Having organized and facilitated hundreds of sessions over the past 30 years, I want to share with you the “tricks of the trade” so that you can do it more easily yourself, ...if you have the inclination. Please feel welcome to use and share these checklists in any way you deem beneficial.
I have developed three main checklists:
- Checklist for the Business Leader – This checklist is designed as a reference for the business leader to lay out the requirements for an effective facilitated session.
- Checklist for the Facilitator – This checklist is designed as a reference for the novice or experienced internal or external facilitator to design and structure a facilitated session.
- Checklist for the Logistics Coordinator – This checklist is designed as a reference for the coordinator of the administrative support and logistics for a facilitated session.
In addition, there's a Facilitators’ Briefing document to help you orient internal professional staff who will be facilitating small group breakout sessions.
And for professional facilitators – and those internal to the organization as well – there’s a checklist of questions from which to draw for that very important first interview with the executive sponsor of the session.
Of course, these are just my own thoughts. If you have any suggestions to improve any of these checklists, please email me with your thoughts. I'll then update the lists for the benefit of anyone coming to this site.