Donald McCain - Facilitation Basics

2015 ASTD DBA the Association for Talent Development (ATD)

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ATDs Training Basics series recognizes and, in some ways, celebrates the fast-paced, ever-changing reality of organizations today. Jobs, roles, and expectations change quickly. One day you might be a network administrator or a process line manager, and the next day you might be asked to train 50 employees in basic computer skills or to instruct line workers in quality processes.

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So, you are now the teacher, instructor, or trainer: the person who will be leading a class of adult learners. In other words, youre now a facilitator of learning experiences. Where do you go from here? You may not know it, but youve already embarked on the journey to becoming a great facilitator! The mere fact that youre reading this book means that you have already discovered that facilitating learning is not the same thing as presenting information (but more on that as we go along).

Thats key to your success.

The expression, Those who can, do; and those who cant, teach, could not be further off the mark. The fact is that those who teach, or facilitate learning, and do it well, know their subjects (both content and application of that content to the job) better than anyone else.

Subject matter expertise is the foundation for facilitating an effective learning experience. Furthermore, facilitation proficiencythe focus of this bookis a skill set that supports your ability to facilitate others learning and application of the subject matter.

The word facilitate comes from the Latin word facilis, which means to make easy. As facilitators, that is our job: to guide the learning process and make the journey as smooth and as rewarding as possible for our learnersto make the learning easy.

This book is for people who want to enhance their skills in facilitating others learning experiences in an organizational environment. This may include face-to-face, online, or virtual classroom learning. Such a group might include:

subject matter experts who occasionally function in a training role or are moving into a training role in their jobs

trainers who are ready to move beyond presenting information or using learning activities for their entertainment value only

faculty members in educational institutions who want to add skills and application to their classroom experiences

HR professionals or managers who contract with facilitators and want to evaluate their performance

trainers who want to enhance their facilitation skills

trainers who want to enhance their online or virtual classroom facilitation skills

trainers whose organizations are holding the training function accountable for learners performance back on the job.

The purpose of this book is to facilitate your learning and assist in enhancing your facilitation skills. When you continue your learning journey by enhancing your own skills, you will increase the learning that takes place in your courses, the probability of skill transfer back to your learners jobs, and the impact of training on your organization.

Your success as a facilitator of learning depends on your ability to immerse yourself in the learning experience by sharing it with the learners and guiding them at the same time. Your success also depends on creating an environment that is safe for the learners on multiple levels (interpersonal, physical, psychological, and emotional).

Each chapter focuses on a critical aspect of creating and maintaining an optimal learning environment. These ideas are also applied to an online or virtual learning environment. Heres a summary of the 10 chapters in Facilitation Basics:

1. Introduction: Its Not About YouIts About Them! gives an overview of the book. It establishes the premise that effective facilitation is about the learners, not about the facilitator. This chapter also discusses some types of online training and some myths and realities regarding those methods. Finally, some considerations are discussed that will help you appraise the course design in preparation for facilitation.

2. Learning Facilitation presents the principles that underlie effective learning facilitation and explains why effective learning is about the learners. The chapter covers the differences between presenting and facilitating, how adults learn, and the implications for facilitation of learning.

3. Learner and Facilitator focuses on learner preferences and learning styles, what it takes to be a facilitator, roles that learning facilitators take on, and criteria for selecting effective facilitators.