Tips To Improve Your Skills

Co-Leadership: Establishing Partnerships in Training & Facilitation

Introducing Co-leadership

Co-leading a seminar can create a richer learning environment for participants because they are able to see various approaches to the subject matter. Working with a partner requires an extra level of coordination before, during and after the session.

Before the session:

Review the agenda.
Clarify roles. Decide who will lead each of the parts. Anticipate support that is needed in each segment of the program.
Discuss styles, approaches and preferences.
Establish a way to communicate with each other when corrections are needed.

During the session:

If you are leading a section, ask you partner for the support you need.
If you are not leading, be available to assist when asked. Observe how you can help – post a flipchart, add a clarification point, or other task.?

After the session:

Reflect together on the session. What went well? What could be improved? How can you work better together as a team?
Clean up the room and clarify who will do follow-up tasks such as documentation.

Co-Leading Discussions

One of the most important aspects of training is to create an interesting learning environment by using a variety of materials and exercises. Co-leading training can add interest to programs by varying the voices heard, the personal stories to illustrate training points and the ways the training material is approached. Often, one trainer may be able to get a point across better than another trainer.

! Hot tip: Co-leading varies the voices and perspectives to create a richer and more interesting program for participants.

Increased Relevance to Participants

Diversity in terms of ethnicity or gender normally creates a richer learning environment and a greater chance of relating to the participants. When selecting co-leaders, it is good to select partners that have different strengths to compliment the team. For example, if one person has strengths in communication & people skills, you may want to match them with someone who is analytical or organized. In this way, co-leaders can deliver of the material in a variety of ways and this keeps the material interesting for the participants.

Additional Coordination for Co-Leaders

Co-leading training requires an extra level of coordination. Some partners work together so seamlessly that they finish each others sentences. In all cases, partners should discuss in advance how the program will be delivered and how they would like to interact with each other.

Sometimes it works well to decide who will take the lead and who will provide additional points and support. Sometimes it works well to alternate points of the discussion between the two trainers. If one trainer is a content expert, it works well for that person to provide more of the lecture portions of the material with the other trainer leading discussions and fielding questions.

There are many ways to create an excellent co-training environment and it is best to experiment with different methods to find the one that works best for you and your training partner.

Mentoring Opportunities for New Trainers

Another benefit of co-leading a training program is for the trainer. For an apprentice trainer, co-leading is a way to learn the training program. After observing the program for a couple of times, a trainer may feel comfortable in leading a part of the programs but not the entire thing. This is an ideal situation to work with a mentor trainer. In this way, the apprentice trainer can gain more exposure to the material and take on additional training segments as confidence is gained.

Documenting Discussions on Flipcharts

Reasons to document discussions include:
The information needs to be kept as part of meeting notes.
Ideas are recorded for later use.
Discussion points are a way to ground key training concepts.

Decide in advance what topics will be recorded. A facilitator often can both record and facilitate the discussion, especially if the group is small. If this is slowing down the group process, the co-trainer should record. This frees the facilitator to focus on the group and field ideas.

The size of group and liveliness of discussions dictate the type of recording needed for discussions. Generally the larger the group, the more challenging it is for the recorder to keep up. In groups of 40 or more, a facilitator may want to use two recorders at two flipcharts with each recording every other statement. A touch on the shoulder by the facilitator can cue the recorder on the item to record.

Option: If time is of the essence and there are many ideas to submit, electronic meeting systems allow groups to submit ideas simultaneously. Most systems have the flexibility to allow groups or individuals to submit ideas by topic as well as in a free form way.

Simple Steps to Creating Great Looking Flipcharts

Title the flipchart with BIG BOLD letters and print neatly.
Use darker colored markers so that letters can be seen better. Use lighter colors and red to highlight key points.
Use bullets and sub-bullets to distinguish points and related information.
If ideas will be put in categories later or will be used in multi-voting, use a grid pattern.
Draw images or icons to add to the interest of the chart.
Look for places to use various types of recording templates. Some ideas are circles, quadrants, mindmaps, etc. Simply, bordering the flipchart will create interest.
Number each page to keep in order for transcription.
Record Key points while omitting meeting noise
Use participants own words

! Hot tip: Rotate colors used for each line to make charts more visual impact and readability

Sample Chart
Line 1 – Blue
Line 2 – Green
Line 3 – Blue
Line 4 – Green

Facilitating From The Side

It is not time to take a rest – Just because you are not the one "on stage" in front of the room. This is the time to be even more aware of ways that you can help out and support your co-trainer.

Extra set of hands. Does the trainer need someone to flipchart or to post used flipcharts to the wall? Do they need you to fetch copies or other supplies? If so, get up and provide assistance.
Second pair of eyes. Is there something that your co-trainer is overlooking? If so, you may want to discretely pass a note. For example, Melodys name is pronounced with a DY on the end. You are favoring the right side of the room, several people on the left have their hands up.
Missing key ideas. Did they leave out a step or forget a critical part of the program? You may want to speak up and discretely point out the omission by saying something such as I think we may have skipped over ___ and this is important because ____. Or I just want to add (or emphasize) that _____
Opportunity for everyone to speak. Are you noticing people are left out of a discussion. I think Sally had something to add.
Clarifying an idea. Are they re-explaining a point in the same way the participant did not understand in the first place. You may want to say Let me explain this in another way
Intervention on sticky points. Do they need help with a sticky issue? Occasionally, we all find ourselves at a loss for words when we are leading a group. This is when having a co-facilitator can be especially helpful. You might was to ask permission to step in by saying, This can be a sticky issue. Some of the ways one might approach this are ______.
Are they asking for assistance? It is always appropriate to ask you co-trainer if they Have something to add to the discussion? – especially if you think there might be a more effective way to handle the situation or you have that nagging feeling that you forgot something.

! Hot tip: Model effective teamwork by supporting your co-trainer

Supporting your co-trainer is one of several ways to model effective team work for the group. Trainers benefit by seeing another way of presenting and add to your toolbox. In addition, it provides you with the ability to observe and provide feedback to you co-trainer so that you can improve your session the next time. For this reason, it is never appropriate for a co-trainer to check their voice mail, log onto their Blackberry (or other digital device) or leave the room while co-training with a partner. Co-leading a training requires both trainers to be physically and mentally present.

Facilitating a Mini-Brainstorming Session to Address Participant Questions

Sometimes participants will ask questions or opinions from the facilitator trainer where there are many approaches that will work. This is an opportunity to involve the group in a discussion.

Here are seven steps for setting up a mini-discussion:

Listen to the question. I want to know how you get management to listen to new ideas?
Paraphrase back to check for understanding. Bill, so you are looking for ways to get management to listen to new ideas?
Indicate that we want to put this out to the group for discussion. So I have a couple of ways you might address this but first lets ask the group here what has worked for them.
Ask the group the questions and facilitate mini-brainstorming session. What are some ways to get management to consider new ideas?
Take several responses. Keep track of ideas. You may want to flipchart or note on a scratch pad.
Turn to the person and restate the ideas and add any others of your own. Bill, so some of the suggestions we heard are _____, ____ & _______. I would add that you might also try _____.
Ask which of those ideas might be useful in the situation. Which one of these ideas might you try?