’ either about the group you’re working with or the task that you’re working through.

Always be prepared to ‘double back’ and lend a hand when needed. If you’re facilitating and are struggling, it’s OK to say “I need a break now.”

Best to pull up a bit sore, rather than do a ‘hammy!’

Lesson 4. Deal with what comes your way

Just like a long-distance run, a workshop will rarely go exactly to plan.  In our preparations there were plenty of hiccups that meant lots of visits to the physio and masseur.

We simply readjusted our goals and talked about how (and if) we’d proceed.

Although a lot of work had gone into our preparation, realistically it wasn’t the end of the world if things didn’t pan out as we’d hoped.

Lesson 5. Enjoy what you can

When it comes to ‘the run’, enjoy being there and knowing that you have lots of people around you wanting you to succeed.

Lap up the ‘ah-ha’ and breakthrough moments that you achieve and take some time out to reflect and celebrate what you’ve done.

Epilogue

The half-marathon was a blast! On a perfect Melbourne winters day we trundled around the CBD, along the Yarra, through the botanic gardens and back again on a 21km self-propelled tour.

It was epic, not something that I’d really recommend for early on a Sunday morning, but one of the most satisfying things we’ve done in our lives!

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