Implement: training and delivery

In the common use within the training context, there is a difference between a trainer and a facilitator:

• The trainer is an expert in the topic of the course, who conducts a learner-centered participatory flow of activities for the achievement of learning objectives
• The facilitator: is not necessarily an expert in the field, but supports the group to build their own process of decision-making, knowledge sharing, et

100 and more tips from the ITC ILO staff:

• Agree with the company/organization you deliver the training for on the activity’s outcomes and their quality standards.
• Perform a high-quality analysis phase: the success of the training will depend to a great extent on your level of preparation and attention to its design.
• Make sure you are comfortable with the client’s expectations; they should not conflict with your values and ethics.
• Review and validate the learning objectives with participants at the beginning of the activity.
• Help participants visualize the learning objectives during the learning process. You can, for example, post them on large paper on the wall.
• Come back to the objectives throughout the activity.
• Review the objectives at the end of the activity, in particular when using participatory methods.
• If participants suggest changing the training objectives, you may have to /want to check with the client/organization/company.
• Refer to the outcomes of the learning needs assessment when presenting the overall design of the activity.
• Make sure you can measure the attainment of the learning objectives.
• Review client’s/participants’ expectations, and do not judge them.
• Make sure the roles of all participants and facilitators are clear and agreed upon (who’s who and who is in charge of what).
• Get to know and connect with your group: try to remember participants’ names, interact with them in the breaks, remember and affirm their contribution.
• Contribute to establishing a climate of trust among participants and between participants and the facilitator.
• Be an example of coherent and ethical behavior for your participants.
• Ensure late-comers are properly welcomed and included.
• Take time to cover security matters (e.g. emergency exits, first aid kits, etc.).
• Ensure the training room is nice and clean; messy environments are not conducive to learning.
• Design the space, create an environment that is conducive to learning; if need be, modify the space during the activities.
• Check the infrastructure (e.g. videos, computers, software); make sure all your tools and ICT support work.
• Make sure you have a back-up plan in case the infrastructure is lacking or not compatible with your tools.
• Indicate starting and ending time of the sessions (or indicate if they are open ended).
• Support participants in agreeing on the training ground rules.
• Believe in the group’s potential and capability to reach results.
• What you train people in is not a religion; avoid being dogmatic.
• Training is about encouraging discovery.
• Challenge preconceived ideas and participants. Lead them out of their comfort zone, that is when creativity will be unleashed.
• Allow for diverging views/opinions.
• There are as few homogeneous groups as there are homogeneous people; use the diversity in the group to its advantage; gender diversity or balance is often an asset.
• Do not get into an argument/debate with a participant that is in disagreement with you, simply agree to disagree or go back to the group and ask them to respond.
• Allow and interpret silence: it is in silence that people think. If nobody speaks, it is not necessarily a bad sign. It is up to you to read the group and understand what silence means in a certain moment. Take into consideration cultural interpretations of silence as well.
• Alternate and mix your training styles, methods and pace of activities.
• Use games, metaphors and appropriate humor (when not culturally bound or sensitive).
• Avoid making personal comments and criticism, comment on facts and figures.
• Encourage groups to complete their tasks/assignments; allow time for it.
• Remain focused on objectives and lead the group toward them.
• Design, design, design! Be prepared, even if you may have to redesign part of the workshop during implementation.
• Make and maintain eye contact with all participants, not just with one, even if that person asked the question you are responding to.
• Stereotypes, including gender-related ones, usually discriminate. Make sure this does not happen in your activities and make sure you know how to address them if they come up.
• Do not immediately give answers to questions; bounce the question back to the group to enhance learning, or say: “I will try to respond, this is my view. Does anyone see things differently”?
• Be aware that there is often invisible, implicit organizational pressure on decisions that are made by groups or solutions that are suggested.
• Be in control, but don’t control. Be well prepared but flexible in the implementation of design. Adjust as much as possible to the needs and suggestions of participants, and to their response to the learning process.
• Audience’s attention span to presentations rarely exceeds 10 minutes. Engage participants in their learning.
• Do and say less, but better (prioritize your message); don’t forget that participants are in the driver’s seat of their own learning, your role is to support.
• Have a few energizers ready in case the participants’ energy level is low.
• Understand group dynamics and keep energy level adequate.
• Be aware that moments of tension or chaos are usually part of the process of achieving objectives and forming teams; you may want to make this explicit to the group.
• Be sensitive to and show respect for cultural differences; increase your knowledge and understanding of these differences.
• Suggest different combinations of forming sub-groups, both in number of participants per subgroup and in their composition.
• Support shy or reflective participants to engage.
• Address disruptive behavior; manage it or invite the group manage it.
• Paraphrase interventions that may not be clear to everyone.
• Cluster and categorize, prioritize and rank information in order to foster learning.
• Use diagrams and visuals to reduce complexity and allow focus.
• Don’t overload participants; our short-term memory actively operates only seven concepts/things at a time.  The rest is stored.
• Build on participants’ knowledge and use techniques to make them speak, before you do.
• Never take anything for granted.
• Do not focus saying everything that you want to say. Focus on what participants are learning.
• Assess learning as often as you can. Use the outcome and results of assessments to recall, reinforce, adjust.
• Refer to participants’ contributions, past points and results of exercises; they will feel included and ‘rewarded’.
• Respect time constraints; start sessions on time and finish on time.
• Be aware of your own verbal and non-verbal language.
• Keep a facilitator’s log book; the best book about facilitation is the one that you write yourself.
• Your facilitation skills, like any other, will improve with practice. The more you practice, the better you will get at it.

There is often two or more trainers involved in the training. They might have different areas of expertise within the content and subject matter presented, but in terms of the learning process, they are co-facilitators. Co-facilitation has many advantages: it involves co-creation and collaboration, and thus enriches the learning process for the participants; it ensures diversity of facilitation styles; it enriches the content by ensuring multiple perspectives and approaches. It requires careful planning and clear articulation between the trainers, however, to achieve these benefits. If not planned and managed properly, co-facilitation may lead to a chaotic learning environment, “live” disagreement between co-trainers, confusion on the side of participants, disconnected information, interrupted learning flow.

When people are co-training, and they decide to divide the responsibilities of the content chunks or sessions/activities, that is also a form of co-facilitation. Coherence still needs to be ensured in terms of learning approach and flow, the connection between activities and content delivered.

Some possible approaches to co-facilitation according to The United Nations Office at Nairobi Training of Trainers programme, are:

• Speak and add: one facilitator leads the activity and is the center of focus for participants. The other trainer(s) pay close attention and add comments, observations or considerations to enriche the learning process
• Speak and chart: one facilitator leads a discussion with participants, and the other records the input of the group in a relevant format (Graphic facilitation/recording, jotting down ideas on a flip-chart, wiki or Google Document, mind-mapping, etc.)
• Duet: facilitators are equally involved in the process, including the comments and input. They might or might not have a predetermined order in intervening.

During training, it is common to alternate all these approaches as you consider appropriate and more useful ways to enhance the participants’ learning process.

• Check in with each other in advance and make sure you agree upon the training approach, preparation, and your roles and responsibilities during the training activities.
• Tell your co-trainer what you expect and need in terms of co-facilitation, what your previous experience is, and how you want the process to work.
• Check in with each other during breaks in the training, or even shortly within the sessions while participants are involved in group-work. Share needs, observations on the process, propose small changes to align with the group. Sometimes it is just a matter of asking for help with a task, agreeing on finishing an activity sooner or later than planned, or observing that more paper is needed. Other times it is a matter of more complex discussions on how the training is going, how trainers contribute and feel within the team, what needs to be adjusted in terms of process and activities, or providing feedback to colleagues. No matter the case, these check-ins are essential for ensuring that co-trainers are on the same page, address misunderstandings early, avoiding frustration and ensuring a smooth course flow.
• Support your co-trainer while they lead an activity. Do pay attention to what is going on Do not disappear from the training room or try to catch up on other work. Support might be as simple as helping your colleague tape something to the wall or providing support to a working group that is struggling to understand instructions.
• Don’t contradict, but work as a team. It is rare that your co-trainer will say things that are wrong. It is, however, common to find that you might have a different or complementary view from your co-trainer. But if you contradict your co-trainer in front of the group, you both undermine the expertise of your colleague(s) and confuse the group. All differing views on the content or process must be discussed in the preparation phase, so that during the training you and your colleague(s) are on the same page and provide a coherent learning experience for the participants. During the process, support and affirm each other in front of the participants, and connect your own work, activities and ideas with the ones of your co-trainer(s).
• Stay on time. All of us would like to have more time for our sessions and sometimes feel that we are running against time. It is crucial, however, that you stay within your delegated time frame. When you prolong sessions, you take time and energy away from the participants during other sessions. Remember to rate the importance of all activities within the educational flow and discuss and come to agreement with your colleague(s) regarding any changes or adjustments in time-division.