Facilitation week 2022 is now over. A time for facilitators to celebrate all achievements, self-criticise and to learn new techniques – of which there are so many!
Sometimes, the learning is forced. COVID made us change and work on-line. More often the learning is hampered by our successes. Why should we try new methods when we already get the results our customers want? Why bother when we get the praise and the income we need?
Being somewhat aged (would love to say like a fine wine, but…), I remember well when professional trainers carried a bundle of 3M acetates and sessions were lectures. Bosses made the decisions, and teams were told what to do. As the ‘teacher’ melted away to a facilitated approach, new techniques came to the fore. Self-directed teams made amazing progress. Agile became all the rage.
Flip charting was and still is the standard, Post-it notes have became superseded by techniques like Sticky Walls and Pinpoint. Whilst graphic recording has become huge. We have indigenous American circles, story-telling and there are a host of techniques listed on the IAF Methods Library – 501 as of today to be exact.
So, when you see a course coming up that you feel may help you and add to your tool box, don’t say you are too busy. Unless you plan time to learn you will, in the end, fall behind. Don’t say you can’t afford it (unless you really can’t) – it will probably be less than a day or two’s billing.
Never stop learning! I’m in my 70’s and still attending training courses…
