Working with a new co-facilitator is like starting a new, very important, relationship and it’s always a good idea to get to know your co-facilitator a bit better before you get in front of a group. This checklist covers some essential facilitator “first date” questions that will allow you to plan a better facilitation and feel more confident in your knowledge of each other before the training.
Download PDF Edit in Google Drive
This checklist was generated by numerous groups sharing with us what they wanted to know about their new co-facilitator. You may find yourself wanting to add a few more items or already know some answers, but this list is a great starting place for an initial conversation with your new co-facilitator.
25+ Things to Check-in on with your Co-Facilitator
Arranged into four categories…
Context
- What experiences do you have facilitating? Facilitating similar material?
- What are your triggers?
- How can we let the other know we are feeling triggered?
- How best can we support each other when triggered?
- How can we avoid triggering one another?
Content
- What content are you excited to lead or feel most confident about?
- Is there any content you are not comfortable talking about?
- Are there any styles of engagement or types of activities you’re more or less comfortable with?
- What are our rules around personal disclosure or sharing? Are we, as facilitators, comfortable sharing personal stories, identities, experiences, etc.?
- How much time are we planning to allocate to each component?
- What are our “wins” (overall goals) for the facilitation?
- What are our small “wins” for each individual component? How do we know when to move on, or when to stick?
Process
- Who is responsible for what preparation?
- Is one person going to lead the facilitation, or are we going to trade off lead roles for each component or activity?
- Are we chiming in when the other is leading?
- Are you okay with being corrected, or will that throw you off? How would you prefer to be corrected?
- Is staying on time important to you? Who is going to keep track of time?
- What participant feedback do we want to ask for?
- Do we want to do feedback with each other? If so, what feedback do we want, how do we want to give it, and when?
“What if…”
- How do we want to check in with each other throughout the facilitation?
- Do you want to come up with a super secret signal? (e.g., to alert about time or to move the discussion forward)
- What are we willing to cut (e.g., for time or if a situation calls for a different direction)?
- What do we need to cover?
- What activities or components do we have in our back pocket in case we need them?
- Are we doing anything that is risky? Do we have appropriate medical or psychological support ready if we need it? Who is responsible for what if that is needed?
That’s all we have for now. We would love to hear what additions you make to the list, or for you to share back any remixes. Join us on Patreon if you’d like to contribute to the community.
Happy co-facilitating!
