—Self-reflection after each session —Ask participants for feedback —Get feedback from your co-facilitator —Play an active role in a community of practice —Distill everything into concrete actions
There is no such thing as “done” when learning facilitation. We can always get better by honing this skill. More present. More creative. More daring.
Reflecting on your online facilitation experience and setting goals for future workshops is a valuable practice for your professional growth.
Luckily, there are at least 5 things you can do to build that reflection and iterative improvement cycle as a facilitator.
👉 Tip #1: Self-reflection after each session
Keep a journal or document where you record your observations, reflections, and insights after each session. Take note of what worked well, any challenges faced, and ideas for improvement. Regularly review your journal entries to identify patterns, track progress, and generate ideas for future workshops.
Ask yourself specific questions to evaluate your online facilitation experience. For example:
- What went well during the workshop?
- What challenges or obstacles did you encounter?
- How effective were your communication and engagement strategies?
- Did you meet the learning objectives and participants' expectations?
- What feedback did you receive from participants?
👉 Tip #2: Ask participants for feedback
Create a feedback form with specific questions to assess various aspects of the workshop, such as facilitation style, content delivery, interaction, and overall satisfaction. Keep it short and use a mix of open-ended and rating questions. Analyze the responses to identify strengths and areas for improvement.
👉 Tip #3: Get feedback from your co-facilitator
If you are working with a co-pilot, they can give you peer feedback with pointed improvement suggestions, which are extremely valuable since they come from someone that understands the skill of facilitation. Ask them for constructive feedback on your facilitation techniques, engagement strategies, and overall effectiveness. Alternatively, you can share recorded workshop sessions for review and feedback with your mentor or a peer.
👉 Tip #4: Play an active role in a community of practice
Engage in professional learning communities or forums where you can connect with other facilitators and share experiences. These spaces allow you to seek advice, share best practices, and learn from the experiences of others. In the Butter Community, you can host a ButterMixer to share your expertise, or you can step into the Facilitation Sandbox to experiment with something for the first time and get feedback on your design and delivery.
👉 Tip #5: Distill everything into concrete actions
Use your reflections and feedback received, and establish measurable goals to track your progress. For example, your goal might be to increase participant engagement by implementing two new interactive activities in each workshop.
🧰 For your toolbox:
there amazing facilitation communities you can join:
The Butter Community—A global online community aiming to make virtual facilitation mainstream and equip organisations, leaders, managers, and team members with the needed tools and mindset to reach goals collectively.
Voltage Control Community—Their weekly labs, yearly conferences, and evergreen live chats are ideal opportunities to practice new ways of advancing the craft of facilitation and change.
NeverDone Before Community—A global online community for facilitators who want to grow their skills to the next level.
We've put together some great resources you can explore to fall down the rabbit hole of facilitation tools, methods, and frameworks. Enjoy!
💪 Read real success stories and knowledge-sharing articles from our community here.
🎧 Listen to 21 podcast picks to help unleash your facilitation superpowers here.
🧰 Explore 25 facilitations toolkits you can use in your work here.
📚 We've compiled 30 must-read books every facilitator needs on their bookshelf here
💌 Check out our favorite facilitation newsletters to subscribe to
💡Browse our collection of facilitation card decks to inspire your next workshop here.
🧠 Learn more about the best facilitation courses and certifications here.
🧩 Explore our community crowdsourced resources database for more tools, toolkits, guides, and activities
Youtube Channels worth subscribing to:
🔥 Facilitator Cards/ Meg Bolger
🔥 Jan Keck
We hope you've built a solid foundation and are eager to continue your deep dive into this wonderful world of facilitation.
See you around, in the Butter Community! 🥳