As trainers, we perform additional roles, primarily the role of a facilitator and a coach. There are no rules on when one should perform a particular role. However, there are general guides that indicate which role to fill based on the situation. Below are a few tips on when to faciliate and when to coach.
When You Might Fill the Facilitator Role
When the training needs commitment and participation of learners.
Ongoing contributions usually do not come from learners. Instead, the buy-in of participants comes from knowing that their beliefs and opinions are being solicited and valued. This can be especially important when a diverse group will be mixed in one training class. The essence of facilitation is to bring out those various beliefs and opinions from participants, and to help them decide on what they want to do and how they want to do it.
Remember that part of the workshop when we ask for learning expectations and when we setup norms? That is a simple example of bringing out what they have in mind, and to help them decide on what to do with their collective ideas.
To maximize an individual’s learning from experience.
It is said that the best way adults learn is through experience. This is why trainers use the Structured Learning Experience(SLE). SLEs are activities that can bring out experiential learning by effective facilitating. Below is a guide on facilitating SLEs.
After the activity, the following questions are discussed:
- What happened during activity?
- What helped? What difficulties did you encounter?
- How can we improve?
With this, participants can learn from themselves and from others with the facilitator as the medium.
When participants are seasoned.
When participants are showing non-verbal signs that they have knowledge or experience about the topic such as when their eyes seem lit up, it can be taken as an advantage. The trainer can ask questions that are direct or indirectly suggestive. "Tell me about your experience with an irate customer and what did you realize from that experience". This is a way to make the participants learn from an actual experience. Also, it can make the learner a resource person.
When You Might Fill the Coaching Role
A learner in the class seems stalled or troubled.
Coaching can be a powerful means to guide and support an individual to clarify current learning challenges, to identify suitable strategies to address the challenges, and then to actually implement those strategies.
People have different learning styles and there are times when participants find it hard to cope with the learning pace. As a coach, this is the time when you clarify with the learner the following points:
- What part of the training do you find challenging?
- How do you think you can learn better?
In this case, thorough guidance is needed by providing regular feedback to the learner.
The trainees need skills that are highly specialized and proceduralized.
For example, using the reservations system, conducting training needs analysis, conforming to policies and procedures, flying an aircraft, and use of specific tools for problem solving and decision making.
Coaching usually focuses on skills.
Knowing the difference between coaching and facilitating is important. Knowing "when to use which, and what to use where" is the next step.
by Arvee Veloso
Reference: managementhelp.org
Reference: managementhelp.org
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