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Develop your skills as a Lead Facilitator through this distance learning course by AVP Britain's Operations Committee. Are you ready to take on the role? Learn the essential knowledge and responsibilities required. Register now!
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Lead Facilitator Training A distance learning course developed by the Operations Committee of AVP Britain. (opcomm@avpbritain.org.uk)
Am I a Potential Lead Facilitator? Most facilitators have the ability to take on the role of Lead Facilitator and you could look at the preparation for it as a way of self-development and enriching your AVP experience. If you are not sure, you can try acting as an Apprentice Lead under the guidance of an experienced Lead Facilitator
Background to this Course This course has been developed from the workshops organised to train Lead Facilitators Because of the limited demand for training for Lead Facilitators and the difficulty of organising suitable dates it was decided to provide an on line format for the course.
Am I ready? • If you have facilitated ten workshops including both Level 1 and Level 2 workshops, you are probably ready to go ahead with the training. • After you have completed the steps mentioned next, ask the Lead Facilitator at your next workshop if you can act as Lead and do the same for your next workshop. By this time you should be ready to become a full Lead Facilitator.
How to Use this Course Steps to becoming a Lead Facilitator • Complete the self assessment questionnaire and discuss your responses with your mentor or an experienced Lead Facilitator • Go through this course and answer the test questions for each section and discuss these with your mentor • Complete the Educare online course in Safeguarding Adults available at https://www.educare.co.uk/courses/safeguarding-adults/
The Role of the Lead Facilitator (1) Knowledge of Material The Lead must be fully conversant with the material for Level 1 and Level 2 workshops and have a clear understanding of how to create an agenda – making sure that the basic topics are covered on a Level 1 workshop and that the needs of the Level 2 participants are met. Contents of the Kit Box The Lead should ensure that the team are aware of the contents of the kit box and know where to find the items needed for various exercises.
The Role of the Lead Facilitator (2) This includes team building, support and encouragement of team members, giving and receiving feedback and confidence in handling conflict and any safeguarding issues. • Team Management.
The Role of the Lead Facilitator (3) Administration • liaising with the local organiser and other interested parties, • taking responsibility for paperwork - registers, risk assessment, evaluation forms, completion of team’s workshop report and sending it to the regional coordinator and the Operations Committee, • ensuring appropriate steps are taken regarding participants who show an interest in becoming facilitators. This includes: - Don’t forget there is a Lead facilitators Check List available in the kit box or from the web site.
The Role of the Lead Facilitator (4) The Lead Facilitator must be prepared to deal with any emergency situations and make decisions quickly. Emergency Situations
Why we do team building The value of good team building before a workshop is well recognised and we want to stress how important it is, particularly in dealing with difficult situations in the workshop and with conflicts that might arise within the team. The basis of good team building is allowing time for the team to get know one another
Getting to know one another (1) It is useful to use a structure in the process of team building and to share on all or most of these topics: • A little bit of my personal life... Is there anything going on in my personal life which could affect the workshop? • Am I harbouring hidden feelings from the past that could affect this workshop? • How much experience I have had facilitating workshops.
Getting to know one another (2) • A good/bad experience that taught me something was... • What I am confident or not confident doing in AVP workshops is... (e.g. writing, reading, giving directions, light & livelies, etc.) • Specific concepts I have difficulty with... (e.g. I Messages, Transforming Power, etc.) From this you can lead the team into establishing a working relationship
The working relationship Establishing a relationship enables the team to agree on :- • Timings of exercises and what to do if an exercise is taking longer than anticipated, • When and how team members can support each other, • How you will accommodate participants with special needs, • Supporting the least experienced members of the team and helping them to gain confidence and understanding, and providing feedback.
The Working Relationship (2) • The team also needs to agree on how decisions are to be made. In general, this should be by consensus, but there may be cases where a Lead Facilitator should intervene unilaterally. • For example: • The agenda has not been agreed and it is almost time to start. In this case the Lead should take some unilateral decisions about the agenda. • A serious incident arises which poses an immediate threat to the workshop. This is dealt with later in this course.
Creating an Agenda Once the team know how they will work together, an agenda can be created - at least for the first session of the workshop. It is helpful if the Lead Facilitator has sent a draft agenda for the workshop to the team in advance. For a Level 1 workshop, it is often possible to plan the agenda for, say, the first three sessions at the start, while for a Level 2 workshop only the first two sessions can be planned in advance.
Level 1 Agendas (1) • Use the building blocks to identify the skills to be covered and the order of covering them. • Aim to cover all of the skills during the workshop. Show how each exercise relates to one or more of the building blocks. • Mix the heavier exercises with lighter ones. Avoid ending the session or day with a heavy exercise.
Level 1 Agendas (2) A typical 15hr Level 1 workshop will consist of 5 sessions, generally following this pattern: • About AVP and getting to know us. Looking at self esteem and violence. • Communication and Transforming Power. • Understanding conflict. • Skills in working with conflict. • Looking back and moving on.
Level 2 Agendas (1) Level 2 workshops are characterised by the input from the participants in choosing a focus for the workshop, although in some cases, the focus may have been decided in advance. If so, the team will still need to help people explore their goals within the focus.
Level 2 Agendas (2) A Level 2 workshop would follow a typical pattern: • Community Building. Looking at consensus. • Choosing the workshop focus. • Exercises relating to the focus. • Exercises relating to the focus. • Looking back and moving on.
Choosing the Focus of a Level 2 Workshop • We try to use consensus to choose the focus, as it gives an opportunity to work on group decision making skills. • Ideally the choice should be unanimous or one that everyone can agree to. • We try to avoid the twin pitfalls of arriving at a too-easy decision or of spending more time and energy on a decision than it is worth. • Consensus requires a strong foundation of shared values and community and time to work things out. • Exercises like Have a Heart or Picture Sharing give the group a physical experience of consensus.
Changing the Agenda (1) • Be prepared to modify your agenda in the light of events, even if it means scrapping exercises. • If you get a question during an exercise that must be answered, deal with it there and then. If participants feel you are fudging the issue, they will lose faith in the team. If you deal with it immediately, you can ask for contributions from everybody to bolster your contribution.
Changing the Agenda (2) • If modifying, or creating a new exercise is required then be bold and do so. • For some questions there is no definitive answer, just discussing it may be all that is expected. • If the question is not urgent then write it up on the unanswered question sheet.
Helping Less Experienced Facilitators (1) • Once a session agenda has been created, determine which facilitator will lead each exercise. • Invite the facilitator with least experience to choose the parts they want to do first. • Avoid allowing them to be too ambitious or take on too many parts of the agenda, but do encourage and support them to increase their experience and skills.
Helping Less Experienced Facilitators (2) • Help apprentices to understand where exercises fit in to the sequence and to prepare processing questions for the exercises they run. • Be ready to explain the procedure of the exercise and encourage them to write the steps down if they are not in the manual. • Make a special effort to give them encouraging feedback as soon after a session as possible.
Leadership Styles (1) Do you recognise your leadership style? Some leaders can be rather autocratic and try to deal with every issue, no matter how trivial and have a fixed way of doing things. Providing detailed instructions for apprentices can be very comforting for them but may lead to a stultifying workshop.
Leadership Styles (2) At the other extreme, a very ‘laid back’ approach may leave team members floundering, not knowing what to do and participants will pick up that no one seems to be in charge. Modify your style according to the strengths of the team. A team of highly experienced members is not going to appreciate your control of every detail; however, apprentice facilitators may be comforted by your control.
Learning Styles (1) Most of us have a preference for a particular way of learning – for instance one person learns best by doing something a certain way, and if it works they probably keep repeating it. (That is the Activist). Another person likes to have plenty of time to think about something, to leave no stone unturned, and sometimes finds it impossible to make a decision! (the Reflector).
Learning Styles (2) The Theorist is very comfortable with models and structures and can learn easily from books, diagrams, theories. The Pragmatist is someone who likes to try out new ideas. Think about how you learn and try to gauge the other team members.
Team Debriefing (1) At the end of each session you should sit down as a team and discuss how it went. Even if time is tight it is important to make time for this. It is worth commenting on every major exercise and sometimes the minor elements as well. Give praise where it is due. It is a major part of reinforcing the skills practiced and helps the facilitator to feel valued. If improvements are needed provide the feedback sensitively.
Team Debriefing (2) Highlight the good work first before mentioning the areas that need improvement. Remember that some may be upset if feedback is given amongst other team members. Recognise your role in helping the apprentice to get to the required standard. It could be “watch me do it next time” or going over the elements of the exercise in more detail. Be prepared to explain in detail for the benefit of apprentices
Disagreements within the Team (1) Hopefully this happens rarely. However, you must be able to handle it successfully. Make sure disagreements are dealt with using the skills of AVP. If it is not very serious, it may be possible to discuss the disagreement within the workshop as a practical example of how to handle conflict. Use the clinic situation, where the participants are observers only.
Disagreements within the Team (2) More often though, you will want to deal with it once the participants are no longer around. It is important to allow all the team to have their say and try to come up with a solution that all the team members can embrace. If that is not possible, it falls to you as leader to make the final decision.
Dealing with Disruptive Participants (1) • Not everyone has the ability to focus for long periods:- • More light & livelies or simple stretches may help. • People understand with varying abilities:- • Don’t allow the brighter participants to prevent the slower ones from having time to clearly understand the skill being covered. But, have regard for the needs of the bright so you don’t lose them.
Dealing with Disruptive Participants (2) • Some may be under the influence of drugs or alcohol:- • They should be asked to leave. • Some may keep referring to their own problems, delaying progress and making themselves unpopular with the group:- • They need sensitive handling, so that we do not appear disrespectful but, after a reasonable airing they should be asked to close that subject.
Dealing with Disruptive Participants (3) • Some just don’t want to be there but feel under pressure to remain:- • You may need to explain to them the consequences of their action on the other participants and, if necessary, ask them to leave. • One participant may have a serious conflict with another participant (or a team member):- • A useful technique to calm the atmosphere is the Claremont Dialogue. (see Facilitation Manual). There may be value in using such a conflict in the workshop as a real example of conflict resolution. But beware of the risks.
Participants Showing Very Strong Emotions • Some exercises may cause participants to exhibit very strong emotions, which might be the result of past trauma. This could include anger, crying and fear:- • You should try and support them and the group may also be able to provide support. If the emotions are really overpowering and risk disrupting the workshop, you should go with the participant into another room and listen to their story and provide whatever support you can. However, you need to remember that AVP is not a counselling service and it may be necessary to refer the person to a specialist • counsellor.
Safeguarding(1) • What is Safeguarding? • Safeguarding is the protection of vulnerable people from abuse or neglect. • Who is a ‘Vulnerable Person’? • A Vulnerable Person is someone who has care or support needs. This could include workshop participants. • What is abuse? • Abuse includes physical, sexual, psychological or other harmful actions or omissions (neglect) including • self–harm/neglect.
Safeguarding (2) AVP facilitators have a duty of care towards the participants while they are in the workshop. • They also have a duty of care towards themselves and should follow simple precautions:- • Do not allow yourself to be in a room on your own with a participant. • Do not disclose any personal contact details to any participant.
Disclosure In general, anything said in a workshop is confidential and should not be disclosed to anyone outside the workshop. However, there are specific exceptions where: • an individual discloses that they are being abused or, • an individual discloses they may harm themselves or someone else or, • a concern emerges that a child or vulnerable person is at risk of abuse.
Disclosure (2) All incidents of disclosure that occur during any AVP workshop must be reported to the Lead Facilitator in the first instance and then to the Regional Coordinator. The police may need to be involved in serious cases. It is not the responsibility of the AVP staff or volunteers to decide if abuse is occurring, but it is their responsibility to act immediately on any concerns by reporting any suspicions they have to the appropriate person.
Disclosure in Prisons In a prison there are additional exceptions to confidentiality: • If there is a real possibility of escape from a prison, or • If the disclosed information could be detrimental to the security of the establishment and/or any prisoner, staff or volunteer working within the prison. All incidents of disclosure in prisons must be reported to the prison officer on duty or to the appropriate prison staff and to the prison project coordinator.
After the Workshop (1) • Review the whole workshop and show your appreciation to the team. Although there are often time constraints, it is important to debrief properly. • Read through the participant’s comments on the end of workshop survey and share your thoughts with the team. • Fill out the facilitator’s workshop evaluation report, honestly, succinctly and with other team members’ contributions. This need not be very detailed. Its purpose is to provide basic information and to allow the Operations Committee to pick up worrying trends.
After the Workshop (2) • If there have been any safeguarding issues,mention them briefly, but immediately contact the Regional Coordinator, if serious, and the police, if very serious. • The facilitator’s report and the list of participants completing the workshop should be passed to the Regional Coordinator, together with any other information you think the Coordinator should have, such as replacement supplies required, or which participants want to progress within AVP.
